ReActivation after ghosting?

[***** charles]

Hi all,

I needed to test a different hard drive on an XP machine.
I disconnected the two hd's (master 40G slave 120G, XP
installed on 40G) and hooked up an 80G for testing/
formating purposes (didn't work out but that's another
long story). When I disconnected the 80G and re
connected the 40G and 120G XP wanted me to do
another activation saying that the computer configuration
had changed "drastically". I had several ghost images
of the C: drive so I thought that if I just re-ghosted, the
activation problem would go away, it didn't. The other
problem is that when the activation message comes up
it doesn't actually let me go through with the process,
it just locks up/doesn't complete. If I say no, it lets
me go ahead and boot into the desktop giving me a
3 day warning. So my questions are:

1. I thought activation was limited to the partition level?

2. If I wipe the 40G'er with a hd cleaner, write 00h to
the whole thing and then re-apply a ghost image,
would that fix it?

3. What's the proper way to fix this problem? I do
not want to build from scratch since there are about
a week of install's for all the programs installed on
the thing.

4. Am I correct in thinking that if I just disconnect and
reconnect the cable to the C: drive, that this will
kick in the reactivation process? How does it "know"
that the install drive was ever disconnected?

thanks,
charles....

 

[Timothy Daniels]

Hi all,

I needed to test a different hard drive on an XP machine.
I disconnected the two hd's (master 40G slave 120G, XP
installed on 40G) and hooked up an 80G for testing/
formating purposes (didn't work out but that's another
long story). When I disconnected the 80G and re
connected the 40G and 120G XP wanted me to do
another activation saying that the computer configuration
had changed "drastically". I had several ghost images
of the C: drive so I thought that if I just re-ghosted, the
activation problem would go away, it didn't. The other
problem is that when the activation message comes up
it doesn't actually let me go through with the process,
it just locks up/doesn't complete. If I say no, it lets
me go ahead and boot into the desktop giving me a
3 day warning. So my questions are:

1. I thought activation was limited to the partition level?

2. If I wipe the 40G'er with a hd cleaner, write 00h to
the whole thing and then re-apply a ghost image,
would that fix it?

3. What's the proper way to fix this problem? I do
not want to build from scratch since there are about
a week of install's for all the programs installed on
the thing.

4. Am I correct in thinking that if I just disconnect and
reconnect the cable to the C: drive, that this will
kick in the reactivation process? How does it "know"
that the install drive was ever disconnected?

If it has been more than 4 months since you last activated
the original OS, activation can be done online - just re-enter
the product key for the OS. Since the timer for the 4 months
(i.e. 120 days) is in the OS itself (not at Microsoft), each
clone of the OS will activate online in the same way without
setting off bells at Microsoft. If it has been less than 4 months
since you installed the original OS, just call Microsoft and
tell the rep the situation.

*TimDaniels*

 

[Timothy Daniels]

4. Am I correct in thinking that if I just disconnect and
reconnect the cable to the C: drive, that this will
kick in the reactivation process? How does it "know"
that the install drive was ever disconnected?

No, it takes a lot more to trigger the reactivation
requirement. I juggle 3 different HDs in various
combinations frequently with no reactivation required.
In my system, I have to involve other devices in the
juggling, e.g. a CD drive and a PCI IDE controller
to trigger reactivation.

*TimDaniels*

 

[mdp]

There are several things XP checks to determine if something has changed
(Windows Product Activation or WPA). This article has a good description:

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

The site also has links to two very useful programs, 1) a utility that
allows you to manually set the Volume Serial Number (VSN) and 2) a utility
that examines what XP has determined has changed since its last boot.
Windows monitors the VSN for each partition along with the HD ID. If you
reformat, a new VSN is created. If you restore from a previous image, make
certain all the drives are connected exactly the way they were connected
when the image was created. A Norton Ghost image of a partition restores the
VSN with the partition. Windows is apparently detecting a change somewhere -
perhaps the way the drives are connected to the MB (Primary/Secondary and
Master/Slave), total number of partitions, VSNs for each partition, ... ,
something. Additionally, ensure no new HW is present since the image was
created (e.g. another CDROM, another or new NIC - BTW the NIC gets more
votes than other items) and you should be able to restore.

 

[Ron Martell]

Hi all,

I needed to test a different hard drive on an XP machine.
I disconnected the two hd's (master 40G slave 120G, XP
installed on 40G) and hooked up an 80G for testing/
formating purposes (didn't work out but that's another
long story). When I disconnected the 80G and re
connected the 40G and 120G XP wanted me to do
another activation saying that the computer configuration
had changed "drastically". I had several ghost images
of the C: drive so I thought that if I just re-ghosted, the
activation problem would go away, it didn't. The other
problem is that when the activation message comes up
it doesn't actually let me go through with the process,
it just locks up/doesn't complete. If I say no, it lets
me go ahead and boot into the desktop giving me a
3 day warning. So my questions are:

1. I thought activation was limited to the partition level?

2. If I wipe the 40G'er with a hd cleaner, write 00h to
the whole thing and then re-apply a ghost image,
would that fix it?

3. What's the proper way to fix this problem? I do
not want to build from scratch since there are about
a week of install's for all the programs installed on
the thing.

4. Am I correct in thinking that if I just disconnect and
reconnect the cable to the C: drive, that this will
kick in the reactivation process? How does it "know"
that the install drive was ever disconnected?

Reactivation on the same hardware should never be a problem.

If you are getting lockups during the activation process then you
should try doing a manual activation by telephone. It only takes a
few minutes. If you are asked for an explanation just say you are
restoring a backup disk image and the system is asking you to
reactivate.

Activation works by checking 10 specific hardware items in your
computer and comparing these items with the hardware that was present
the last time Windows was activated. If the total number of changes
exceeds the allowable limit, meaning that there is good reason to
question whether or not this is in fact still the same computer, then
a reactivation is required.

Note that the hardware change tracking is cumulative since the last
activation. A change in the hard drive will not, in itself, trigger a
requirement to reactivate. But it could be the item that pushes the
cumulative total of hardware changes past the allowable limit.

Hope this explains the situation.

Good luck

Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada
--
Microsoft MVP (1997 - 2006)
On-Line Help Computer Service
http://onlinehelp.bc.ca

"Anyone who thinks that they are too small to make a difference
has never been in bed with a mosquito."