Windows 2008 Activation

7/24/2008

I am currently evaluating Windows 2008. I'm pleasantly surprised. So far Windows 2008 is absolutely amazing. But ff you are installing Windows 2008 from MSDN or Technet, there are some issues with activation.

Types of Keys

Windows 2008 comes in two versions: retail and volume license. Retail versions ask for product keys during install, and thus activate normally and will not experience the problems detailed here. On MSDN and Technet, Vista is available as a retail version, but Windows 2008 is a volume license version.

In enterprises volume license versions are "automatically" activated using a local key server. But when a volume licensed version of Windows is installed standalone, as happens with MSDN and Technet users, problems arise. MSDN and Technet issue MAK (Multiple Activation Keys) and can be activated over the Internet without a local key server. However the UI for activation really does poorly in this scenario and causes a lot of confusion.

Unfortunately this is not made clear on MSDN or Technet. Key types are listed, but just as MAK, RTL, and about a dozen other three letter combinations with no explanation what they are.

Might I suggest hyper linking the 3 letter codes for easy understanding?

On the main page before getting to keys, there is a note about clicking on a Key FAQ, but no such link exists on that page. The link does exist on other pages though.

The yellow highlight is mine. One of the whole points of the web is hyper linking. Why tell someone about a link that is somewhere else, or in this case missing? Could it not just be linked from that sentence? Using the search function you can find the Downloads and Product Key FAQ.

Activating

I installed Windows 2008 x64 on one machine, and x86 on another. On both machines I had identical problems trying to activate Windows.

In this dialog what would you do? I clicked "Activate Windows now". Windows then tried to activate.

And then I clicked Activate Windows now. I'm a bit confused though. I already clicked "Activate Windows now" to get to this screen. Why would I then decide ask me later if I just clicked "now"?

Error Code 0x8007232B. Unfortunately my R2D2 unit is being repaired right now on Tattooine, so this does not make a lot sense to me.

Contact your system administrator. Note: sysadmins love it when users call "Windows spewed some big number at me."

But I did decide to click "More Information".

That is better! Now I'm a techie, and primarily techies will be using 2008 rather than Joe User. But whether it is Joe User or Joe Techie, who thought presenting Error Code 0x8007232B would be less confusing than just telling the user DNS name does not exist?

After failing to activate Windows presented me with an option "Alternate ways to activate Windows" as a blue underlined hyperlink in addition to the other two links about benefits of activation etc. But while the other two links work, the "Alternate ways.." link is disabled and not clickable!

Solution

During installation of 2008, unlike Vista and XP, it never asks you to input your product key. You need to add your product key before activating. Why cannot Windows simply ask you for your product key if it has not been put in yet? And why does it return with a DNS error if the key is missing? Could activation possibly be more confusing? Maybe its time to highlight Piracy and Unconventional Wisdom again. Because even though I had a valid key, I was certainly searching for cracks so my machine would not self brick itself.

Adding the Key

So adding the product key must be easy right? Well sort off.

You have to click change product key. Even though there is no key to change, you are actually adding one. And since its right next to the product ID, it's not very clear that you need to click this to enter your product key. Unfortunately it is next to the product ID, which may lead users to believe is it related to that numeric id, and no their key.

Credits

• Steve Milroy, Microsoft Regional Directory - for assisting with getting Windows activated.
• Michael Korp, Microsoft - for assisting with understanding the types of distributions and key types.
  

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