Question for those who had to call Microsoft to reactivate Vista

[Sandan]

Can you tell me what Questions they asked you...Did you have to give them your product key? Tell them the hardware you changed? Promise to give your first born?
Thanks....

 

[Agentbolt]

I had the WORST experience with this. After OCing my CPU I got an error message that said my hardware had changed and I needed to activate windows. When I tried to do that, it said my key was already in use.

I called Microsoft and got turfed at least 5 times from tech to activations and back again. Eventually I got someone who asked for my Windows ID, which was a 54 number code, and they validated it and gave me a new key. So far, that's worked fine. So far...

 

[Sandan]

Wow...That sucks. All you did was overclock the CPU? There must be a bug in Vista. I hope they patch it really soon.

 

[fishingeek]

I've had to redo it twice. The first time I just told them that I had some "goofy things going on with my install". They didn't give me any trouble about doing it. I did a clean install today after having issues with office and firefox, my activation went through without having to call in.

 

[Don66]

I had to call in to activate my copy of vista home premium and had to give the non-english speaking person my my key..
For some reason he thought that when I said the number 8 I was saying Q..
Then proceeded to tell me that my copy was on many computers:Q
After about 20mins. or so we broke through the language barrier and he activated my copy of Vista.
Why can't a company the size of MS hire someone that speak and understand english?!

 

[Canterwood]

Originally posted by: Don66
Why can't a company the size of MS hire someone that speak and understand english?!

Because its all about the not so mighty dollar.

 

[Topplayer]

Originally posted by: Don66

For some reason he thought that when I said the number 8 I was saying Q..

i hate that. and i hate having to go threw everything 10 times to make sure its right

 

[delco007]

Actually its not a bug but Windows Vista activation fails whenever theres a change in hardware configuration and while OCing the clock speed of a CPU increases and hence Windows Vista detects it as a hardware change and thus asking u for reactivation .

If this is not correct then update me with the latest information.


Guru

 

[Fishy007]

Originally posted by: delco007
Actually its not a bug but Windows Vista activation fails whenever theres a change in hardware configuration and while OCing the clock speed of a CPU increases and hence Windows Vista detects it as a hardware change and thus asking u for reactivation .

If this is not correct then update me with the latest information.


Guru

If it's correct, then it's assinine. What's going to happen to the users like me that like to experiment with overclocking? Every time I change something I'm going to have to re-activate? God help you if you overclock and have an OEM copy!

 

[fraquar]

Originally posted by: Fishy007
If it's correct, then it's assinine. What's going to happen to the users like me that like to experiment with overclocking? Every time I change something I'm going to have to re-activate? God help you if you overclock and have an OEM copy!

If there ever was a time that was ripe for someone to come in and threaten Microsoft's dominance in the gaming industry (the PC industry's cash cow) it would be now with Vista's release.

Too bad no one is in position to threaten Microsoft, because to be honest the only real compelling reason to upgrade is because Microsoft is not making DirectX 10 available to their other legacy OS'. As for the average PC user who isn't a gamer there is little else that is compelling enough to justify switching other than that - or the "I need to have the newest brightest shiniest OS available" visionquest.

I'd say it's safe to say that a pretty good percentage of overclockers (people affected by your situation) are also gamers (looking for any edge they can get).

In that sense a strange paradox exists with Vista in regards to Gamers.

Gamers (and the gaming industry as a whole) live on the bleeding edge of technology (and that is in perpetual motion) - and Vista by default implements a mechanism that intends for the PC owner to stay locked in to his existing (and rapidly becoming obsolete) technology - or give Microsoft a convincing reason to not think of them as criminals pirating or illegaly using there product.

 

[Sandan]

Originally posted by: Fishy007

Originally posted by: delco007
Actually its not a bug but Windows Vista activation fails whenever theres a change in hardware configuration and while OCing the clock speed of a CPU increases and hence Windows Vista detects it as a hardware change and thus asking u for reactivation .

If this is not correct then update me with the latest information.


Guru

If it's correct, then it's assinine. What's going to happen to the users like me that like to experiment with overclocking? Every time I change something I'm going to have to re-activate? God help you if you overclock and have an OEM copy!

I don't think it is true with everyone. On tom's Hardware forum I posted about the reactivation problems and got a couple of responses that it didn't happen to them after similar changes. The mystery to me is what causes it...OEM copies, Beta copies, pirated copies or full retail copies and the luck of the draw???

 

[bbear1]

Questions they asked me:
1. How many PCs is Vista installed on?

Thats it.

 

[Sandan]

Thanks bbear1. Seems people get asked different things......

 

[nZone]

I have to call in to reactivate vista ultimate because I replace my failed hard drive. Before anyone asks; I did not do a reinstall of vista on the new drives. I did a "Windows Complete PC Restore". I thought it was all good and all that. Until 3 days later; I open "Welcome Center" screen and click on "More Detail" about my computer. I notice under registration: 'Windows require reactivation TODAY or Windows will stop function" <--not exact phrase but similar in that nature. I was like "what da ^%$^%$^%#*^*"

It didn't require reactivation when I overclock my cpu; remove 2 video card (SLI) -- replace it with a GTX; and a sound card. But replace hard drive trigger it.

