Activation: Will formating a partition change the Volume Serial Number?

[eppintab]

If I format the C: partition on main HD during XP installation, will
that modify the Hard Drive Volume Serial Number (VSN)? Just format it,
not delete the partition and recreate it.

Just checking before I format for the activation.

 

[Guest]

nope

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

If I format the C: partition on main HD during XP installation, will
that modify the Hard Drive Volume Serial Number (VSN)? Just format it,
not delete the partition and recreate it.

Just checking before I format for the activation.

Formatting will probably change the number but
this won't affect your product activation.

 

[Rock]

If I format the C: partition on main HD during XP installation, will
that modify the Hard Drive Volume Serial Number (VSN)? Just format it,
not delete the partition and recreate it.

Just checking before I format for the activation.

Yes, formatting does contribute to the change count that can trigger
activation. There is a way around it. See this article on Windows Product
Activation by the late Alex Nichol, MVP. In particular scroll down to the
section "What about formatting a hard disk?".

http://www.aumha.org/win5/a/wpa.htm