More details on Microsoft's SP1 Activation Changes.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Microsoft has determined through investigations that most pirated installations are made with either of two VLKs. VLKs are used by corporate or other volume license customers to install Windows XP on their computers. These two particular VLKs, however, were never in use by a customer in a production deployment. Product keys are 25-character alphanumeric codes arranged in five groups of five characters each and used during setup to install the product. The product key produces the product ID number that, after setup is completed, is displayed on the General tab in the System Properties dialog box.
Windows XP SP1 ships with a list of the two product IDs that are created by the pirated VLKs. To determine eligibility for the update, Windows XP SP1 compares the Windows XP product ID on the system to this list. The comparison and the list reside locally on the user's computer; no information is sent to Microsoft as part of this process. The Windows XP SP1 installation will fail on computers with the following product IDs:
XXXXX-640-0000356-23XXX
XXXXX-640-2001765-23XXX
If installation fails for this reason, this message will be displayed:
Service Pack 1 Setup Error
The product key used to install Windows is invalid. Please contact your system administrator or retailer immediately to obtain a valid product key. You may also contact Microsoft Corporation's Anti-Piracy Team by e-mailing
piracy@microsoft.com if you think you have purchased pirated Microsoft software. Please be assured that any personal information you send to the Microsoft Anti-Piracy team will be kept in strict confidence.
To view your ProductID, hold down the Windows key and press the PAUSE/BREAK key (upper right on your keyboard). It's the number that appears under "Registered To:"
Access to Windows Update
Access to Windows Update is likewise reserved for licensed users. Windows Update determines eligibility for access to its service by checking that the product key used to install Windows XP is valid and was manufactured by Microsoft. When a user visits the Windows Update Web site, two pieces of information are transmitted to Windows Update: the product ID, and a hash value of the product key used to install Windows XP. (A hash value is a one-way mathematical transformation. This value is transmitted in lieu of the entire product key to safeguard privacy and security.) Windows Update compares the product key hash value and the product ID to a list of valid, Microsoft-manufactured product keys. Because this list is very large?about 1 billion values?the information must be validated on the Microsoft side. Once Windows Update validates the transmitted product key hash value and product ID, it discards the information. Neither the product key hash value nor the product ID are stored by Windows Update, and no personally identifiable information is required to access Windows Update.
Volume License Key Encryption
Service Pack 1 adds an encryption feature to unattended setups of Windows XP. This feature is applicable to customers with volume licensing agreements with Microsoft such as Microsoft Select, Microsoft Enterprise Agreement, and Microsoft Open License. Customers who place a VLK in an unattended setup file (unattend.txt) will be able to encrypt the VLK such that it will be time-limited (in increments of 5?60 days) and not visible as plain text. This feature provides customers deploying Windows XP with an additional layer of protection by obscuring the VLKs in unattended installations.
For more details on changes to activation, VLK encryption, etc, visit
_http://www.microsoft.com/licensing/resources/vol/volkeys_winxpsp1.asp
Linear Mode
