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[supermop]

You just need to phone microsoft and they will send you a reactivation key. It's really easy mate.

The reason it wouldn't reactivate is because you were supplied with an OEM license. These licenses are for system builders such as DELL, HP etc. They only come with a one time activation, and will need to be reactivated if a piece of hardware has been changed and you have to reinstall. As it is an OEM license, you have to call microsoft to get an unlock key, since they are only supposed to be used on one PC with specific hardware.

Miscrosoft may say you wont be able to reactivate, but I doubt it. Just play on some heart strings of the operator, and tell em eactly what happened - your hard drive blew, and you replaced it.

[Paul M]

The reason it wouldn't reactivate is because you were supplied with an OEM license. These licenses are for system builders such as DELL, HP etc. They only come with a one time activation, and will need to be reactivated if a piece of hardware has been changed and you have to reinstall. As it is an OEM license, you have to call microsoft to get an unlock key, since they are only supposed to be used on one PC with specific hardware.

Not necessarily. My Dell laptop with XP Pro OEM has had 3 new motherboards, 3 new bluetooth modules and a new keyboard! Reliable machines eh? Good thing I have the client gold upgrade with 3 years on-site service

Recently I also replaced the HD which meant a new install, again no hassle - no activation required. It really depends on the vendor and how they've implemented their systems.

[Paul M]

I know a lot of people don't like WPA/WGA.  Many of the people who it has actually inconvenienced are the people who shared their W2K/98/95 CDs to all their mates. Windows piracy was rife, along with Office.  So many people were using the well known corporate keys that when SP1 was released (which looked for these keys), that was when the anti WPA brigade started. As did the WPA cracks. WGA is a fairly simple system to check that Windows is properly activated, and hence not a system that has had a WPA crack run on it.  Also, WGA does not (currently) run for critical security updates.

This is the bit I find most interesting: "Windows piracy was rife". Personally I'd be amazed if WPA/WGA and the like have made any more than a tiny blip on the scale of Windows piracy. People who have gone and either downloaded a Windows CD, purchased one at a dodgy stall, or borrowed the CD off a mate for free or almost free, are very unlikely to rush out and pay £200 for a genuine retail copy just because a little box pops up saying "your software may not be genuine" or whatever the heck it does. Much more likely they'll go  online and download a crack, or go ask a mate how to get rid, or something similar that costs nothing or as close to nothing as possible. Yes it's a mild inconvenience for them, but ultimately it's doing very little to cure the issue and as such is a failure. Couple that to the added inconvenience and privacy concerns of those customers who have paid the £200 or whatever their OEM licence was, and I really don't find it a good strategy at all.

I've just found I'm entitled to a free full copy of a Vista DVD, not sure what version might be the business one rather than ultimate but I'll probably go grab it this week some time. It certianly won't be my primary desktop but whether it stays on my system at all depends on how much M$ intends to snoop into my PC on a regular basis just to check that I haven't suddenly replaced my legit copy with a pirated one for the hell of it... WTF!

[supermop]

The reason it wouldn't reactivate is because you were supplied with an OEM license. These licenses are for system builders such as DELL, HP etc. They only come with a one time activation, and will need to be reactivated if a piece of hardware has been changed and you have to reinstall. As it is an OEM license, you have to call microsoft to get an unlock key, since they are only supposed to be used on one PC with specific hardware.

Not necessarily. My Dell laptop with XP Pro OEM has had 3 new motherboards, 3 new bluetooth modules and a new keyboard! Reliable machines eh? Good thing I have the client gold upgrade with 3 years on-site service

Recently I also replaced the HD which meant a new install, again no hassle - no activation required. It really depends on the vendor and how they've implemented their systems.

XP was never strict about OEMs before, but they have cracked right down on it now. You will not be able to do the same with Vista, or any recent OEM's of XP.

[TheBoy]

I know a lot of people don't like WPA/WGA.  Many of the people who it has actually inconvenienced are the people who shared their W2K/98/95 CDs to all their mates. Windows piracy was rife, along with Office.  So many people were using the well known corporate keys that when SP1 was released (which looked for these keys), that was when the anti WPA brigade started. As did the WPA cracks. WGA is a fairly simple system to check that Windows is properly activated, and hence not a system that has had a WPA crack run on it.  Also, WGA does not (currently) run for critical security updates.

This is the bit I find most interesting: "Windows piracy was rife". Personally I'd be amazed if WPA/WGA and the like have made any more than a tiny blip on the scale of Windows piracy. People who have gone and either downloaded a Windows CD, purchased one at a dodgy stall, or borrowed the CD off a mate for free or almost free, are very unlikely to rush out and pay £200 for a genuine retail copy just because a little box pops up saying "your software may not be genuine" or whatever the heck it does. Much more likely they'll go  online and download a crack, or go ask a mate how to get rid, or something similar that costs nothing or as close to nothing as possible. Yes it's a mild inconvenience for them, but ultimately it's doing very little to cure the issue and as such is a failure. Couple that to the added inconvenience and privacy concerns of those customers who have paid the £200 or whatever their OEM licence was, and I really don't find it a good strategy at all.

I've just found I'm entitled to a free full copy of a Vista DVD, not sure what version might be the business one rather than ultimate but I'll probably go grab it this week some time. It certianly won't be my primary desktop but whether it stays on my system at all depends on how much M$ intends to snoop into my PC on a regular basis just to check that I haven't suddenly replaced my legit copy with a pirated one for the hell of it... WTF!

WPA/WGA has helped no end.

A huge number of normal, ignorant people had illicit copies of 95/98/2k etc running. XP WPA made it more difficult for these users to use illicitly. Some got their mates etc to get cracks etc, but then sp1 made it happen all over again.  afaik, WGA hasn't been broken, so these pop ups become annoying to illicit users. Slowly, MS will start locking down those that fail...

Current piracy levels are far too high even now, so expect MS to get more stringent.

Fortunately, I have 3 upgrades to Vista Ultimate as well as 1 licence to use our corporate version (and I have the DVD and the corporate key )