Stupid windows question.

If that is the only thing you are changing, then most probably not. If you change motherboard and maybe a HDD, then yes.
 
No, usually it's a combination of upgrades done simultaneously withing X amount of time that will trigger a reactivation.

Reactivation is easy however, I've done it like 5 or 6 times down on 2 desktops and a tablet PC. Just call up the number that pops up on screen (toll free in the US), speak the numbers on the screen, then type the numbers the computer on the other end of the phone tells you and you're done. Takes me 5 mins or less whenever I do it usually.

Regards,
SB
 
I've changed a graphics card once and got a reactivation, then changed it back and didn't.

As far as I can tell It seems to use some sort of score. If the system changes too much since when it was activated, it'll decide it needs reactivating. Changing a motherboard though is almost guarenteed to cause a reactivation as lots of hardware changes, including your MAC address which is likely to score pretty high in the checking for differences.
 
Internet activation is normally quickest & easiest, just click & wait about 30 secs.
You get something like 5 activations per 6mths or so.
If you're out of activations then you need to call.

I had to call for my Win 7 because I'd installed then bought a SSD then SSD died & I reinstalled on spare drive then replacement SSD arrived then I got new CPU & mobo.
I wasn't really relishing trying to pretend to not know that is in breach of the (probably illegal under local consumer protection laws) license & I should get more activations (I'd previously had to explain about several hardware changes & an RMAed mobo back in XP days) but the lady on the other end was completely uninterested in doing anything other than reading out the numbers for me.
That's fairly understandable though since I imagine after about 5 of them you would stop caring other than where people have been using pirated keys or decent sized corporates using more installs than they paid for.
 
Just remember there is no such thing as a stupid windows question.. only a stupid windows user ;-) <not directed at anyone just saw an opening>
 
Just remember there is no such thing as a stupid windows question.. only a stupid windows user ;-) <not directed at anyone just saw an opening>

Actually stupid and windows are redundant. I have a W7-64 rig but it's for gaming. In all other respects I find W7 like polishing a turd. It's better than XP but that's not saying much. Better security, blah, blah, blah. It still takes a screaming machine and makes it chug. Put a linux partition with all the bells and whistles of Aero and the like on it and you'll see just what a pig W7 really is. Hell OS X even boots and responds faster on the same hardware if you hackintosh it.
 
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