Windows Product Activation

Windows Product Activation (WPA) is used by Microsoft to enforce license compliance with Windows. The activation process uses a 25-character Product Key, such as DQ8BP-RE28Z-NBGRW-KFD2F-GKWJ2. This is decoded into a Product ID, which is then installed on your computer. When you activate Windows you transmit to Microsoft the Product ID and a hardware signature that uniquely identifies your computer. Microsoft responds with a key that unlocks your copy of Windows and disables the activation timeout. The activation timeout is typically 30 days for a new installation of Windows. The timeout is 3 days for changed hardware.

Certain essential subcomponents of Active Directory (user passwords for example) are encrypted using the computer's security credentials. To successfully move Active Directory, UMove must move the security credentials also. Under some circumstances this may reset the Windows Product Activation status of the destination computer (see below).

Triggering Windows Activation

If the hardware on the new computer is sufficiently different from the old computer it is possible that Windows may prompt you to re-activate the Windows Product Activation key.

• WPA is not an issue if you are restoring Active Directory onto the same computer.
• WPA is not an issue if you moved AD to this computer from the same source computer previously.
• WPA is not an issue if you installed the Volume License version of Windows Server 2003. The Volume License version of Windows Server 2003 does not require activation.
• WPA is not an issue if the destination computer has “sufficiently” identical hardware. For a discussion of what “sufficiently” means see Inside Windows Product Activation.
• The grace period for changed hardware is 3 days.

To activate Windows click on Start -> Activate Windows. If you do not see an icon for Activate Windows you do not need to activate Windows.

When you click the button Windows will contact the Microsoft web site and transmit your Product ID and hardware signature. The web site will respond with a key that unlocks your copy of Windows.

If activation fails follow the instructions on the screen to call the Microsoft Product Activation Support telephone number. Explain to the telephone operator that you moved your licensed copy of Windows Server to new computer hardware. In some cases you will be speaking to a robot attendant. Answer all questions with a clear "yes" or "no". (It is not necessary to mention UMove.)

Important: Afterwards you should discard or erase the old computer hardware. Do not boot the old computer again. This is required for Windows license compliance, and also to prevent two identical computers from serving Active Directory at the same time.

Activating on a test computer

You generally do not need to activate Windows on a test computer (subject to legal license compliance of course). You have a three day grace period. This should give you sufficient time to conduct any testing. The grace period will be reset each time you load Active Directory with UMove. You can do this for up to 30 days until the activation timeout expires.

If you decide to activate Windows on the test computer, you only need to do it once. Activate Windows after you move AD (not before). Once activated you can repeatedly copy AD from the same source computer to the test computer; it will not trigger activation again.

License Compliance: Fixing the Product Key

If the destination computer is already licensed for Windows Server it may already have a previously licensed 25-character Product Key. In this case you may want to restore the original Product Key on the destination computer to maintain your legal license compliance.

To restore the destination computer's original Product Key you will need to make a change to the registry (specifically the registry value “OOBETimer”). The procedure for changing the Product Key is documented in the Microsoft Knowledge Base article Q328874. Although the instructions say the procedure is for the Volume License version of XP, the procedure actually works on all versions of XP and Windows 2003 (both Retail and Volume License).