Changing 3GB to 4GB RAM & XP Product Activation Question

1. If I have 3GB(2GB+1GB) RAM in an XP SP3 laptop and upgrade it in the future to 4GB(2x2GB), will XP Product Activation count that as a hardware change? XP 32 bit can only see 3GB so does that mean that as far as XP concerns, the amount of RAM doesn't change?

2. What if I have 4GB(2x2GB) and then replace them with another pair of 4GB(2x2GB) but with a different brand and speed, will that count as a hardware change?

 

AFAIK, a change in memory isnt detected by it... it never was for me in the past.

 

It won't change the activation when updating memory.. even changing the HDD will be okay. I believe if you change the motherboard then it will trip the key.

 

I just deliberately removed one of my RAM stick from 2GB to 1GB and now XP said that I made too many changes to my computer harddrive and needs to reactivate within 3 days. Man, I hate product activation!

 

Really? That's strange. I change my ram and CPU with no problems.
In fact I don't even need to activate XP after I install it.

 

If you don't need to activate XP after you installed it, you either have the volume license version, the hacked version, or disc image version that comes with your computer.

 

I have both of those. I thought every version was the same. I guess I learned something, thanks

 

Simply changing the RAM might not re-charge the activation for most people, but people who have made previous changes might see a re-activate notice. It's all based on some crazy algorithm that only MS knows that assigns points for each change until you reach a threshold.

I have changed CPUs and not had the activation kick off in the past, but other times it has.

 

I also changed out both the RAM, and CPU on the Desktop and laptop, and have not had windows activation come up on either.

 

so reactivate, and be done with it.
never bothered me.

 

The problem is if you reactivate too many times, MS is going to give you a hard time and want money for reactivation. My XP CD is 7-year old and it is just a matter of time before Microsoft gives me a hard time for reactivating too many times.

 

no. after a half year, your activation count will be invalidated, so you can activate with ease.

they only start to give you issues once they detect the same key doing multiple windows updates for different machines over months and years, tendency growing.

 

The problem in my case is I activated XP far too early in the process. I formatted my hd, installed XP and activated it immediately. At the time of activation, the video card, network card and BD drive weren't recognized by the Device Manager. So, when I installed the drivers for those components, XP counted them as 3 changes already, eventhough I didn't physically replaced them. Later on, I physically changed the BD drive and RAM, so now the number of changes is 5, eventhough I only physically changed 2.

Now, I have several version of disc images since I activated. If I restore one of those images, I would have to activate each and everytime. This is not a good thing since MS would give you a hard time if you reactivate too many times. They would demand you to call and start to give them justification why you replace this and that. It is really none of their business and this is why I boycott all software that require product activations.

 

if i have to call it's a computer voice and all i do is type the numbers she tells me.

and yes it's "their business". there is not anything more one has to say about that. it's what they life from: their licences. they don't want them to be abused. so it's exactly their business.

boycotting product activations shows just one thing: you don't know how much the products are worth the ones who made it.

 

With my XP Home, it's not just a computer voice. It's a live person interrogating me for experimenting with my computer by replacing the mother board, change this and that etc.

I don't like company who treats their customers like a criminal. Product Activation will NOT solve piracy problem, not by a long shot. Those who don't want to pay would just download the cracked version. Those who want to pay would have to deal with someone who gave me a 3rd degree.