Is Product restration/activation for a hard drive or a computer?

[Beyond X]

For many years I have used Windows 2000 Pro in my several computers
independently. Starting from Windows XP, Microsoft introduced one copy
per one computer. So when we install Win XP in a computer, a pop up
windows appears for preventing "Piracy". However, I still do not
understand the whole concept of Microsoft's "Product Activation and
Registration". Please educate me in the following.
1. Due to the nature of my work, I need to switch harddrives (different
capacity, different manufacturer, and of course with different programs
installed) connecting to the SAME computer. Sometimes just one drive
connected, in other times two drives (one primary/system drive, another
secondary drive even though it might contain an OS). Under these
circumstances do I need to "register" my Windows XP installation for
each harddrive (there are five drives at the present moment) which is
used with the same computer. In other words, is the
activation/registration for hard drives or for computers?
2. I have an office outside home. Sometimes I need to carry a hard drive
with me so that I can use the data in the drive with a different
computer in the office. In terms of activation/registration does such a
use of a harddrive infringe against Microsoft's policy or agreement?
3. In a certain situation many folks need to clone a harddrive
containing a version of Windows XP, Vista, etc,. In this case is the
cloned harddrive considered to be already registered if used in the same
computer? What about if the drive is used with a diferent computer?
4. I understand that Microsoft continually monitors (via internet
connection) the make-up of a computer with an OS-installed harddrive
which has once been registered. If they detect some hardware changes (I
do not know how they do it), they suspect an illegal use of the OS. What
is the degree of changes that would trigger their suspicion? CPU?
Graphic cards? Memory cards? USB devices? When they determine a
violation, how would they contact us? What action would they take?

Your help will be highly appreciated.

 

[Beyond X]

JUST a hard drive isn't likely to trigger anything from what I've read
and experience at repairs. Not sure what might happen if it were done
multiple times though. At most it would require a short phone call to
the number given when you do try to activate, IF you're asked to
activate.

Thanks for your thoughts and information. But I'm still unsure about
what I asked.

If I install the Win XP from the same CD in several harddrives and use
and activate them one at a time with the same computer (I suppose the
activation code file will be the same in each drive), what will happen?
In this situation, we are talking same XP (same product key) and same
computer. Would MS somehow cancel an activation with a drive when a next
drive is activated?

Suppose I acivate one XP in one drive and later transfer the activation
to the other drives (http://netsecurity.about.com/od/windowsxp/ qt/
aaqtwinxp0829.htm), will there be no problem?

If the above is true, then I suppose that cloned harddrives can be used
with the same computer even after the cloned drives are added or removed
some programs afterwards as long as the XP installations are unchanged
and as long as critical hardwares remain unchanged. (When a program is
added or deleted, XP's registry might undergo some changes, however.) Do
you agree?

 

[Twayne]

For many years I have used Windows 2000 Pro in my several computers
independently. Starting from Windows XP, Microsoft introduced one copy
per one computer. So when we install Win XP in a computer, a pop up
windows appears for preventing "Piracy". However, I still do not
understand the whole concept of Microsoft's "Product Activation and
Registration". Please educate me in the following.
1. Due to the nature of my work, I need to switch harddrives
(different capacity, different manufacturer, and of course with
different programs installed) connecting to the SAME computer.
Sometimes just one drive connected, in other times two drives (one
primary/system drive, another secondary drive even though it might
contain an OS). Under these circumstances do I need to "register" my
Windows XP installation for each harddrive (there are five drives at
the present moment) which is used with the same computer. In other
words, is the activation/registration for hard drives or for
computers? 2. I have an office outside home. Sometimes I need to carry
a hard
drive with me so that I can use the data in the drive with a different
computer in the office. In terms of activation/registration does such
a use of a harddrive infringe against Microsoft's policy or agreement?
3. In a certain situation many folks need to clone a harddrive
containing a version of Windows XP, Vista, etc,. In this case is the
cloned harddrive considered to be already registered if used in the
same computer? What about if the drive is used with a diferent
computer? 4. I understand that Microsoft continually monitors (via
internet
connection) the make-up of a computer with an OS-installed harddrive
which has once been registered. If they detect some hardware changes
(I do not know how they do it), they suspect an illegal use of the
OS. What is the degree of changes that would trigger their suspicion?
CPU? Graphic cards? Memory cards? USB devices? When they determine a
violation, how would they contact us? What action would they take?

