I have a Not For Resale copy of Windows 7 Ultimate that I won at a Microsoft user group event last year and installed on my main Intel desktop computer. That computer's motherboard failed, so I installed Win 7 on an AMD computer so that I'd have a running Win7 computer for testing and customer support. I expected to have my main desktop operating again soon, so during Setup I unchecked the 'Activate Windows automatically when online' box. When I booted the box afterwards, I didn't activate it when I was prompted to.
Earlier this week I did my first Windows 7 Service Pack 1 installation on a customer's computer. It took longer than I thought it should, so I did a little Googling. I found out that for the smoothest procedure, it's recommended that, prior to attempting installation of SP 1:
1.the partition that Windows 7 is installed on
should automount and be set as active (this should only be an issue on computers that are booting two or more different operating systems);
2.the
MS System Update Readiness Tool should be installed; and
3.the
Microsoft KB976902 update should be installed.
So I downloaded and installed the System Update Readiness Tool and the KB976902 update. The computer didn't ask to be restarted, so I didn't reboot it. I then started the SP1 installation. It completed and the computer asked to be restarted, so I did. When I clicked on an account to login, the usual warning that Windows wasn't activated didn't appear. Hmmm - this was interesting!
There wasn't the usual warning in the bottom right of the monitor that '
Windows was not genuine' (which appears on non-activated copies of Windows 7 after the thirty day grace period for activation has expired). Hmmm. I visited Windows Update, downloaded and installed some updates including a couple of drivers and updates
KB2479628,
KB2425227,
KB2475792,
KB2484033,
KB2485376,
KB2488113,
KB2393802,
KB2502285, and the cumulative security update for Internet Explorer
KB2482017. Hmmm - I shouldn't be able to download and install updates from Windows Update if Windows isn't activated - at least that's the way Windows XP works!
So I did another Windows 7 installation on another computer in my lab yesterday. I didn't enter the Product Key and it wasn't connected to the internet. I rebooted a couple of times, went into the BIOS setup, advanced the system's date to March 30, 2011, and saved the changes. When I rebooted, I got the warning that the activation period had expired. I then installed the
MS System Update Readiness Tool, the
Microsoft KB976902 update and
Windows 7 Service Pack 1.
Upon completing that and rebooting, the pop up warning dialog was gone as was the 'Windows is not genuine' warning in the bottom right of the monitor. I then went into the System Properties and saw something like the picture to the left. (
I took this sceenshot today on the computer I did the new installation on yesterday.)
I checked the AMD computer that I did the first SP1 installation on and it was the same - the activation had been reset. Just for giggles, I uninstalled SP1 from it, rebooted, and reinstalled SP1. The activation clock didn't reset a second time. Before SP1 uninstallation, it said I had 28 days to activate. After uninstalling the service pack, the pop up warning dialog returned as did the 'Windows is not genuine' warning in the bottom right of the monitor. Then, after reinstalling the service pack, it said the same amount of time was left for activation - 28 days. Oh - the Product ID on both computers was identical except for the last three digits.
Microsoft product activation - what a crazy product.
