I’m not one to rant about Microsoft or Windows… generally speaking I’m a pretty happy PC-user.

I went to update my video card drivers from the Nvidia website. I figured I’d keep my drivers up to date to make the maximum use of my spiffy new hardware. The drivers installed okay, or so I thought, though I did have some trouble getting them working at first. Then when I reset my computer, Windows XP told me I’d made major changes to my configuration and that I’d have to Reactivate my copy of Windows over the phone.

I finally got a hold of a live human being and confirmed that yes, by changing my drivers I now had to reactivate Windows and that each time I change my drivers or hardware I will have to call them for a new Activation code. Unlike before, only the original install can be activated over the internet… otherwise ALL Activation must be done via the phone… for EVERY driver or hardware change I make to my machine.

Okay, that’s a little insane.

The strange part is that the woman asked me how many machines this version was installed on… I said “one” (which is the truth but they seemingly had no way of knowing that)and she gave me the Activation number. So why even do it if I can just tell them something and they give me the key anyways? It’s ridiculous, invasive and annoying.

All I did was update my drivers for crying out loud!

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