Your help will be highly appreciated.

JUST a hard drive isn't likely to trigger anything from what I've read
and experience at repairs. Not sure what might happen if it were done
multiple times though. At most it would require a short phone call to
the number given when you do try to activate, IF you're asked to
activate.

Here's my understanding:
MS doesn't monitor the hardware status of a computer at all times as you
suggest. It's code in your compter that notices what changes happen and
whether you need to reactivate it. MS only checks the list sometimes at
updates or when you go to download something from the site. But it's
your computer that holds the final information. I don't know how to
beat it; I've seen a couple of claims to be able to, but ... not from
reputable sources.

If they did determine a "violation", the only thing you're likely to
notice is that your computer wont' run windows until you activate again.
A new motherboard, for instance, is going to trigger an activation
requirement. But not just changing a disk drive. But a disk drive AND
memory might, and so on. I don't recall the full details that way, or
if that list is even accurate to begin with.

Should they discover that you're distributing windows in some manner
though, that's a different story. Fortunately I have no idea what they
would do and don't intend to find out<g>. The possibilities all seem to
include jail or prison time.

HTH,

Twayne`

 

[Paul]

Thanks for your thoughts and information. But I'm still unsure about
what I asked.

If I install the Win XP from the same CD in several harddrives and use
and activate them one at a time with the same computer (I suppose the
activation code file will be the same in each drive), what will happen?
In this situation, we are talking same XP (same product key) and same
computer. Would MS somehow cancel an activation with a drive when a next
drive is activated?

Suppose I acivate one XP in one drive and later transfer the activation
to the other drives (http://netsecurity.about.com/od/windowsxp/ qt/
aaqtwinxp0829.htm), will there be no problem?

If the above is true, then I suppose that cloned harddrives can be used
with the same computer even after the cloned drives are added or removed
some programs afterwards as long as the XP installations are unchanged
and as long as critical hardwares remain unchanged. (When a program is
added or deleted, XP's registry might undergo some changes, however.) Do
you agree?

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

"The WPA system checks ten categories of hardware:

1. Display Adapter
2. SCSI Adapter
3. IDE Adapter (effectively the motherboard)
4. Network Adapter (NIC) and its MAC Address
5. RAM Amount Range (i.e., 0-64mb, 64-128mb, etc.)
6. Processor Type
7. Processor Serial Number
8. Hard Drive Device
9. Hard Drive Volume Serial Number (VSN)
10. CD-ROM / CD-RW / DVD-ROM"

Your cloned hard drive, will differ in two ways from the original.
Items #8 and #9.

The hard drive itself has an internal serial number, and that is #8.
The clone hard drive will have a different internal serial number.

The VolumeID is something assigned to each partition. It is a 32 bit
quantity, and I can see the values for my partitions using the free version
of Everest. If you clone a drive, the software should be assigning a
different VolumeID, because it wouldn't really be a volume ID if
all the volumes had the same value. And that means, if you have a
clone present in your system, and didn't want #9 to count against
you, you'd want to change it with the VolumeID utility from Sysinternals.

So a cloned drive, depending on the effort you go to, counts as
one or two changes.

What the OS cares about, is the C: partition. So the rules should
apply to verifying the OS and its environment. That means the check
done in #8 and #9, is for the drive you're currently booted from.
If a second drive is an exact copy of the drive containing C:,
Windows should not care about that drive. It is effectively a
data drive, as far as Windows is concerned. The instant you
boot from it, then the recipe would apply to that (new) hard
drive.

You'll notice the list of ten things above, makes no mention
of user programs. You can add or subtract them all you want.

Paul

 

[Beyond X]

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

"The WPA system checks ten categories of hardware:

1. Display Adapter
2. SCSI Adapter
3. IDE Adapter (effectively the motherboard)
4. Network Adapter (NIC) and its MAC Address
5. RAM Amount Range (i.e., 0-64mb, 64-128mb, etc.)
6. Processor Type
7. Processor Serial Number
8. Hard Drive Device
9. Hard Drive Volume Serial Number (VSN)
10. CD-ROM / CD-RW / DVD-ROM"

Your cloned hard drive, will differ in two ways from the original.
Items #8 and #9.