When I called in they ask:

1. What is your install key in the first box; I promptly gave them.
2. Where did I purchase my Vista; comes pre-installed on a pc or retail?; I replied Retail.
3. How many PCs do I install Vista (with this particular key); I replied one.
4. Then they gave me the new activation code; I was done.

 

[Kyle]

Originally posted by: fraquar

Originally posted by: Fishy007
If it's correct, then it's assinine. What's going to happen to the users like me that like to experiment with overclocking? Every time I change something I'm going to have to re-activate? God help you if you overclock and have an OEM copy!

If there ever was a time that was ripe for someone to come in and threaten Microsoft's dominance in the gaming industry (the PC industry's cash cow) it would be now with Vista's release.

Too bad no one is in position to threaten Microsoft, because to be honest the only real compelling reason to upgrade is because Microsoft is not making DirectX 10 available to their other legacy OS'. As for the average PC user who isn't a gamer there is little else that is compelling enough to justify switching other than that - or the "I need to have the newest brightest shiniest OS available" visionquest.

I'd say it's safe to say that a pretty good percentage of overclockers (people affected by your situation) are also gamers (looking for any edge they can get).

In that sense a strange paradox exists with Vista in regards to Gamers.

Gamers (and the gaming industry as a whole) live on the bleeding edge of technology (and that is in perpetual motion) - and Vista by default implements a mechanism that intends for the PC owner to stay locked in to his existing (and rapidly becoming obsolete) technology - or give Microsoft a convincing reason to not think of them as criminals pirating or illegaly using there product.

I have an OEM copy of vista ultimate.
I overclock and have had to re-activate about 5 times now.
Every time it worked just by clicking the activate button- it takes about 15 sec's as it checks online then says it is activated. Never had to call in. Again, this is w/ the OEM version, so YMMV

 

[Griswold]

Originally posted by: Sandan

Originally posted by: Fishy007

Originally posted by: delco007
Actually its not a bug but Windows Vista activation fails whenever theres a change in hardware configuration and while OCing the clock speed of a CPU increases and hence Windows Vista detects it as a hardware change and thus asking u for reactivation .

If this is not correct then update me with the latest information.


Guru

If it's correct, then it's assinine. What's going to happen to the users like me that like to experiment with overclocking? Every time I change something I'm going to have to re-activate? God help you if you overclock and have an OEM copy!

I don't think it is true with everyone. On tom's Hardware forum I posted about the reactivation problems and got a couple of responses that it didn't happen to them after similar changes. The mystery to me is what causes it...OEM copies, Beta copies, pirated copies or full retail copies and the luck of the draw???

My money is on OEM. They probably have a much lower tollerance on so called hardware changes than retail versions. For example, a co-worker with a very similar rig had to manually install nvidias SATA drivers because their broken nforce 15 drivers wouldnt do that with the installer (I have yet to hear of anyone say it worked, but thats a different story) - after rebooting, he had to reactivate his OEM vista ultimate. I did the same and didnt get the reactivation request for my ultimate upgrade version.

Edit: In fact, I've been going back and forth thru vistas guts since I installed it, thanks to nvidias lousy drivers, and havent had any reactivation requests so far.

 

[Matthias99]

Originally posted by: Fishy007
If it's correct, then it's assinine. What's going to happen to the users like me that like to experiment with overclocking? Every time I change something I'm going to have to re-activate? God help you if you overclock and have an OEM copy!

It depends on what you change; there's a certain tolerance level (so, say, adding a new hard drive might not require reactivation, but adding a new hard drive and a new sound card and adding RAM probably would.) Maybe it's extra-touchy about CPU/bus speed, at least with OEM versions.

If you're going to do a new build, you have what, 30 days to activate it? Just don't activate it until you get it working the way you want it.

Usually with minor hardware changes like that, you can just reactivate it online. I've had to call in once with XP (after changing the whole motherboard out) and I didn't have any problems. I gave them my product ID, they read me back the code to punch in to activate it.

It's kind of a PITA if you change out hardware all the time. The vast majority of users are not doing that -- and it's Microsoft's OS, and they think it's necessary to help curb casual piracy. If it was a huge pain to more people and everyone complained (or didn't buy Windows), it might cut into sales enough for them to reconsider.

 

[cubby1223]

Originally posted by: Don66
Why can't a company the size of MS hire someone that speak and understand english?!

Some of the big computer companies, if you request a Spanish speaking rep, they speak and understand English far better than the rep in India you usually get.

Just a little trick that usually works quite well.

 

[SimMike2]

If you're going to do a new build, you have what, 30 days to activate it? Just don't activate it until you get it working the way you want it.

This is exactly what I did. I waited about 22 days before activating. One of the last changes I made was to start overclocking my CPU again, which works fine. I also did two installs, the first one a very buggy upgrade of my XP install. After I wiped this, I reinstalled my good XP from an image file and didn't install Vista for a few more days, this time choosing to dual boot with a clean copy of XP. I also did a restore from the Vista Backup image file at one point, all before activating.

