Windows Vista Activation

Kreij · Mar 20, 2008

Okay. So I build my system and install Vista Ultimate (OEM) and activate it.
All is well.

I then added more RAM.
Vista wasn't happy and wanted to be re-activated (for just RAM?).
It would not activate online, but a quick call to MS and all was well.

I just loaded SP1, and it wanted to activate again (no hardware changes).
This time it worked online.

Why couldn't they just tie it to the mobo. New mobo, re-activate. Anything else, good to go.

Anyone else had to re-activate with minor changes? Maybe the OEM versions have tighter scrutiny?

Just wondering.

xmountainxlionx · Mar 21, 2008

mine does the same thing but ive gotten alot of new crap since ive activated it. i usually just ignore it

DanishDevil · Mar 21, 2008

Every time I reinstall XP because I've reformatted (and I've done that about 14 times in the past month) I have to have that 6 minute call with Microsoft with the three oh-so-crucial questions to get it activated. Just make the call. At least it's toll free.

Kreij · Mar 21, 2008

I'm not complaining about the activation process, it's relatively quick and painless, and if you call them it is no problem to get it going.

I was just wondering if other people were seeing reactivation requests on minor hardware changes. Why would adding more RAM cause it to want to reactivate?

Why just updateing to SP1 without hardware changes?

Like I said ... just wondering.

DanishDevil · Mar 21, 2008

Well, their activation thingy lights up on any hardware change sometimes. It's just MS's attempt to keep their software from being on more than 1 system. I've had that happen to me with XP before.

GREASEMONKEY · Mar 21, 2008

I have 4 sytems in my home running vista(1 ult.-3 prem).The ultimate & 1 premium took SP1
wthout a hitch.1 premium required re-activation?,The other premium did not list SP1 in windows up-date,So i manually installed it without any re-activation required.
Also have to add that SP1 has increased performance in every comp.The ultimate machine actually got a 1,100 point increase in 3d 06 without any other changes at all.

Kreij · Mar 21, 2008

Excellent GM. Did you update to SP1 using the online update or download the full update and install offline.

I am wondering if I am seeing this because I do most things in an offline state (download from work, install at home) becuase I am still stuck with dial-up.

GREASEMONKEY · Mar 21, 2008

Kreij said:
Excellent GM. Did you update to SP1 using the online update or download the full update and install offline.

I am wondering if I am seeing this because I do most things in an offline state (download from work, install at home) becuase I am still stuck with dial-up.

3 computers were done on-line with MS auto update. 1 machine was done with the stand alone pkg.

DanishDevil · Mar 21, 2008

GREASEMONKEY said:
I have 4 sytems in my home running vista(1 ult.-3 prem).The ultimate & 1 premium took SP1
wthout a hitch.1 premium required re-activation?,The other premium did not list SP1 in windows up-date,So i manually installed it without any re-activation required.
Also have to add that SP1 has increased performance in every comp.The ultimate machine actually got a 1,100 point increase in 3d 06 without any other changes at all.

Holy

! 1100pts from going to SP1? That's awesome! I can't wait until this weekend!

Oliver_FF · Mar 21, 2008

I got a new motherboard and CPU, and my activation key actually became invalid - had to get another one.

Lucky for my I get Vista Business for free off of MSDNAA (paid for by my university) and can get it again as often as I need to until I leave uni

Had I been any other person I'd have been royally peed off!

Kreij · Mar 21, 2008

Oliver_FF said:
I got a new motherboard and CPU, and my activation key actually became invalid - had to get another one.

Lucky for my I get Vista Business for free off of MSDNAA (paid for by my university) and can get it again as often as I need to until I leave uni

Had I been any other person I'd have been royally peed off!

