Imagine my surprise or perhaps ignorance. I just re-installed Windows Home XP, my prior install lasting approx. 14 months, and did not have to call in the activation to a Microsoft telephone operator which I have had to do a number of times before in the past several years of numerous re-installations of the same copy of Windows XP Home. Mind you, the ONLY reason I have ever had to reinstall Windows XP Home is due to a Harddrive/CPU upgrades AND because "any" Windows OS + Microsoft FlightSim. = eventual code degradation of the OS (at least, IMHO, that is what happens when these two interact), hence periodic activation without hardware changes. How Microsoft decides when your XP non-corporate copy is required to be telephone activated vs. interact activated has been the subject of myth and lore. I recently read a 2002 article in PCMagazine by the esteemed John Dvorak that spoke to the nebulous nature of this subject then and doublessly now. ANYWAY...... does anyone here have knowledge about WIndows XP Activation policies. I am hoping that if a person does not change his hardware that he/she can get internet auto-activation without the telephone call as I intend in the future to reinstall my systems every 6-12 months knowing that FS9 WILL cause XP to degrade over time.Randy Jura, KPDX

Hi RandyNot sure what the policies are regarding Windows Activation but my understanding is that you should always have the ability to activate via the internet or telephone whichever you prefer.Regardless, I read somewhere that your activation information is contained in the wpa.dbl file located in the ..system32 folder. So if you just back that file up and restore that after re-installation (probably in safe mode), then provided you have not changed hardware you should not need to activate windows again.

Hi Randy,I don't have 'knowledge about WIndows XP Activation policies'."I am hoping that if a person does not change his hardware that he/she can get internet auto-activation without the telephone call as I intend in the future to reinstall my systems every 6-12 months knowing that FS9 WILL cause XP to degrade over time."I don't really want to get into a debate(i think we would end up having to agree to disagree ;)), but I tend to disagree that code degrades over time. I'm not trying to say that things don't happen from having Windows installed for a long time. Caused by things like uninstalling and then installing (newer) versions of drivers, or updating drivers(a .dll might not get updated properly if an old .dll was left behind, ect.), cruft building up over time, possibly on the filesystem and definitely within the System Registry. One thing nice if your are a Linux user is you don't have the problem concerning driver update problems or System Registry cruft and problems. Although I think Linux systems might be a little more susceptible to filesystem cruft buildup. I think the only way there would be any 'code degradation' is if you have some file corruption. Again, not trying to start a debate, just asserting my opinion.Recently, my motherboard went bad an I had to order a new mobo, cpu, and ram, and then put it all together. And I am also using a different hard drive. I installed and had to go through the WPA(Windows Product Activation) for the first time ever. It offered to let me do the WPA over the interenet. So that's what I did!Regards,Jim

Randy - Here's a good explaination: http://www.aumha.org/win5/a/wpa.htmDoug

When I first got XP Pro, the activation procedure was unlawful (i.e. non-enforceable) in my country of residence, so I sent MS an e-mail pointing out that very fact. In return, I received a code which enabled me to install XP on multiple machines with no activation whatsoever.Cheers,Gosta.http://www.hifisim.com/images/as2betateam.jpg

I think MS may have disabled the "call us" version of XP activation - When I built my new system a few months ago, I took my copy of XP Home that I'd had installed on my old machine and installed it on the new one - it didn't ask me to call them or anything, just activated online perfectly well, which I wasn't expecting.The thing I don't get about XP activation is this: if it's supposed to be an anti piracy measure then why on Earth did they turn around and create a corporate version of XP Pro that requires no activation - the CD image of that was posted on file sharing services within days of XP's release, effectively rendering the whole activation thing null and void for anyone looking to pirate XP. Hopefully for Longhorn they'll realize that activation only annoys actual legal owners of the OS and remove it...

now THAT is great information!Randy Jura, KPDX

>Hopefully for Longhorn they'll realize>that activation only annoys actual legal owners of the OS and>remove it...Here here!

