I believe it depends on MS's 'rule-of-the-day.' Someone said it will let

you install 3 pieces of equipment per month (quarter?) before deactivating.

But the basic answer to your question is yes. MS has placed code into

Windows XP that can deactivate your computer based upon whatever logic MS

has behind the scenes. Essentially, the only way to make use of the

computer after that is to contact MS and get a reactivation key (I don't

think they charge for that - yet....). Of course, I think if it

deactivates, you may be able to boot up some floppy, wipe the hard drive,

and reinstall from scratch. Also someone mentioned that even when a PC is

deactivated in this way, it will boot to a minimal state where you can copy

files to the floppy.... ???

Most people claim this will never cause them a problem. I'm sure they'll

continue to claim that until MS changes the logic to deactivate the PC when

it detects competitors software installed.

-Charlie

>What's the deal with the MS Activation??

>I frequently upgrade my development pc and hardware

>does this mean I am goin to have to call and get an

>activation # every time I want to upgrade ?