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Product activation is a license validation procedure required by some proprietary computer software programs. Specifically, product activation refers to a method where a software application hashes hardware serial numbers and an ID number specific to the product's license (a product key) to generate a unique installation ID. This installation ID is sent to the manufacturer to verify the authenticity of the product key and to ensure that the product key is not being used for multiple installations.
As a trial, Microsoft first used product activation in some versions of Microsoft Office 2000. Some copies sold in Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Hong Kong, New Zealand and the United States required the user to activate the product via the Internet. After its success, the product activation system was extended worldwide and incorporated into all subsequent versions of Windows and Office. This practice has become a subject of debate, primarily because it was one of the first widespread uses of a product activation system in a general consumer product.
An 'unactivated' product usually acts as a time-limited trial until a product key is purchased and used to activate the software. Some products allow licenses to be transferred from one machine to another using online tools, without having to call technical support to deactivate the copy on the old machine before reactivating it on the new machine.
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Transfer/deactivation
Some companies require users to "transfer" activation when moving a product from one computer to another, or when replacing hardware or drives in an existing computer, or when reformatting a system hard drive. Transfer may involve deactivating a product on the old system before activating it on the new system. Users may be required to be online and to transmit the deactivation to the software provider.
Criticisms
- If a computer is stolen or destroyed, the activation records on it may be completely lost. It is only by the goodwill of the company that products can be re-activated. This makes backing up to guarantee prevention of substantial loss impossible.
- It can cause inconvenience for the end-user, particularly if phone calls are necessary to complete activation or technical problems, such as firewall blocks or activation server downtime, prevent the activation process from completing.[citation needed]
- It can enforce software license agreement restrictions that may be legally invalid.[citation needed] For example, a company may refuse to reactivate software on an upgraded or new PC, even if the user may have a legal right to use the product under such circumstances.
- If the company ceases to support a specific product (or declares bankruptcy), its purchased product may become unusable or incapable of being (re)installed unless an activation-free copy or final patch that removes or bypasses activation is released.
- Although many activation schemes are anonymous, some are accompanied by mandatory registration which require providing the user's address, phone number, and other personal information before the product is activated.[citation needed]
- Many argue that product activation does not fully protect against piracy; pirates often find a way to circumvent product activation. Many feel that product activation then only inconveniences or hinders the effectiveness of the software for legitimate customers.
List of products utilizing product activation
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Please help improve this article or section by expanding it. Further information might be found on the talk page or at requests for expansion. (November 2007) |
- All editions of Microsoft Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 have built-in Windows Product Activation except those editions which use a volume license key
- All editions of Microsoft Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 including volume license editions
- Windows Small Business Server and Windows Essential Business Server
- Microsoft Office XP, Office 2003, Office 2007 and some versions of Office 2000, except volume license editions of each of these products.
- Microsoft Streets and Trips 2008
- Microsoft Money Plus 2008 (All editions)
- Microsoft Math 3.0
- Several Games for Windows titles including Shadowrun, Flight Simulator X and Halo 2
- All editions and versions of Adobe Creative Suite from CS2 onwards
- All games distributed via trygames.com
- All games distributed via Reflexive Arcade
- All games distributed via Steam
- Games and some other software purchased from Stardock's online store[1].
- All Native Instruments products released after 2005
- All games developed by PopCap Games, including Bejeweled 2 and Zuma (CD retail versions are not affected by product activation)
- Bioshock developed by 2K Boston/2K Australia
- Norton AntiVirus 2008, Internet Security 2008, and Norton 360.
- ACDSee by ACDSystems
- Glass Eye 2000 by Dragonfly Software
- Matlab by The Mathworks version 2008 and greater
- EA's Spore and Mass Effect use activation where they check online at first launch and during product patches and updates.