Would not have mattered. You can just call MS and they will give you a new key to make it work if you change out components.

b1lk1 · Mar 21, 2008

I have made many changes to my Vista Ultimate PC, even a CPU swap and did not need to reactivate.

regan1985 · Mar 21, 2008

ive never had to activate mine and i have reformated and had loads of different hardware! thats random mines Vista Ultimate dont know if its different! loaded sp1 all good
got mine with the laptop i purchased so its a oem

Processor	Q6600 @ 3600mhz with 1600fsb
Motherboard	Asus P5E x38
Cooling	Zalman CPU, and 4x120mm fans
Memory	2 gig(2x1gig) Crucial ballistix 4gig(4x2gig) Corsair
Video Card(s)	ATI 4850
Storage	150gig Raptorx/wd 320gig/2x raptor 37gig
Display(s)	Samsung SnycMaster 906bw/acer 19inch
Case	Lian Li PC V1000II
Audio Device(s)	Creative SB X-FI
Power Supply	600w Silverstone ATX
Software	vista 64, fruityloops, COD4, TF2, HL2
Benchmark Scores	15983 3dmark06

System Name	Big Devil
Processor	Intel Core i5-2500K
Motherboard	ECS P67H2-A2
Cooling	XSPC Rasa \| Black Ice GT Stealth 240 \| XSPC X2O 750 \| 2x ACF12PWM \| PrimoChill White 7/16"
Memory	2x4GB Corsair Vengeance LP Arctic White 1600MHz CL9
Video Card(s)	EVGA GTX 780 ACX SC
Storage	Intel 520 Series 180GB + WD 1TB Blue
Display(s)	HP ZR30W 30" 2650x1600 IPS
Case	Corsair 600T SE
Audio Device(s)	Xonar Essence STX \| Sennheisser PC350 "Hero" Modded \| Corsair SP2500
Power Supply	ABS SL 1050W (Enermax Revolution Rebadge)
Software	Windows 8.1 x64 Pro w/ Media Center
Benchmark Scores	Ducky Year of the Snake w/ Cherry MX Browns & Year of the Tiger PBT Keycaps \| Razer Deathadder Black

System Name	Big Devil
Processor	Intel Core i5-2500K
Motherboard	ECS P67H2-A2
Cooling	XSPC Rasa \| Black Ice GT Stealth 240 \| XSPC X2O 750 \| 2x ACF12PWM \| PrimoChill White 7/16"
Memory	2x4GB Corsair Vengeance LP Arctic White 1600MHz CL9
Video Card(s)	EVGA GTX 780 ACX SC
Storage	Intel 520 Series 180GB + WD 1TB Blue
Display(s)	HP ZR30W 30" 2650x1600 IPS
Case	Corsair 600T SE
Audio Device(s)	Xonar Essence STX \| Sennheisser PC350 "Hero" Modded \| Corsair SP2500
Power Supply	ABS SL 1050W (Enermax Revolution Rebadge)
Software	Windows 8.1 x64 Pro w/ Media Center
Benchmark Scores	Ducky Year of the Snake w/ Cherry MX Browns & Year of the Tiger PBT Keycaps \| Razer Deathadder Black

System Name	SYS-1//SYS-2//SYS-3//SYS-4
Processor	AMD FX-8350//AMD FX-8350//AMD X6 1090T //AMD FX-8350
Motherboard	Biostar TA990FXE//Gigabyte 990FX-G//MSI 890GXM-G65//ASUS M5A99FX Pro 2.0
Cooling	ZEROtherm Nirvana//Corsair H-110i//AMD PII Cooler//AMD CL Water Cooler
Memory	REDLINE 1866 (4X4g)//REDLINE 2133 (4X4g)//Geil (4x2g)//AMD R9 G 2400 (4x4g)
Video Card(s)	XFX R9 270 (CF)//R9 270x(CF) Devil's//XFX HD7870//R9 270X(CF) Devil's
Storage	Corsair ForceIII GS-360 //Samsung 850-Pro//Samsung 840-Pro//Hyper-X Savage 480
Display(s)	Samsung 214T 21.3" LCD//BENQ G2400WD 24" LCD
Case	SIGMA LUNA//Corsair 650D //Silverstone SG-01//Cooler Master HAF-XB
Audio Device(s)	X-FI Fatality Pro//Sound Blaster Z//Sound Blaster Z//Sound Blaster Z
Power Supply	Corsair HX620W//Corsair HX850i//Corsair HX620//Corsair HX 750
Mouse	Logitech G9x // Logitech MX-518
Keyboard	Corsair Strafe//HyperX Alloy Elite
Software	Win 7 Ult-64 In Them All