Paul
Great information. Thank you very much.
Microsoft states:
[In the case where a pirate copies data from one PC hard drive to
another to illegally run the software on two PCs, Product Activation
stops that by forcing the copied software to be reactivated. It does so
by comparing the hardware on which it was activated to the hardware on
which it is now being booted. If the hardware is substantially
different, then reactivation is required. If it is the same or similar,
then the software will continue to work. Those who upgrade their PC's
hardware substantially may be asked to reactivate.]

If each harddrive is assigned two unique numbers as you wrote, question
is whether or not the set of two different numbers is considered as
substantially different provided all other hardwares remaine unchanged
(typically the same computer). Microsoft does not mention anything about
VolumeID (to my present awareness). I did not mention other booting
devices like USB drive, e-SATA, flash card. These are devices to be used
in different computers. Strictly speaking, these can be used solely as
data storage. But, practically speaking, Microsoft (and other softwares
vendors) must come up with a device that identifies the user who paid
for the software, not the machine. One way may be the use of a card
reader (connected to the motherboard) into which one needs to insert a
magnetic card (similar to a bank card or a flash memory card which is
issued (or attached with CD) by Microsoft with unique identification
code printed on it, perhaps combined with a registered password. As long
as the card is present in the computer, anyone can use the OS that
he/she payed for.
All Microsoft wants is to avoid the usage of the software by people who
obtained it by illegal copy.
I think I can say that it is now common sense that people who use
computers beyond e-mails will (and need to) switch around harddrives
with the OS from the same CD and product key.

 

[Paul]

Great information. Thank you very much.
Microsoft states:
[In the case where a pirate copies data from one PC hard drive to
another to illegally run the software on two PCs, Product Activation
stops that by forcing the copied software to be reactivated. It does so
by comparing the hardware on which it was activated to the hardware on
which it is now being booted. If the hardware is substantially
different, then reactivation is required. If it is the same or similar,
then the software will continue to work. Those who upgrade their PC's
hardware substantially may be asked to reactivate.]

If each harddrive is assigned two unique numbers as you wrote, question
is whether or not the set of two different numbers is considered as
substantially different provided all other hardwares remaine unchanged
(typically the same computer). Microsoft does not mention anything about
VolumeID (to my present awareness). I did not mention other booting
devices like USB drive, e-SATA, flash card. These are devices to be used
in different computers. Strictly speaking, these can be used solely as
data storage. But, practically speaking, Microsoft (and other softwares
vendors) must come up with a device that identifies the user who paid
for the software, not the machine. One way may be the use of a card
reader (connected to the motherboard) into which one needs to insert a
magnetic card (similar to a bank card or a flash memory card which is
issued (or attached with CD) by Microsoft with unique identification
code printed on it, perhaps combined with a registered password. As long
as the card is present in the computer, anyone can use the OS that
he/she payed for.
All Microsoft wants is to avoid the usage of the software by people who
obtained it by illegal copy.
I think I can say that it is now common sense that people who use
computers beyond e-mails will (and need to) switch around harddrives
with the OS from the same CD and product key.

The VSN is the same thing as the Volume ID. It is obviously not a
"strong" check, in the sense that there is a tool to change the
value. But the serial number inside the hard drive itself, is
a stronger check from a hardware perspective.

(Tool for setting Volume ID to whatever you want. Write down
the Volume ID of your C: drive, before cloning. Since I have
two different Windows OSes on my computer, I can boot the
alternate one, use this utility, and correct the Volume ID
on my WinXP partition if needed. I would not want the
original C: to be connected when I do that, because the
Volume IDs are supposed to remain unique within the computer.
So I don't see the value of including that field in a hardware
hash.)

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb897436.aspx

The basic method for activation is described here. I can draw
a rough picture.

http://www.microsoft.com/norge/piracy/activation_faq.mspx


(User) ---- Type in Product Key --------------> Microsoft
(send Hardware Hash) Activation
Server
Activation Code <-------------- Outputs

Activation Code + Product Key + Hardware Hash
allows local checking of validity. Too many
changes causes the Hardware Hash component
to indicate there has been a significant change.

