Activate The Product
Protect Your Customers from Piracy
Activate product. The MapPoint 2013 Product Activation Wizard is a Microsoft anti-piracy technology designed to verify that software products are legitimately licensed.
You must activate Windows within 30 days of installation. Activation helps verify that Windows on your computer is genuine and hasn t been used on more computers than the Microsoft Software License Terms allow. In this way, activation helps prevent software counterfeiting. For more information, see Activating Windows 7: frequently asked questions.
To activate online, you ll need your Windows 7 product key. You can find your product key on the computer or inside the Windows package or in a confirmation e mail if you purchased and downloaded Windows 7 online. Go to the Microsoft website to see examples of product key stickers. For more information, see Where do I find my Windows 7 product key.
If you can t find your product key, you might need to buy a new one. To learn more, see Get a new Windows 7 product key. If you receive an error message saying that your product key is not valid when installing Windows 7, see Windows 7 activation error: invalid product key.
When you begin the activation process, Windows tries to detect an Internet connection. If one is found, you can activate online. If you use a modem to connect to the Internet but aren t currently online, you ll have the option to activate using a modem.
To activate by using a direct connection
Open Windows Activation by clicking the Start button, right-clicking Computer, clicking Properties, and then clicking Activate Windows now.
If Windows detects an Internet connection, click Activate Windows online now.
If you re prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.
Type your Windows 7 product key when prompted, click Next, and then follow the instructions.
Click Show me other ways to activate.
Type your Windows 7 product key, and then click Next.
Click Use my modem to connect directly to the activation service.
Click the location nearest you from the drop-down list, click Next, and then follow the instructions.
If Windows isn t able to activate online, you ll have the option to activate Windows 7 using an automated phone system.
Click Use the automated phone system.
Click the location nearest you from the drop-down list, and then click Next.
Call one of the available phone numbers listed. An automated system will guide you through the activation process.
When prompted, enter the installation ID that s listed on your screen into your phone s keypad.
Write down the confirmation ID that the phone system gives you.
Type the confirmation ID into the space provided under Step 3 in the activation dialog, click Next, and then follow the instructions.
If activation isn t successful, stay on the line to be transferred to a customer service representative who can assist you.
If you choose to automatically activate Windows online when you set up your computer, automatic activation begins trying to activate Windows three days after you turn on your computer for the first time.
To activate an Office 2007 program, you must enter your 25-digit product key, if you haven t already done so during Setup.
Open Windows activation and activate Windows on the computer you are using.
Product activation is a license validation procedure required by some proprietary computer software programs. In one form, product activation refers to a method.
Activate Office 2010 online. Click File Help Activate Product Key. If you don t see an Activate Product Key button, your software is already activated, and you.
Microsoft Product Activation. To ensure that Microsoft customers receive the product quality they paid for and rightly expect, Product Activation technology is being.
Activation is difficult to complete.
Product Activation is actually very simple to complete. It requires just a few mouse clicks for those with Internet connectivity. For those who must activate over the telephone, the process with a customer service representative can be completed in just a couple of minutes. Most users response is that s it.
Users must have Internet connectivity to activate.
Product Activation provides two methods to activate: Internet and telephone. The Internet method requires that the PC be able to make a connection to the Internet. The telephone method requires the user to provide information to a customer service representative over the telephone.
Product activation is an invasion of privacy.
Microsoft absolutely respects the privacy of its customers. None of the information collected will be used to personally identify you.
Product activation will hamper customers use of the software.
Actually, customers should only be minimally impacted, if at all. Licenses acquired by customers through one of Microsoft s volume licensing programs will not require activation.
So youâ re not personally identifying me, but you are still requiring information about the make and model of my PC.
To ensure the end user s privacy, Microsoft uses a one-way mathematical algorithm to create the hardware hash used by Product Activation to create the Installation ID. Once created, the hash information cannot be calculated back to its original values. Hardware information is sent through the algorithm in the software on the PC-not at Microsoft-to create the hash. The raw hardware information is not known or sent to Microsoft. Ensuring end user privacy is a No. 1 design goal for Microsoft with Product Activation.
Counterfeiters are the real piracy problem.
Software piracy comes in many different forms, some more widely known than others. Each type of piracy is unique and often requires unique protection methods.
Counterfeiting is a common form of piracy. Others include hard disk loading, Internet pirating and casual copying, or softlifting. Casual copying is the sharing of software between people in a way that infringes on the software s EULA. An example of casual copying is if someone were to get a copy of Office XP and load it on his or her PC, then share it with a second person who loaded it on his or her PC, then share it with a third person who loaded it on his or her PC, and so on. This form of piracy is very prevalent and accounts for a large portion of the economic losses due to piracy. It is this form of piracy, casual copying, that Microsoft is primarily looking to reduce with Product Activation.
Microsoft is addressing the other forms of piracy with other initiatives such as Certificates of Authenticity COA that accompany new PCs with genuine licenses, edge-to-edge holograms, education campaigns and, as needed, enforcement efforts.
Product Activation keeps users from changing or upgrading their hardware.
Not true at all. Users can change or upgrade their hardware. One of the forms of piracy that Product Activation guards against is hard disk imaging. Not all forms of hard disk imaging are illegal. In the case where a pirate copies data from one PC hard drive to another to illegally run the software on two PCs, Product Activation stops that by forcing the copied software to be reactivated. It does so by comparing the hardware on which it was activated to the hardware on which it is now being booted. If the hardware is substantially different, then reactivation is required. If it is the same or similar, then the software will continue to work. Those who upgrade their PC s hardware substantially may be asked to reactivate. Reactivation for this reason is easy and can be completed by contacting Microsoft to obtain another confirmation ID.
Product Activation changes the way Microsoft software is licensed.
The underlying principles of Microsoft s software licenses have not changed. Microsoft s end user license agreements have always stipulated the number of PCs that software can be installed on. Product Activation does not change that.
Microsoft Product Activation is a DRM technology used by Microsoft Corporation in several of its computer software programs, most notably its Windows operating.
