From pages 3 to 6 of
Microsoft® Product Activation for Windows® XP
Technical Market Bulletin · August 2001
Technical Details on Microsoft Product Activation for Windows XP
Product Activation and retail boxed software product
Product activation relies on the submission of the Installation ID. The Installation ID is specifically designed to guarantee anonymity and is only used by Microsoft to deter piracy. The Installation ID is comprised of two different pieces of information – the product ID and a hardware hash (a hash is a numeric value derived through a mathematical formula and based upon some other, original value). The product ID is unique to the installation of Windows and is created from the product key used during installation. Each product key delivered with retail boxed software is unique, and the product ID it creates is unique. Microsoft uses the product ID for other purposes in addition to product activation such as when requesting product support. The product ID can be found by viewing the Properties of My Computer (an example of a product ID is 12345-123-1234567-12345).
The hardware hash is an eight byte value that is created by running 10 different pieces of information from the PC’s hardware components through a one-way mathematical transformation This means that the resultant hash value cannot be backwards calculated to determine the original values. Further, only a portion of the resulting hash value is used in the hardware hash in order to ensure complete anonymity.
Example: A processor serial number is 96 bits in length. When hashed, the resultant one-way hash is 128 bits in length. Microsoft uses only six bits from that resultant hash in activation’s hardware hash. Due to the nature of the hashing algorithm, those six bits cannot be backwards calculated to determine anything at all about the original processor serial number.
Moreover, six bits represent 64 (2^6) different values. There were over 100 million PCs sold last year worldwide. From those 100 million PCs sold, only 64 different hardware hash values could be created as part of activation.
Microsoft developed the hardware hash in this way in order to maintain the user’s privacy.
Additionally, whether or not the PC can be put into a docking station or accepts PCMCIA cards is also determined (the possibility of a docking station or PCMCIA cards existing means that hardware may disappear or seem changed when those devices are not present). Finally, the hardware hash algorithm has a version number. Together with the general nature of the other values used, two different PCs could actually create the same hardware hash. The 10 different hardware values used to create the hash are outlined in the table below:
Table 1: Hardware hash component values
Component Name
Example Hash Value (#o of bits)
1
Display Adapter
00010 (5)
2
SCSI Adapter
00011 (5)
3
IDE Adapter
0011 (4)
4
Network Adapter MAC Address
1001011000 (10)
5
RAM Amount Range (i.e. 0-64mb, 64-128mb, etc)
101 (3)
6
Processor Type
011 (3)
7
Processor Serial Number
000000 (6)
8
Hard Drive Device
1101100 (7)
9
Hard Drive Volume Serial Number
1001000001 (10)
10
CD–ROM / CD-RW / DVD-ROM
0101111 (7)
-
“Dockableâ€
0 (1)
-
Hardware Hash version (version of algorithm used)
001 (3)
The product ID (nine bytes) and hardware hash (eight bytes) are used by Microsoft to process the activation request. When activation is done over the Internet, these two values form the Installation ID (in a binary format) and are sent along with request header information directly through secure sockets (SSL in HTTP) to the Microsoft activation system in a binary format. There are three communications made to complete Internet activation:
1.. Handshake request: Contains product ID, hardware hash, and request header data such as request ID (for linking the handshake, request, and acknowledgement) and activation technology version. 262 bytes total.
2.. License request: Contains product ID, hardware hash, and customer data structure for holding voluntary registration information if provided. If registration is skipped, this structure is empty. Also contains request header data such as request ID and the PKCS10 digital certificate request structure. The PKCS10 structure can vary slightly based on the inclusion of voluntary registration information; about 2763 to 3000 bytes total.
3.. Acknowledgement request Contains certificate ID (returned to user’s machine after license request), issue date, and error code. 126 bytes total.
If Internet activation is successful, the activation confirmation is sent directly back to the user’s PC as a digital certificate. This certificate is digitally signed by Microsoft so that it cannot be altered or counterfeited. The confirmation packet returned as part of Internet activation is approximately 9 kbytes in size (the digital certificate chain accounts for most of the confirmation data packet size).
