Error 1063 - Repeated Activation Request

[Simpleuser]

This problem started with SP1 installation and I have confirmed with MS that
I do have Genuine Windows Ultimate 32.
But every few days after log on I get a panel saying "Windows activation was
successful". A look in the System utility confirms this. The next time I log
on I get the message on my desktop "This copy of Windows is not genuine", and
back in System I use the link to go to the MS internet page for validation
which runs the ActiveX utility and all is ok. The next time I log on usually
all is ok with no messages until the whole sorry routine starts again a few
days later.
I have noted in event viewer that immediately befor this an event "Failed to
collect hardware information. hr=0x80070005" comes up with the ID 1063. It
seems Vista tolerates this once but if it is repeated it seems to trigger the
activation demon. There's no information available on the link from event
viewer.
Can anyone help with this annoying problem?

 

[Mark L. Ferguson]

I would refresh all the major hardware component drivers. Use Device Manager
to 'Uninstall' then 'scan for hardware changes' on each of the device
systems. This will refresh the drivers and perhaps stop the error.

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[Simpleuser]

Mark - thanks and your suggestion feels right. It also feels like something
which could lead someone like me, with only a little knowledge, into
problems. Presumably a revalidation of Vista would only be triggered by a
major hardware change - motherboard, disk, or processor. If I uninstalled
the driver for any such as these wouldn't my pc stop working? Presumably if
I uninstalled the drivers for mouse or keyboard I'd lose those. Also
uninstalling graphics card, IDE/SATA controller or any system devices seem
like things which would immediately affect functionality. Am I wrong on
those? I'd appreciate your guidance, thanks.

 

[Mark L. Ferguson]

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Mark - thanks and your suggestion feels right. It also feels like
something
which could lead someone like me, with only a little knowledge, into
problems. Presumably a revalidation of Vista would only be triggered by a
major hardware change - motherboard, disk, or processor. If I uninstalled
the driver for any such as these wouldn't my pc stop working? Presumably
if
I uninstalled the drivers for mouse or keyboard I'd lose those. Also
uninstalling graphics card, IDE/SATA controller or any system devices seem
like things which would immediately affect functionality. Am I wrong on
those? I'd appreciate your guidance, thanks.

 

[Mark L. Ferguson]

The Device Manager removes the device from the list of drivers to load on
startup if you check the box for that, but will reinstall any missing
drivers if needed. Uninstalling a driver from that list does not 'disable'
it, but only necessitates a reinstall on a 'scan for hardware changes' on a
restart. Uninstalling the Keyboard, for example, does not result in the
immediate disabling of that. Of course, there are options, like 'delete
driver' and other ways to permanently disable after a restart or scan.
Trying a refresh of the driver from 'original media' , (i.e. 'drivers.cab')
has a chance to get some corrupt driver out of your driver cache. I don't
think it's any kind of risk to the system. This assumes, of course, there is
nothing actually wrong with the original media file, or the hardware itself.

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Please use the Communities guidelines when posting.
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Use the "Ratings" feature. It helps the new users.
Mark L. Ferguson MS-MVP
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Mark - thanks and your suggestion feels right. It also feels like
something
which could lead someone like me, with only a little knowledge, into
problems. Presumably a revalidation of Vista would only be triggered by a
major hardware change - motherboard, disk, or processor. If I uninstalled
the driver for any such as these wouldn't my pc stop working? Presumably
if
I uninstalled the drivers for mouse or keyboard I'd lose those. Also
uninstalling graphics card, IDE/SATA controller or any system devices seem
like things which would immediately affect functionality. Am I wrong on
those? I'd appreciate your guidance, thanks.

 

[Simpleuser]

Mark - thanks. I started with an easy one - my UPS - which has a MS driver
so must be in the store. This was straightforward but I had to reboot to
action the uninstall and reboot again to fix the reinstall. Then I looked
back in reliability Monitor to what had gone on during the SP1 install, and I
rekon there must have been ~200 drivers installed. Presumably one of those
installations was faulty even though reported as successful. My PC usually
runs ok for few days before the problem reoccurs so I guess I should wait
between each to see if it's fixed.
Ploughing through the list I could be here until SP2! Is there a better
way? Is there perhaps a way of capturing a trace of the event which triggers
the problem? I could then target my driver reinstall. I was hoping the
information in my original post might be some use.
If you have a way of targetting the problem it would be great. Meanwhile I
will keep trying. Thanks again,

 

[Mark L. Ferguson]

Nope, MS plays it pretty close to the vest on activation info. One thing I
think you can assume. It's something basic, like the chipset driver, hard
disk, or something with a 'MAC' address.

--
Please use the Communities guidelines when posting.
http://www.microsoft.com/wn3/locales/help/help_en-us.htm
Use the "Ratings" feature. It helps the new users.
Mark L. Ferguson MS-MVP
https://mvp.support.microsoft.com/profile/Mark.Ferguson

Mark - thanks. I started with an easy one - my UPS - which has a MS
driver
so must be in the store. This was straightforward but I had to reboot to
action the uninstall and reboot again to fix the reinstall. Then I looked
back in reliability Monitor to what had gone on during the SP1 install,
and I
rekon there must have been ~200 drivers installed. Presumably one of those
installations was faulty even though reported as successful. My PC
usually
runs ok for few days before the problem reoccurs so I guess I should wait
between each to see if it's fixed.
Ploughing through the list I could be here until SP2! Is there a better
way? Is there perhaps a way of capturing a trace of the event which
triggers
the problem? I could then target my driver reinstall. I was hoping the
information in my original post might be some use.
If you have a way of targetting the problem it would be great. Meanwhile I
will keep trying. Thanks again,

 

[Simpleuser]

Mark, thanks - I'll keep at it.
--
Hopefully

Nope, MS plays it pretty close to the vest on activation info. One thing I
think you can assume. It's something basic, like the chipset driver, hard
disk, or something with a 'MAC' address.

--
Please use the Communities guidelines when posting.
http://www.microsoft.com/wn3/locales/help/help_en-us.htm
Use the "Ratings" feature. It helps the new users.
Mark L. Ferguson MS-MVP
https://mvp.support.microsoft.com/profile/Mark.Ferguson