[Lachie]

Hi All,

What a learning curve! This whole MCE caper has been quite a test of my patience.

Anyhow, in order to get things perfect, I have had to reformat a number of times. In this most recent attempt, I hit a snag...

When I went to activate windows, it spat the dummy and asking me to enter a new product key! I had no idea what to do, so I rang up the automated service, put in my Installation ID, it freaked out and I ended up on the phone to some lovely bird in India (I know because I made a point of asking where she was).

She took the first 6 digits of my Installation ID and knew who I was straight off which is somewhat odd. If they can tell it's me from the first 6 digits, why have the other 48 digits at all?

Anyhow, after she gave me my confirmation ID, everything was sweet, and she was extremely helpful.

After all that, it brings me to my question...How many times are you allowed to activate windows? Is there a set number, or has some hardware setting (I added a new HDD since my last installation) caused my PC's "Signature" to be different to the MS systems?

Anyhow, I just thought I would share my experience with the rest of you. Now it's just time to kick back and wait for windows update do work its magic.

Cheers

Lachie.