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On Fri, 28 Dec 2012 15:19:50 -0500 Brendan Kidwell <brendan at glump.net> wrote: > I know I'm preaching to the choir here, but this is reason #1 I can't > run Windows on my general purpose computers at home and why I keep Windows Activation is not a DRM mechanism and I don't care what Wikipedia or the EFF say. It does not prevent you from installing and running Windows on the computer of your choice assuming the hardware is capable of running the OS. It's a license enforcement mechanism. It ensures (tries to ensure) that if you buy (license) one copy of Windows then you only have one copy of Windows installed and running as per the license that you agreed to abide by. Microsoft's enforcement is pretty ham-fisted but that's a different issue. An issue that isn't an issue for most Microsoft customers. OEMs have been shipping pre-activated Windows since XP. Microsoft provides tools and instructions for saving and restoring pre-activation data in case of catastrophe (motherboard replacement -- Microsoft's specific example) or re-installation. And, as Ned pointed out, there's always the one-time telephone call to get issues resolved if you don't have the chops to use sysprep. -- Rich P.
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