Question about activation

[Guest maurader]

Hello,I have a question about the Microsoft activation procedure.Does the activation depend upon the hardware installed on your computer or the software setup of your computer (or both)?Here is why I am asking:I just picked up Flight Simulator X and am anxious to install it and try it out.However, my previous experience with Microsoft activations is that eventually they will turn you off (even if you have a legit copy) with "too" many installs. Yes I have encountered this situation before since I work in IT and I have come across the "call Microsoft and beg them to reset your activations" because I used the wrong serial number when reloading an OS or MS Office.Now with Flight Sim 2004 I have reinstalled it many many times because I play with many different addons and lets face it, many of them (both freeware and payware) wreck havoc with Flight Simulator (especially when you try and uninstall).In addition, spyware wrecks havoc on windows and it is getting close to the time for me to reload Windows.Now back to the question, if I install Flight Simulator X and activate by phone I assume it will be like MS Office and they will give you some really long code to type in. Is that code based on your hardware or software? If it is just based on the hardware, I can copy this number down and then re-input it anytime I want and I can reformat, reinstall FSX, as many times as I want provided it is on the same machine. The only time I will have to worry about begging Microsoft is when I upgrade a piece of hardware.If it is based on the software, then that is more problematic and I will probably have to wait until I reformat and reinstall my OS.ThanksMauraderPS I really hate product activations. It really does nothing to stop piracy and only causes problems for legit users.

[n4gix 4,947]

Since when you phone in all you provide the automated system is the Product Activation Key found on the DVD case, the code returned cannot be either hardware OR software based... Think about it...You should never have a problem with reactivation at any time.

[Guest allcott]

http://www.hardwareanalysis.com/content/article/1838/You still sure about that not causing any problems, Bill? ;)Allcott

[rich135 0]

<<>>Number of activations can still be tracked, and probably will. If I recall correctly from XP, this can be flagged at a certain point in which case you have to talk to a real person and give them a legitimate reason to reactivate such as, "I am re-installing for the 10th time in five years due to WinRot" :-)

[jordanal 70]

>"I am >re-installing for the 10th time in five years due to WinRot" >:-) WinROT <---- LOL, Now there's one I haven't heard before... Very Nice!:-xxrotflmao

[rich135 0]

<<< WinROT. LOL, Now there's one I haven't heard before>>>Well then its appropriate to quote the industry standard definition. :-)Winrot: The creeping pernicious degradation of the integrity of Windows systems to the point where they run slowly; behave erratically, stop working altogether or all of the above. The most common causes of Winrot appear to be related to the use of, and dependence on many shared DLLs and a common, bloated registery of configuration data. More generically stated, the cause of Winrot seems to be a glut of unnecessary complexity. Microsoft's solution (cum "Vista") seems to be to add yet another layer of complexity. The most reliable way to correct Winrot is to completely wipe the effected machine and start over.Credit http://www.creativyst.com/cgi-bin/M/Glos/s...sGetTerm=Winrot )

[Guest Binkles]

I find that amusing...I bought a new copy of Windows XP for a machine of mine that had been running 2k.Installed once (two weeks ago)Replaced DVD driveYou need to reactivateConnect to netYou have activated too many times and need to contact microsoft (or something to that effect)press the code that it requires to auto activate.same problemGet transferred to someone from a non english country and spend the next 15 minutes trying to tell him my numbers, and to get the numbers back.Now, next time I reinstall or change something, I'll have to do the same for WinXP, FS, of course I won't with Office, as I don't want to go through all that with tons of different software packages.I'm looking for alternatives - will pay, but thankfully there are freeware alternatives for Office - sadly nothing is as good as FS as far as I'm concerned, and of course you need windowsXP from here on in.Oh joy, looking forward to that.As a note, I've reinstalled FS probably 5~6 times this year, not looking forward to having to phone each time I can tell you.

[Guest dpc]

Not sure but I have installed FSX on the same machine now 3 times with no issue. I installed a second time because I mistakingly let it install to the default location so I deinstalled it and installed on the drive I actually wanted it on. The 3rd time was because I had tried messing around with some textures kind of hosed things up. Again, deinstall and reinstall with no problems.Dave

[n4gix 4,947]

>http://www.hardwareanalysis.com/content/article/1838/>>You still sure about that not causing any problems, Bill? ;)I don't see any relevance to an article about Vista's activation and FSX. When using the telephone activation service, the only information required is your Product Activation Key number, as printed on the box. You will receive back a set of eight, eight alphanumeric characters to enter in the dialog box (total 64 characters)...

[Guest maurader]

>>http://www.hardwareanalysis.com/content/article/1838/>>>>You still sure about that not causing any problems, Bill? ;)>>I don't see any relevance to an article about Vista's>activation and FSX. When using the telephone activation>service, the only information required is your Product>Activation Key number, as printed on the box. You will receive>back a set of eight, eight alphanumeric characters to enter in>the dialog box (total 64 characters)...>The relevance is that FSX and Vista use the same type of copy protection. Both products are made by Microsoft and thus use the same copy protection (activation via Microsoft).Now when you call Microsoft to activate via phone, they do not ask for your product activation number (from the box). When you attempt to activate, you enter your DVD key (on the box) and another number called the Product activation key is generated and shown on the screen. If you do this on two computers, the product activation key that is generated is different (even if you use the same DVD key).In doing some research on the net, Microsoft states that the DVD key on the box and some other information about your system is used to generate this product activation key. When that key is used over the phone with Microsoft, they have some system that generates a 64 character response code that you then enter into the system to activate.It appears that a lot of posts on the net state that you can reinstall Flight Sim X many times without having to reactivate but there is nothing I can find that indicates if I have to completely wipe my machine (due to WinRot. LOL) will I have to reactivate and if so, will I have issues. Obviously since it is so new, no one has tried wiping their system yet but I see that it might start occuring in the near future seeing all the posts people are having with FSX being slow. I find that the best way to speed up any program in Windows is to wipe/reinstall OS.