System Name	SYS-1//SYS-2//SYS-3//SYS-4
Processor	AMD FX-8350//AMD FX-8350//AMD X6 1090T //AMD FX-8350
Motherboard	Biostar TA990FXE//Gigabyte 990FX-G//MSI 890GXM-G65//ASUS M5A99FX Pro 2.0
Cooling	ZEROtherm Nirvana//Corsair H-110i//AMD PII Cooler//AMD CL Water Cooler
Memory	REDLINE 1866 (4X4g)//REDLINE 2133 (4X4g)//Geil (4x2g)//AMD R9 G 2400 (4x4g)
Video Card(s)	XFX R9 270 (CF)//R9 270x(CF) Devil's//XFX HD7870//R9 270X(CF) Devil's
Storage	Corsair ForceIII GS-360 //Samsung 850-Pro//Samsung 840-Pro//Hyper-X Savage 480
Display(s)	Samsung 214T 21.3" LCD//BENQ G2400WD 24" LCD
Case	SIGMA LUNA//Corsair 650D //Silverstone SG-01//Cooler Master HAF-XB
Audio Device(s)	X-FI Fatality Pro//Sound Blaster Z//Sound Blaster Z//Sound Blaster Z
Power Supply	Corsair HX620W//Corsair HX850i//Corsair HX620//Corsair HX 750
Mouse	Logitech G9x // Logitech MX-518
Keyboard	Corsair Strafe//HyperX Alloy Elite
Software	Win 7 Ult-64 In Them All

Windows Vista Activation

Kreij

Senior Monkey Moderator

xmountainxlionx

DanishDevil

Kreij

Senior Monkey Moderator

DanishDevil

GREASEMONKEY

Kreij

Senior Monkey Moderator

GREASEMONKEY

DanishDevil

Oliver_FF

New Member

Kreij

Senior Monkey Moderator

b1lk1

New Member

regan1985

New Member

Processor	Intel q9400 @ stock
Motherboard	Lanparty P45-T2RS
Cooling	Zalman CNPS-9500
Memory	8GB OCZ PC2-6400
Video Card(s)	BFG Nvidia GTX285 OC
Storage	1TB, 500GB, 500GB
Display(s)	20" Samsung T200HD
Case	Antec Mini P180
Audio Device(s)	Sound Blaster X-Fi Elite Pro
Power Supply	700w Hiper
Software	Ubuntu x64 virtualising Vista

System Name	Money pit
Processor	Q2Q Q8300
Motherboard	ASUS P5E3 deluxe WIFI AP@N
Cooling	120.2/Swiftech655/Apogee GT/DD Fillport & res
Memory	OCZ PC3-1333MHZ 2X1GB/Kingston HYPERX PC3-1325MHz
Video Card(s)	Sapphire HD4830
Storage	Seagate 7200.11 1TB
Display(s)	Dell 2209WA
Case	some crap 5 year old generic modded case
Audio Device(s)	X-FI fagtality
Power Supply	PC P&C 510W
Software	Vista Premium 64

Processor	yorkfield core 2 quad Q8200 3.2ghz 1.26v
Motherboard	asus p5Q SE
Cooling	akasa ak965
Memory	Kingston 1066 2x2gb 1104mhz 2.2v
Video Card(s)	SAPPHIRE HD 2600 XT DDR3 857/1078
Storage	2X Samsung spinpoint 500GB 7200 4x 1tb samsung eco 5400
Display(s)	2xSamsung P2270 22" Widescreen
Case	NZXT Hush Quiet Case in Black
Power Supply	OCZ StealthXStream 500w Silent Power Supply
Software	windows 7 64