I think maybe we're talking the same thing. I'm not techy enough to know the details, but I do know that my XP installation was flawless with lots of varying softwares over the 14 months of the installation, but only FS9 "broke down" and reinstalling FS9 anew by itself did not work at all. It behaved poorly all the same. The only way I got FS9 back and without the dreaded CTD's was a full OS reinstallation. Some kind of "permanent" file corruption occurs that appears to be most sensitive to FS9's operations. I've used other gaming software, Falcon 4.0, DVD software, Microsoft Office products, the internet galore. No problems, perfect operation. What is there about FS9 that makes it's "home" OS go crazy??? Well, I don't know, all I know is that I have to reinstall Windows XP about every 6-12 months ONLY because of FS9. Now, I think I've determined that Windows XP reactivation becomes a problem only with major hardware changes. If you only reinstall the OS and don't change hardware, Microsoft won't bug you to call them on the tele., but the article/webpage posted elsewhere on this thread seems to be the comprehensive source on the subject, for which I am very thankful!Hey, thanks for your reply Jim, I appreciate your interest!Randy Jura, KPDX

LOL! I might need to immigrate if Microsoft leaves you alone there!Randy Jura, KPDX

I couldn't agree with you more!Randy Jura, KPDX

Beta Team huh?.......I can hardly wait for PMDG's version of the 747-400, hope you beta guys over there get your hands on the beta version sooner than later!! Yipeeeeeeeeeeee!Randy Jura, KPDX

Well, let me just say this: I once worked with a fellow on a programming project at a major government research lab here in the US, and he used pirated MS software quite freely, and was even using it to work on our programming project. I was forced to bring the situation to the attention of the department managers, who then quickly ordered a legal copy of Visual Basic to be used to complete the project.This fellow's attitude--and apparently that of his cohorts and suppliers--just ticked me off. While the majority of folks in here doubtless are honest users, there apparently are many around who are not, and indeed there are whole countries that care little about copyright protections. Actually, I've yet to read a single "horror story" from any user who couldn't get Windows XP activated. I recently reinstalled my own copy on a new drive, then clicked a button and it was reactivated on the Web in an instant. I don't care for the CD-in-the-drive approach to using a product, but when it comes to product activation I have to agree with the MS approach: it's fast and easy (so far as I've seen and heard anyway), and if it stops the thieves, it's actually a good thing.

Tabs........"I think MS may have disabled the "call us" version of XP activation"No it's still going - A month ago I had a problem with a new build that neccessitated about 6 installs on 3 different mobos in the space of 10 days. The first two motherboards were Asus A7N8X and there was no problem with the activations( the motherboards were the problem!!). However when the 2nd A7N8X refused to run for more than a few minutes i swapped to a MSI Kt6V( runs OK) and the activation then had to be done by phone. To be fair to MS - they only wanted to know why I had activated so many times in such a short time- as soon as I explained that there had been hardware problems it was activated.Dave

>>Hopefully for Longhorn they'll realize>>that activation only annoys actual legal owners of the OS>and>>remove it...>>Here here!In fact I would think that you'll have more rigorous activation still in Longhorn.I'd not be surprised at all if you need an active internet connection because core components needed during installation (and subsequent running) of the OS aren't on the CD or DVD at all but are installed realtime from a Microsoft server where they are created realtime based on the activation code.Talk about hardcoding the owner identity into the OS itself.As long as piracy continues to exist and people continue to condone it companies will continue to have to devise ever more ingenious and sadly intrusive means of protecting their investments.There was talk of making the next version of Office subscription only.You'd install a stub on your machine and the rest of the code would either run remotely or be downloaded to your machine on the fly on logging in to a server.Pay per view software effectively, give your account name and password to someone else and you pay for his use as well (and that of every single other person that ends up with your account details).That might very well be the ultimate endpoint of software if things don't improve and people don't start respecting the law and stop pirating stuff.