Product activation while experimenting with hardware

[Elliot Mackenzie]

I am setting up a Windows XP Media Center machine and want to pre-empt
activation problems before I get myself caught out swapping out hardware.

By "setting up", I mean I have been attempting to set up an MCE machine
in my spare time and have been experimenting with different hardware
arrangements on and off for the past couple of months in an attempt to
find something that works well. There is only one "machine" involved
though it seems to have "evolved" a couple of times during my experiments.

The machine was activated in the first instance, and then re-activated
again (by telephone) when I swapped out the original hardware for a more
suitably powered motherboard/cpu. I've been having problems with RAM
recently and it now looks like the motherboard is also having issues
(machine hangs two or three times a week). When I swap out the
motherboard I just *know* I will need to reactivate (the network
interface is on-board etc). I also plan to do a bit more stuffing
around and changing the hardware (adding 7.1 surround and changing out
the video card etc) over the next couple of months...

My question after all this is: "for how long can I keep doing this?".
Obviously I'm just stuffing around with hardware and will continue to do
this for months, but can I just keep re-activating by telephone ad
infinitum or is Microsoft likely to start kicking up a fuss and
eventually say no?

Kind regards,
Elliot.

 

[GHalleck]

I am setting up a Windows XP Media Center machine and want to pre-empt
activation problems before I get myself caught out swapping out hardware.

By "setting up", I mean I have been attempting to set up an MCE machine
in my spare time and have been experimenting with different hardware
arrangements on and off for the past couple of months in an attempt to
find something that works well. There is only one "machine" involved
though it seems to have "evolved" a couple of times during my experiments.

The machine was activated in the first instance, and then re-activated
again (by telephone) when I swapped out the original hardware for a more
suitably powered motherboard/cpu. I've been having problems with RAM
recently and it now looks like the motherboard is also having issues
(machine hangs two or three times a week). When I swap out the
motherboard I just *know* I will need to reactivate (the network
interface is on-board etc). I also plan to do a bit more stuffing
around and changing the hardware (adding 7.1 surround and changing out
the video card etc) over the next couple of months...

My question after all this is: "for how long can I keep doing this?".
Obviously I'm just stuffing around with hardware and will continue to do
this for months, but can I just keep re-activating by telephone ad
infinitum or is Microsoft likely to start kicking up a fuss and
eventually say no?

Kind regards,
Elliot.

Microsoft established this activation policy and what you are
doing is perfectly legitimate. You can do it as many times as
required...Microsoft is footing the telephone bill. If Microsoft
kicks up a fuss, ask to talk to a supervisor, take down names
and, if one so wishes, file a complaint with the local State's
attorney general's office, the Federal Department of Justice,
FTC, etc.

 

[Elliot Mackenzie]

Microsoft established this activation policy and what you are

doing is perfectly legitimate. You can do it as many times as
required...Microsoft is footing the telephone bill. If Microsoft
kicks up a fuss, ask to talk to a supervisor, take down names
and, if one so wishes, file a complaint with the local State's
attorney general's office, the Federal Department of Justice,
FTC, etc.

Is anyone able to second this? I would prefer it if I did not have to
resort to resolving any potential dispute through the DoJ As it is
this machine has been months in the making because it's just a hobby
machine and I've only had an hour here and there to work on it

Kind regards,
Elliot.

 

[Alias]

Is anyone able to second this? I would prefer it if I did not have to
resort to resolving any potential dispute through the DoJ As it is
this machine has been months in the making because it's just a hobby
machine and I've only had an hour here and there to work on it

Kind regards,
Elliot.

You can reinstall XP as many times as you want.

Alias

 

[Elliot Mackenzie]

You can reinstall XP as many times as you want.

Alias

The question here is can I reinstall XP (media centre edition) as many
times as I want _when I'm constantly changing the underlying hardware_?

About the only hardware that will likely stay constant is the hard drive
(and I really can't promise that). I can say for sure that there need
only ever be one copy of MCE installed on *something*. Even the
keyboard and mouse has been changed for the Microsoft Media centre
keyboard and remote, and it's now connected to a TV.

Kind regards,
Elliot.

 

[kurttrail]

The question here is can I reinstall XP (media centre edition) as many
times as I want _when I'm constantly changing the underlying
hardware_?
Yes.


About the only hardware that will likely stay constant is the hard
drive (and I really can't promise that). I can say for sure that
there need only ever be one copy of MCE installed on *something*. Even
the keyboard and mouse has been changed for the Microsoft Media
centre keyboard and remote, and it's now connected to a TV.

--
Peace!
Kurt
Self-anointed Moderator
microscum.pubic.windowsexp.gonorrhea
http://microscum.com/mscommunity
"Trustworthy Computing" is only another example of an Oxymoron!
"Produkt-Aktivierung macht frei"

 

[Frank]

I am setting up a Windows XP Media Center machine and want to pre-empt
activation problems before I get myself caught out swapping out
hardware.
By "setting up", I mean I have been attempting to set up an MCE
machine in my spare time and have been experimenting with different
hardware arrangements on and off for the past couple of months in an
attempt to find something that works well. There is only one
"machine" involved though it seems to have "evolved" a couple of
times during my experiments.
The machine was activated in the first instance, and then re-activated
again (by telephone) when I swapped out the original hardware for a
more suitably powered motherboard/cpu. I've been having problems
with RAM recently and it now looks like the motherboard is also
having issues (machine hangs two or three times a week). When I swap
out the motherboard I just *know* I will need to reactivate (the
network interface is on-board etc). I also plan to do a bit more
stuffing around and changing the hardware (adding 7.1 surround and
changing out
the video card etc) over the next couple of months...

My question after all this is: "for how long can I keep doing this?".
Obviously I'm just stuffing around with hardware and will continue to
do this for months, but can I just keep re-activating by telephone ad
infinitum or is Microsoft likely to start kicking up a fuss and
eventually say no?

Kind regards,
Elliot.

You can activate XP infinately. However on my test box I don't activate
it at all. I just reinstall about every 30 days. This is a bit
annoying but it
saves me a lot of grief with my working computer.