Vista hardware authenication

Hello,
I know in Windows XP, the hardware authentication was done with a number of hardware items. If three or more changed, the computer would (normally- unless you got lucky) blue screen and not start. In Windows Vista, the computer will not blue screen, but rather require "re-activation". I'm curious as to what hardware is monitored to trigger this re-activation. I have been able to find a plethora of charts, sites, etc for Windows XP but have been unable to find them for Windows Vista. Does anyone know either the list of hardware or where I could find a chart?

Hi,

I am not sure if this is what you needed to know but here it is anyway. XP uses a Harware Abstratction Layer(HAL). At the time of build this is populated with the hardware in the system if more than three components of the HAL are changed you would like you pointed out get a blue screen.


With Vista you'll have to reactivate since the SID (Security Identification) number references have changed. If you install new hardware you will not have to reinstall due to Vista using a virtual HAL.

hope this helped

Tim

It did and didn't. I now have buzzwords to look up, but it still doesn't address my issue. I guess what I want to know is what makes up the SID? If I don't reset it when I restore the image to my computer, then the SID doesn't change, no?

Ultimately, I know I won't have to re-install, but I will have to re-activate in most cases. What defines those cases? I thought it had to do with the hardware in the machine and a significant change in said hardware.

I've had this happen with XP: change 4 hardware devices and it'll require a re-activation, not a BSOD. This is with XP SP2 btw, which might explain why it's 4 devices and no BSOD.

True....

But what about Vista??..

not sure where you got the idea changing 3 pieces of hardware gave you a bsod. You can get a bsod just by changing one: Your hard drive controller. And you're going to require reactivation if you change certain pieces of hardware. The authentication procedure looks at a few details. I upgraded my video card and it made me reactivate. After the third reactivation in a month, i said "screw it" and switched to corporate version.

Vista works pretty much the same way except it's more forgiving on boot. When xp forms an HAL, it only enables the driver for particular hardware, this is why you need to generate a new one if you upgrade some items such as your motherboard. It can't boot if it doesn't have IDE drivers, for example.

This is what i don't understand: if you change some pieces of certain hardware, windows requires a reactivation. However, if you change the whole computer with a brand new one, no activation is required... Just joking :)

that's actually pretty funny. I just pulled the drive out of my mother in law's (trojan-filled) Everex laptop and installed it in our Dell (a different brand), and it booted! I was actually trying to boot from the other drive, but accidents will happen.

Yeah! Exactly! That's what I've been unable to determine! I changed the motherboard in my desktop and no BSOD w/ WinXP. Changed the video card, hard drive, and RAM, BSOD. Weird..

could be the video card? Most likely xp is still loading the old driver and it's not compatible with the new card. Put the old video card back in and see if you get a bsod.

That was awhile ago - it was just an example of my trying to make sense of experience.