Any time your computer contacts Microsoft, there would
again be an opportunity for Microsoft to determine whether
there are too many references to the same Product Key, within
a certain time interval. Perhaps that check would take place
during Windows Update for example. Or when you go to
make a download of some content they care about.

It is not a "registration" scheme as such, because there
is no attempt to store personally identifiable information
there. Yes, they could log the IP address during activation,
but there are ways of getting around that, so it would hardly
be worth their bother to phone up each ISP and say ("who just
used 192.168.1.1 at 9:01 A.M. ? "). My user id here, is set
to a pseudonym, so would hardly be of any worth to them.
I mean, if the Activation Server logs

Albert Einstein
123 Any Street

that isn't exactly going to help them

Paul

 

[Beyond X]

Paul,
Thanks again for the useful information. I will print and keep them for
future reference. I admire your knowledgeability.

Great information. Thank you very much.
Microsoft states:
[In the case where a pirate copies data from one PC hard drive to
another to illegally run the software on two PCs, Product Activation
stops that by forcing the copied software to be reactivated. It does
so by comparing the hardware on which it was activated to the hardware
on which it is now being booted. If the hardware is substantially
different, then reactivation is required. If it is the same or
similar, then the software will continue to work. Those who upgrade
their PC's hardware substantially may be asked to reactivate.]

If each harddrive is assigned two unique numbers as you wrote,
question is whether or not the set of two different numbers is
considered as substantially different provided all other hardwares
remaine unchanged (typically the same computer). Microsoft does not
mention anything about VolumeID (to my present awareness). I did not
mention other booting devices like USB drive, e-SATA, flash card.
These are devices to be used in different computers. Strictly
speaking, these can be used solely as data storage. But, practically
speaking, Microsoft (and other softwares vendors) must come up with a
device that identifies the user who paid for the software, not the
machine. One way may be the use of a card reader (connected to the
motherboard) into which one needs to insert a magnetic card (similar
to a bank card or a flash memory card which is issued (or attached
with CD) by Microsoft with unique identification code printed on it,
perhaps combined with a registered password. As long as the card is
present in the computer, anyone can use the OS that he/she payed for.
All Microsoft wants is to avoid the usage of the software by people
who obtained it by illegal copy.
I think I can say that it is now common sense that people who use
computers beyond e-mails will (and need to) switch around harddrives
with the OS from the same CD and product key.

The VSN is the same thing as the Volume ID. It is obviously not a
"strong" check, in the sense that there is a tool to change the
value. But the serial number inside the hard drive itself, is
a stronger check from a hardware perspective.

(Tool for setting Volume ID to whatever you want. Write down
the Volume ID of your C: drive, before cloning. Since I have
two different Windows OSes on my computer, I can boot the
alternate one, use this utility, and correct the Volume ID
on my WinXP partition if needed. I would not want the
original C: to be connected when I do that, because the
Volume IDs are supposed to remain unique within the computer.
So I don't see the value of including that field in a hardware
hash.)

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb897436.aspx

The basic method for activation is described here. I can draw
a rough picture.

http://www.microsoft.com/norge/piracy/activation_faq.mspx


(User) ---- Type in Product Key --------------> Microsoft
(send Hardware Hash) Activation
Server
Activation Code <-------------- Outputs

Activation Code + Product Key + Hardware Hash
allows local checking of validity. Too many
changes causes the Hardware Hash component
to indicate there has been a significant change.

Any time your computer contacts Microsoft, there would
again be an opportunity for Microsoft to determine whether
there are too many references to the same Product Key, within
a certain time interval. Perhaps that check would take place
during Windows Update for example. Or when you go to
make a download of some content they care about.

It is not a "registration" scheme as such, because there
is no attempt to store personally identifiable information
there. Yes, they could log the IP address during activation,
but there are ways of getting around that, so it would hardly
be worth their bother to phone up each ISP and say ("who just
used 192.168.1.1 at 9:01 A.M. ? "). My user id here, is set
to a pseudonym, so would hardly be of any worth to them.
I mean, if the Activation Server logs

Albert Einstein
123 Any Street

that isn't exactly going to help them

Paul