October 2009
Intermediate to advanced
1760 pages
93h 25m
English
Product activation is the process of validating software with the manufacturer. Activation confirms the genuine status of a product and that the product key is not compromised. It is analogous to the activation of credit cards or new mobile phones. Activation establishes a relationship between the software’s product key and a particular installation of that software on a device.
All methods of activation used by Microsoft are designed to help protect user privacy. Data that is sent during activation is not traceable to the computer or user. The data that is gathered is used to confirm a legally licensed copy of the software. It is then aggregated for statistical analysis. Microsoft does not use this information to identify or contact ...