Users who upgrade their PCs may find they will not work when switched back on, under the software giant's plan to use an artificial intelligence engine to deactivate illegal copies of Windows XP. "A new graphics card and new motherboard will mean the operating system will require reactivation," he said. To reactivate their operating system, users will have to send details of the installation, such as the product ID number and a hardware identifier, to a Microsoft-run clearing house. They will then receive a product activation code. . . .
Users who upgrade their PCs may find they will not work when switched back on, under the software giant's plan to use an artificial intelligence engine to deactivate illegal copies of Windows XP. "A new graphics card and new motherboard will mean the operating system will require reactivation," he said. To reactivate their operating system, users will have to send details of the installation, such as the product ID number and a hardware identifier, to a Microsoft-run clearing house. They will then receive a product activation code.

If the product ID number is already registered against a different PC, the clearing house will not authorise the activation of the software. "We will know whether you have activated that particular copy of Windows before," said Laver. "If this is the second time then we'll reactivate it immediately, but if this is the 30th time you have phoned up to reactivate then it is obvious you are pirating and we will not reactivate it."

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