Product activation

Product activation is a license validation procedure required by some computer Software programs. Specifically, product activation refers to a method where a software application Hash function hardware serial numbers and an ID number specific to the product s license (a product key) to generate a unique Installation ID. Installation ID is sent to the manufacturer to verify the authenticity of the product key and determine that the product key is not being used for multiple installations.

Microsoft s product activation has become a subject of Microsoft product activation debate, primarily because it was one of the first widespread uses of a product activation sytem in a consumer product.

An unactivated product usually acts as a time-limited trial until a product key is purchased. Some products allow licenses to be transferred from one machine to another using online tools, without having to call Tech Support to deactivate the copy on the old machine before reactivating it on the new machine.

Software that requires users to activate online or by phone includes: *Microsoft Windows XP *Microsoft Windows Server 2003 *Microsoft Windows Vista *Microsoft Office (XP and 2003) *Adobe Systems Photoshop *Norton Antivirus *Norton Ghost 9.0 and later *Norton Internet Security *Intuit, Inc. TurboTax (product activation was subsequently discontinued after complaints over its activation process) *Quicken (depending on country/edition) *DIVX Pro

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*ERain Swift3D 4 *Macromedia MX 2004 series (includes Macromedia Flash, Dreamweaver, and Fireworks) *Various TMPGEnc programs *All current Spectrasonics synthesiser packages *All current Native Instruments packages

Note that in OEM Windows bundled computers the BIOS is marked so that Product Activation of Windows in those computers will be skipped if certain keys are used.

A product activation scheme introduced by PACE Anti-Piracy in 2003, called iLok, uses a flash-memory equipped USB dongle, capable of downloading product keys off the Internet, or uploading from a smart card packaged with the software. Software that uses this new system includes: *Digidesign Pro Tools, and its many Plugins. *LightWave *Steinberg Cubase

Although many product activation schemes are anonymous, some are accompanied by mandatory product registration which require providing user s address, phone number, and other personal information before the product is activated.

==See also== *CD key *Digital rights management *Dongle *Microsoft product activation debate

=External link=

*[http://www.licenturion.com/xp/fully-licensed-wpa.txt Inside Windows Product Activation]