If activation is done by telephoning a customer service representative, the product ID and hardware hash are automatically displayed to the user as the Installation ID; a 50 digit decimal representation. The encoding encrypts the data so that it cannot be altered and provides check digits to help aid in error handling. Telephone activation is a four step process:
1.. Selecting the country from which the call is being made so that an appropriate phone number can be shown in the product UI.
2.. Dialing the phone number
3.. Providing the Installation ID to the customer service representative
4.. Entering the Confirmation ID provided by the customer service representative.
The confirmation ID is a 42-digit integer containing the activation key and check digits that aid in error handling. Both the installation ID and confirmation ID are displayed to the user in easily understandable segments in the product UI.
Modifications to hardware and how they affect the activation status of Windows XP
Product activation rechecks the hardware it is running only to help reduce illegal hard disk cloning – another prevalent piracy method. Hard disk cloning is where a pirate copies the entire image of a hard disk from one PC to another PC. At each login, Windows XP checks to see that it is running on the same or similar hardware that it was activated on. If it detects that the hardware is “substantially differentâ€, reactivation is required. This check is performed after the SLP BIOS check discussed above, if the SLP BIOS check fails. This means that if your PC is pre-activated in the factory using the SLP pre-activation method, all the components in the PC could be swapped, including the motherboard, so long as the replacement motherboard was genuine and from the OEM with the proper BIOS. As noted above, installations of Windows XP made using volume licensing media and volume license product keys (VLKs) will not have any hardware component checking.
Microsoft defines “substantially different†hardware differently for PCs that are configured to be dockable. Additionally, the network adapter is given a superior “weighting.†If the PC is not dockable and a network adapter exists and is not changed, 6 or more of the other above values would have to change before reactivation was required. If a network adapter existed but is changed or never existed at all, 4 or more changes (including the changed network adapter if it previously existed) will result in a requirement to reactivate.
Scenario A:
PC One has the full assortment of hardware components listed in Table 1 above. User swaps the motherboard and CPU chip for an upgraded one, swaps the video adapter, adds a second hard drive for additional storage, doubles the amount of RAM, and swaps the CD ROM drive for a faster one.
Result: Reactivation is NOT required.
Scenario B:
PC Two has the full assortment of hardware components listed in Table 1 except that it has no network adapter. User doubles the amount of RAM, swaps the video card and the SCSI controller.
Result: Reactivation is NOT required.
Dockable PCs are treated slightly more leniently. In a dockable PC, if a network adapter exists and is not changed, 9 or more of the other above values would have to change before reactivation was required. If no network adapter exists or the existing one is changed, 7 or more changes (including the network adapter) will result in a requirement to reactivate.
Scenario C:
Dockable PC Three has the full assortment of hardware components listed in Table 1 except that it has no network adapter. User doubles the amount of RAM, swaps to a bigger hard disk drive, and adds a network adapter.
Result: Reactivation is NOT required.
The change of a single component multiple times (e.g. from video adapter A to video adapter B to video adapter C) is treated as a single change. The addition of components to a PC, such as adding a second hard drive which did not exist during the original activation, would not trigger the need for a reactivation nor would the modification of a component not listed in the above table. Additionally, reinstallation of Windows XP on the same or similar hardware and a subsequent reactivation can be accomplished an infinite number of times. Finally, the Microsoft activation clearinghouse system will automatically allow activation to occur over the Internet four times in one year on substantially different hardware. This last feature was implemented to allow even the most savvy power users to make changes to their systems and, if they must reactivate, do so over the Internet rather than necessitating a telephone call.
As I stated the only way I have found to remove a network card (after activation) is to reinstall XP. That is why you get the box that says "may be required for boot up" or words to that effect.
--
Just my 2¢ worth,
Jeff
__________in response to__________
|> The only way I have found to remove is a complete reinstall. The network
| card is part of the license hash.
|
| Where have you found this information?
|
| For a while now I've been trying to delete entries of unused network
| adapters (not anymore present physically in my computer)
| but haven't found a solution
| or even an explanation.
