Thanks tdragger for the link. In theory that is great, but as you can see by the plethora of posters having issues, it is not always the reality. Sure it could be a case of PEBKAC in some instances, but probably not in all of them. I think there are some genuine technical problems with activation that need to be addressed in certain configurations and a convenient click to Microsoft's support forums probably won't be useful in these situations. :)

Mike aka TDDragger posted here a while ago that you can reainstall as many times as possible on the same machine.. ITs moving to another PC or "substantial" upgrade... Whatever that means... that is restricted to 2. Even then, I believe if you call them.. you may get around that.Another thing to note is... FSX price has already come down to $45? I am sure it would go down even further.I once saw somewhere, where you can get FS9 for $6.So even if you have to purchase FSX again...for your third upgrade... I am thinking. It may not be a big deal.But I do undersand the paranoia and the emotional outrage at these things.... IMO, They are a genuine source of irritation.Manny

I'm chasing some performance issues on my PC (video freezes in high graphics intensity situations- I've ordered a new PSU). I re-installed the same drivers for my chipset and my video card, plus a re-install of DirectX 9C, just to ensure that none of the original installed drivers were corrupted. No new drivers at all here, and I had to re-register FSX. This makes it the 2nd time, I guess I'll be interested in how the 3rd and subsequent times go in re-registering this product.So, yes- driver installs do invoke a re-register of FSX. I can't say if it was the chipset, video card or DX; any or all of them.Bruce.

chipset driver upgrades required me to reacivate WinXPSP2. The OS toldme that I had 'significantly changed hardware' and that I would need toreactivate. I didn't change any harware. Oddly enough, when I got a newaudio card and added 1Gig of RAM, the OS had no complaints.The page that tdragger linked to basically says that if the softwarethinks you have changed your hardware (whether you have or not) it willrequire you to reactivate (and lose one of the two gimmes).I was going to install on my ATA100 drive and then see if I needed toupgrade to a SATA Raptor but perhaps I should rethink that.80 bucks is a lot of money for a 'testrun'.There are too many uncertanties and instabilities in the computer worldto expect this to be fair.

(and lose one of the two gimmes).No - the key elements are still the same - CPU serial number, etc.Of course a chipset driver upgrade is a major hardware change - all the WMI information changes.That's why you apply a driver upgrade in the first place to make your computer/OS think you have a different set of hardware.

But if I add a new hard drive to my system, I use one of the two availableactivation 'freebies' (gimmes - whatever you would call them)Anyone who has already installed this on their system gets one moreshot at a hardware change of some kind and then they are expected to buy another copy of FSX.I preffered the 'must have CD in drive' method.

Sorry Manny - whilst not wishing to provide any grief for tdragger or any of the others on the ACES team - Been there - done that already a couple of years agoThis Activation Sh*t is just THAT - SH*T - I was one of the bunny's that even organised to get the tin box direct from the US (only cost me an extra $40 - but it may be worth a fortune on Ebay in the future) - and of course I then installed it on the machine - only to find that it ran like treacle or mollases or ultra-high grade grease - whateverSo! - I went out and spent $3.8K on a so called "state of the art" machine with of course this virus called XP - Sh*t - I was stupid enough to actually get excited about the new machine and install FS9 straight away - yes! - I was blown away by the increased performanceThe small problem arose a few days later when I decided that since I now had 2 machines - why not link them - BIG MISTAKE - all flippin h*ll breaks loose after using the wonderful "Wizard of M$"The 1st thing it tells me is that I am a theiving bast*rd and that the entire #### system will shut downHmmmm! - remove FS9 from "old" machine and try againNO LUCKTRY SUPPORT - heavy laughterTry Support again - More heavy laughterEngage "expert" - big bill - finally works after 3 months of learning to clean out Sh*t and return machine to where I know how to use itI am learning (at my age - that is a SLOW process) - but - what I have learned is that M$ have once again infested MY machine with all sorts of things that I did NOT agree to (because I got a friend to download them on his phseudo broadband) for meI know find that the most problems I have with my firewalls are related to this invasion of my privacy trying to report back to Major$haft every few hours that I an connectedWhere DOES IT STOP?

