windows xp activation garbage

i just got a new hard drive for xmas and installed it, only to find that the cd key im using has been activated too many times or something. apparently there is a limit to the number of times i can reinstall my os if i need to. whats with this activation crap anyway? i wanted to call ms and complain or try to work something out, but its a holiday and from their site, it looks like they're gonna charge me by the minute for it cuz i dont have the right key :mad: i''m having to use my dad's copy of xp home cuz my OEM installation wouldnt work with the new mobo i got a few months ago, but i dont see how they can get away with doing this to me, we paid for it. i dont think this activation stuff is advanced enough to detect the difference between a reinstall and using it on another computer, is it?

Sad to say:
But the MS limit is a real and realistic thing.
They [in their wisdom] have decreed that we [the unwashed] can only be trusted with their software for so long before they want it back..........

In their defence ?
They do allow you to re-use the number code several times.

In OUR defence
sometimes you just HAVE to re-install .

I agree with you that it's an unreasonable limit, but it has been set in MS stone .............

Call them in the new year, explain the problem, sometimes they just want to hear you grovel :D

pax

that is really enraging ;)

Call in your activation and talk to a live operator. After you explain that you have new hardware installed they will give you an activation number.

You can reinstall their software unlimited times, if there is no hardware changes, but when you change major hardware, it limits you to a certian amount of installations.

ok, ill try that. thx :)

Call them and say your problem, then add "This is Bullshit, I think I'll just download Linux for free, I don't need to worry about a key at all that way".

They'd probably send you a Corporate edition that doesn't need this ****.

hey, i still havent activated but im having another problem:

for some reason whenever i try to get the updates off of winupdate.com(i've tried several of them individually, it doesnt seem to matter which one), my comp just restarts during the installation phase. it doesnt even go thru the little "windows is shutting down" process. then from that point on it will only run for about 3 minutes after i start it up. we think that its some startup process involving winupdate thats doing it. i've had to format and re-install four times because of this, anybody know what the problem is?