Lees dit eens (in het Engels, komt uit dit artikel:
http://www.informationweek.com/story/IWK20010816S0015). Controleer met name of er iets veranderd is in de lijst met hardware. Dat zou tot het verlies van functionaliteit kunnen leiden:
When you register XP software, the registration process creates and sends to Microsoft a unique 50-digit numeric fingerprint or code. The code is a combination of the serial number of your copy of XP, plus additional information about 10 major hardware elements in your system. According to the German software firm Fully Licensed, which reverse-engineered the beta XP registration codes (see WPA Resource Center), the hardware "hash" code is based on the following information from your PC:
CPU serial number
CPU model number/type
Amount of RAM in the system
Graphics adapter hardware ID string
Hard drive hardware ID string
SCSI host hardware ID string (if present)
Integrated development environment controller hardware ID string
MAC address of your network adapter
CD-ROM drive hardware identification string
Whether the system is a dockable unit (e.g. a notebook) or not
But that's not all. Even when it's been fully registered, the WPA component wakes up from time to time. It verifies that it's on the original system where it was first installed, and it "phones home" to check with the central Microsoft database to make sure it's still, indeed, a registered copy.
If the WPA discovers that it's no longer on the system where it was originally installed, or if the Microsoft database at the other end of the phone-home connection says you're not registered, then reduced-functionality mode kicks in.
But note: The WPA software identifies the PC on which it's loaded by the "hash" code of the 10 hardware elements listed above. So if you perform a major upgrade on your PC (say, you installed a new motherboard) the WPA software will assume it's been pirated to a new PC and drop to reduced functionality mode. That will happen even if you're the legitimate license holder working on your own PC, with absolutely no pirating going on. Under the original WPA plan, you'd then have to contact Microsoft by phone, hat in hand, to ask for a new activation of the product you already paid for and registered. It's positively Dickensian: "Please, sir, I want some more."
As you might imagine, many users are incensed at this level of monitoring, intrusion, and control by Microsoft. Some are upset at the inconvenience this represents; others are deeply worried about the privacy-invading "Big Brother" nature of the system. There's even a grass-roots campaign to petition Microsoft to change its WPA process.
