WinXP RC1 Activation Problems, 1st Hand XPerience
This is just an exmaple of how much trouble product activation is going to cause customers, and I experienced it first hand. I signed up for the WinXP Beta program and just yesterday, i got around to installing RC1.
This is just an exmaple of how much trouble product activation is going to cause customers, and I experienced it first hand.
I signed up for the WinXP Beta program and just yesterday, i got around to installing RC1. Here are my system specs:
Abit VP6
Dual PIII 700CC0 @ 1001MHz
256Mb Ram
Geforce2 GTS
3Com 3C905
WinTV Theater
Gametheater XP
RealMagic Hollywood Plus
Adaptec 2940U2W
Well, RC1 installed fine, and on the first reboot after installation, WinXP prompted me to activate it. Knowing that I have a legitamate copy of WinXP, I clicked register over the internet, and in less than two seconds, it was activated. I thought, well, that was easy.
So I got into WinXP and got ready to install updated device drivers for my hardware. The first thing I did was go to device manager and see what was installed. WinXP installed working drivers for my Geforce2, SCSI Card, and NIC just fine.
My sound card was listed in the "Sound, Video and Game Controllers" as "Unsupported Crystal Audio Sound Device". I also had three entries in the "Other" field. There were two "Multimedia Controller" listed and a "Multimedia Video Controller" listed. I knwe these devices were for my DVD Decoder and my TV Tuner. I proceeded to update my Nvidia drivers and install my Gametheater XP drivers.All was still good. Next I installed the Hauppauge WDM Drivers for my Tv Tuner. I restarted, and on the next boot, WinXP said that I needed to activate the OS with Microsoft.
Aparently, installing the TV Tuner drivers was enough to trigger WinXP into thinking it was installed on a different computer. That was really bad, considering the expansion cards were installed, just unrecognized by the OS
with working drivers. So now I have to call Microsoft, explain them the situation, and get my copy of WinXP reactivated.
Now my question is, if a simple driver installation for my WinTV caused WinXP to deactivate, what is to say a simple ram upgrade or hard drive addition won't do the same.
My only advice to other WinXP users out there is to install all of your drivers first, then activate the OS, otherwise you could wind up in the same situation.
I signed up for the WinXP Beta program and just yesterday, i got around to installing RC1. Here are my system specs:
Abit VP6
Dual PIII 700CC0 @ 1001MHz
256Mb Ram
Geforce2 GTS
3Com 3C905
WinTV Theater
Gametheater XP
RealMagic Hollywood Plus
Adaptec 2940U2W
Well, RC1 installed fine, and on the first reboot after installation, WinXP prompted me to activate it. Knowing that I have a legitamate copy of WinXP, I clicked register over the internet, and in less than two seconds, it was activated. I thought, well, that was easy.
So I got into WinXP and got ready to install updated device drivers for my hardware. The first thing I did was go to device manager and see what was installed. WinXP installed working drivers for my Geforce2, SCSI Card, and NIC just fine.
My sound card was listed in the "Sound, Video and Game Controllers" as "Unsupported Crystal Audio Sound Device". I also had three entries in the "Other" field. There were two "Multimedia Controller" listed and a "Multimedia Video Controller" listed. I knwe these devices were for my DVD Decoder and my TV Tuner. I proceeded to update my Nvidia drivers and install my Gametheater XP drivers.All was still good. Next I installed the Hauppauge WDM Drivers for my Tv Tuner. I restarted, and on the next boot, WinXP said that I needed to activate the OS with Microsoft.
Aparently, installing the TV Tuner drivers was enough to trigger WinXP into thinking it was installed on a different computer. That was really bad, considering the expansion cards were installed, just unrecognized by the OS
with working drivers. So now I have to call Microsoft, explain them the situation, and get my copy of WinXP reactivated.
Now my question is, if a simple driver installation for my WinTV caused WinXP to deactivate, what is to say a simple ram upgrade or hard drive addition won't do the same.
My only advice to other WinXP users out there is to install all of your drivers first, then activate the OS, otherwise you could wind up in the same situation.
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Responses to this topic
ThC 129...........
In general, what have your experiences been with XP? Compatibility with legacy software, hardware, etc.....? Stability? Ease-of-use? Etc.....
More specifically (and importantly I believe), have you had ANY need to contact MS for activation of the OS.
SnapperOne
In general, what have your experiences been with XP? Compatibility with legacy software, hardware, etc.....? Stability? Ease-of-use? Etc.....
More specifically (and importantly I believe), have you had ANY need to contact MS for activation of the OS.
SnapperOne
I don't care about the activation, I go for cracks, even if I have a genuine copy.
