I think much software activation looks at the drive serial number, and if
its not the one it had when it was put in in the first place, it does
something depending on what it is supposed to do.

I do think that not letting you at the very least have another set of
activations for y our money is a bit mean. I ran across this the other day
when bringing back up a friends machine with the Jaws screenreader on it.

I did all the installs, activated the screen reader, then I decided to
upgrade the ram for him, as I had a spare stick here.

Result, bloody jaws needed to be reactivated again. There are now no codes
left of course.

I personally feel that anything under 10 reinstalls is criminal given the
high cost of software and the unreliability of Windows and some hardware,
and the oversensitivity to changing hardware is just stupid.

Brian

--
Brian Gaff....Note, this account does not accept Bcc: email.
graphics are great, but the blind can't hear them
Email: briang1@blueyonder.co.uk
__________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ __________


"Carey Frisch [MVP]" <cnfrisch@nospamgmail.com> wrote in message
news:%23MRILe$DGHA.2088@TK2MSFTNGP09.phx.gbl...
> No. Product activation is required whenever you
> reformat your hard drive and reinstall the software.
> There is a 30 day grace period before Windows XP
> actually requires activation.
>
> --
> Carey Frisch
> Microsoft MVP
> Windows - Shell/User
> Microsoft Community Newsgroups
> news://msnews.microsoft.com/
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> "Xu" wrote:
>
> | I have now had three products that I bought--including XP--give me an
> | activation waring. XP is no trouble, but the other two companies cut me
> off
> | and said I had to buy a new version of their software.
> |
> | I am wondering, once I get everything set up the way I like it, can't I
> just
> | clone my HDD thereby avoiding activation in the future when I reformat?
>