I say use the 30 day window to the max and make sure you have it working like you want. Just remember, when you install, one of the first popup boxes has a box checked by default which says "automatically activate when online." Uncheck this dirty little ah heck. Even with the box checked, I think it still gives you three days, which in my opinion, is not near enough test time. I forgot to check this one time, remembered a few minutes later and aborted the entire install and started again.

With overclocking, the trouble is when it gets hotter in the summer, I roll back my overclock for a couple of months. Hopefully I won't have reactivation problems. I'm using the full version of Vista Business, which I got for free. Hopefully this is more for OEM versions.

 

[mechBgon]

As for the average PC user who isn't a gamer there is little else that is compelling enough to justify switching other than that - or the "I need to have the newest brightest shiniest OS available" visionquest.

I'd say the improved security of Vista tops my list of reasons for the "average PC user" to switch to Vista. They need the help. They need their browser, IM, email and media player to be deprived of Admin powers, and Vista makes it possible for non-geeks to do that pretty easily, right out of the box. And that's just the beginning of the improvements.

 

[zig3695]

Originally posted by: Griswold

My money is on OEM. They probably have a much lower tollerance on so called hardware changes than retail versions. For example, a co-worker with a very similar rig had to manually install nvidias SATA drivers because their broken nforce 15 drivers wouldnt do that with the installer (I have yet to hear of anyone say it worked, but thats a different story) - after rebooting, he had to reactivate his OEM vista ultimate. I did the same and didnt get the reactivation request for my ultimate upgrade version.

Edit: In fact, I've been going back and forth thru vistas guts since I installed it, thanks to nvidias lousy drivers, and havent had any reactivation requests so far.

this is NOT true. all versions have the exact same tolerances and handling of hardware changes. the WGA protection is identical in all versions, microsoft has the right to kill OEM licenses (but never will) and with the retail versions they legally allow multiple transfers, but the conditions on what a transfer is does not change between OEM and retail.

if you notice, NOBODY has complained EVER about microsoft killing their OEM license, for vista and even XP. all those years people that had OEM xp keys and ive never heard of one thats been permanently de-activated. As said already, M$ asks for one question and one question ONLY, "How many PC's do you have this windows vista installation on?" thats it. you tell them one, then exchange a long-ass number and then your pc is the only one thats verified with that key. all previous combinations are de-activated on their authentication servers.

Its clear they just want every pc to have one key, OEM or not. they specifically said the real bonus to the retail versions are the M$ Support lines. thats it.

 

[mechBgon]

Originally posted by: zig3695

Originally posted by: Griswold

My money is on OEM. They probably have a much lower tollerance on so called hardware changes than retail versions. For example, a co-worker with a very similar rig had to manually install nvidias SATA drivers because their broken nforce 15 drivers wouldnt do that with the installer (I have yet to hear of anyone say it worked, but thats a different story) - after rebooting, he had to reactivate his OEM vista ultimate. I did the same and didnt get the reactivation request for my ultimate upgrade version.

Edit: In fact, I've been going back and forth thru vistas guts since I installed it, thanks to nvidias lousy drivers, and havent had any reactivation requests so far.

this is NOT true. all versions have the exact same tolerances and handling of hardware changes. the WGA protection is identical in all versions, microsoft has the right to kill OEM licenses (but never will) and with the retail versions they legally allow multiple transfers, but the conditions on what a transfer is does not change between OEM and retail.

if you notice, NOBODY has complained EVER about microsoft killing their OEM license, for vista and even XP. all those years people that had OEM xp keys and ive never heard of one thats been permanently de-activated. As said already, M$ asks for one question and one question ONLY, "How many PC's do you have this windows vista installation on?" thats it. you tell them one, then exchange a long-ass number and then your pc is the only one thats verified with that key. all previous combinations are de-activated on their authentication servers.

Its clear they just want every pc to have one key, OEM or not. they specifically said the real bonus to the retail versions are the M$ Support lines. thats it.

I'd be interested to see all of those statements backed up with some evidence; what've you got for us?

 

[Agentbolt]

Just as an update, I've been fiddling with my CPU's clock speed pretty heavily lately (from 3.34 GHZ to 3.5 back down to stock 1.8) and haven't had it ask to be reactivated again. Might've just been a fluke thing that one time.

The time it DID ask me to reactivate, it didn't accept when I attempted to simply click the link, it gave me an error message saying that the key was already in use by someone else. If it simply asked for me to click a link to reactivate it, I'd have no problems with that.

I definitely second the advice about simply waiting to activate it until you're pretty sure things are set the way you like it. I made the mistake of activating the first day I built my rig. Keep in mind it's actually very easy to extend the "perusal" period to 120 days.

http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/archives/000778.html

Of course if you're simply a tweaker and mess with things a lot, I'd probably suggest avoiding OEM copies (I have OEM Vista Home Premium). Who knows when Microsoft is gonna stop being helpful with them.