Possible hardware conflict with activation?

[Guest]

I reformatted my harddrive with the intent of a clean install. All went well
with that until product activation. My product key was declared 'invalid'
despite several reinstallings. I tried MS's activation line, who would
forward me to tech support, who would then forward me back to activation, and
so on. I even tried the pay line, with no success. I thought that the key
itself was the problem until I tried to install another version of Windows I
had lying around. (the first one was Pro, this time with Home) Again, I
cannot activate, and phone service has been of no help. Neither of the keys
has any reason to be invalid, so all I can think of is that there is some
issue with hardware, since neither version/key pair will work. Anyone heard
of this kind of problem?

 

[Guest]

other than reformatting, have you made any hardware changes in the past such
as memory, processor, network card? When activating, windows uses ten
checkpoints based on the hardware, each value is worth one point except the
nic which has a value of three. I believe 7 out of 10 values must be met.

 

[Guest]

I have changed only the power supply. Although, in talking to a Microsoft
assistant on the phone, I should be able to install my copy, theoretically,

 

[DL]

A retail copy of win can be installed on any pc, to provide you with a
single working installation.
An OEM copy lives and dies wth the PC it was origonally supplied on.

So is your version OEM or retail or?

I have changed only the power supply. Although, in talking to a Microsoft
assistant on the phone, I should be able to install my copy, theoretically,

met.

 

[Guest]

Uh. Oh. It's an OEM.

A retail copy of win can be installed on any pc, to provide you with a
single working installation.
An OEM copy lives and dies wth the PC it was origonally supplied on.

So is your version OEM or retail or?


met.

 

[DL]

If you only changed the psu this would'nt I have thought caused any
activation probs, but you would need to contact the origonal PC supplier for
support as MS wont provide support for OEM win.
As this OEM is being installed on the origonal sys it should be OK - if you
had changed the mobo that would be different.

 

[Guest]

There are a lot of cases of valid OEM keys not working just now.

I meet this a lot, as so many new computers come loaded with preinstalled
junk, so you have no choice but to reinstall. I generally call the
activation line, enter a garbage code, and then explain why I'm calling, and
give them the make, serial etc of the computer. They've always provided me
with a new key that works.

However, it would be far better for all concerned if MS ruled against junk
like 'free trial' software being preinstalled. Then you would have a usable
computer, out of box.

If the OEM wants to provide trial software they can do so on a CD. The whole
reason they preinstall instead is to _force_ the junk onto the consumer.

 

[kingdaddy.]

There are a lot of cases of valid OEM keys not working just now.

I meet this a lot, as so many new computers come loaded with preinstalled
junk, so you have no choice but to reinstall. I generally call the
activation line, enter a garbage code, and then explain why I'm calling, and
give them the make, serial etc of the computer. They've always provided me
with a new key that works.

However, it would be far better for all concerned if MS ruled against junk
like 'free trial' software being preinstalled. Then you would have a usable
computer, out of box.

If the OEM wants to provide trial software they can do so on a CD. The whole
reason they preinstall instead is to _force_ the junk onto the consumer.

I don't think most of us understand the OEM business model. With so
many PC's priced close to cost, the profit comes from business
agreements regarding the contingency sales driven of the offerings
supplied with the OEM computer. For example, Dell, Gateway and HP get
cuts from things like anti virus / Internet security packages, ISP
accounts (AOL), CD building packages, music subscription and so many
more. To an accountant, "cost" is so much more than the price of
hardware.

Many of the offerings are like a billboard. For example, AOL pays for
their offering "just to be there". It's probably part of their
advertising budget. So many non-techies don't even know how (or are
afraid to) delete a desktop shortcut, so it's always advertising to the
owner.