>Mike aka TDDragger posted here a while ago that you can>reainstall as many times as possible on the same machine.. >>ITs moving to another PC or "substantial" upgrade... Whatever>that means... that is restricted to 2. Even then, I believe if>you call them.. you may get around that.The KB article that Tail Dragger pointed us to doesn't use the word "substantial" - it has the MUCH more restrictive statement "as long as you have not changed any hardware components on the computer".Now, lots of optimists are going to chime in again and say MS didn't really mean that, and they have been able to reactivate countless times after changing motherboards and other components by talking to a nice lady at a call centre in Kazakhstan :) But if MS don't mean it, why say it????Maybe I am just the worrying type, but it is rare for any of my PCs to stay in the same state for more than a month or two. Quite often they don't even keep working that long.--Bryn

Software companies are like mother in laws. As soon as you get the daughter-she reports everything to maa about you-how many times, when, how and maa decides when you have made significant change-if she does like it well you have to request her to let you reactivate your married life else...There is ofcourse a big difference. After a few re-activation mom-in-law never says that now you had enough please marry my next daughter if you enjoy married life!!!

From the referenced MS KB:"If you install certain Microsoft Windows updates, change or upgrade hardware components and then reinstall the game, the Installation ID will change. This change creates an error message that states that you have exceeded the number of activations."Any idea what these "certain Microsoft Windows updates" are?scott s..

I think I am going to install in "trial" unactivated mode until the hardware situation sorts out. I want to compare FSX in Vista vs Win XP, but I'm not interested enough to burn up my 2 activations. According to the FSX readme, you aren't allowed to install and activate twice on the same machine in different folders (for example if you want to keep a default only copy for testing):Installing Microsoft Flight Simulator X You can only install one installation of Flight Simulator X on a single computer. In other words, you cannot install Flight Simulator to one folder and then install the simulator to another folder on the same machine. If you have Flight Simulator X Standard installed and you want to install Flight Simulator X Deluxe, you must uninstall Standard firstscott s..

then they are expected to buy another copy of FSXNo, but you may have to call MS to have the game activated.You will have exactly the same issue / policy with Windows XP.There is nothing new in the FSX activation system/ policy which you have not already had with Windows XP.

I must say I'm finding all this scaremongering as regards activation, whether it's for XP, FSX (or, for that matter Vista since I doubt it'll be any different) to be over the top. Of all the reinstalls of XP I've had to do (around 12 or so) or FSX (up to five now), I've only ever had to call to reactivate over the phone once. Yes, once. They didn't bat an eyelid, either. Oh, and I've swapped out hardware way more than that.As for FSX, I've reinstalled it five times now and it's activated painlessly over the internet each time.

Here's the link to the MS Activation policy.http://support.microsoft.com:80/kb/927007Appears that you can install infinite number of times on same hardware configuration, but only to two different configurations.I am assuming that this means even if you swap out your video card you're consuming one additional activation?

Problems I have with this are:(1) Why should I have limited activations for a game? It's not a major application in a business environment who rarely update their PC's, and a PC update is significant considering the support request that will probably follow.(2) Having to call to activate a game is dumb too. Tell me one other game that you've had to call because your game decides your PC isn't what it thought it should be. LOL.(3) How about people that install it on their current hardware to see how well it performs and what upgrade path they should take? They blow one activation. I did that. I was very excited about this release. Now all this. I plan on swapping out my video card sometime soon, and will blow one upgrade opportunity.(4) AGAIN THIS IS NOT A CORPORATE APPLICATION. It's a game made for the consumer market. Wouldn't it be great if you played a music CD or DVD movie in more than two DVD/CD players and then had to buy a new DVD/CD because it was played in more than two devices? It's the same #### thing.Sure you pay for the license to use their software, but why should it be tied to a specific hardware. Go to CD in drive activation or a Steam-type activation if you have to. If MS made a car, God forbid you actually installed an aftermarket radio and new rims. Your car might not start.