Stilly -

The Authentication program has been in effect since day one of WinXP. I'm not sure whether it was in effect since the beginning of Win2K, but a variant is now in effect for Win2K for some services from Microsoft.

What is different is that there was no clearly identifiable, generally published, and easily found, explanation of what you could or should do if your copy of Windows failed to be accepted as a genuine version.

Apparently some were told about the possibility of free or reduced cost replacement of their counterfeit copies; and you have indicated that for a friend you found that information and got a reduced cost replacement. Others were not receiving the information that Microsoft might, in some circumstances, assist them.

The only thing I offered as something NEW is the existence of a known web page where anyone affected by counterfeiting can see what assistance Microsoft may be willing to give them.

Any WinXP installation that is not authenticated at the time of installation will revert to a restricted mode, making some functions inactive, at the 30th restart of the program. The same is true of many newer Office programs. If you received WinXP preinstalled as an OEM copy, the manufacturer may or may not have done the initial authentication for you, so you might not see that initial process. If you reinstall the whole OS, you will have to reauthenticate.

If you make significant changes to your hardware, you may be asked to reauthenticate. Most maintenance changes, or addition of common features to a machine, will be accepted. (A recent clarification did state that replacing the motherboard is not an acceptable change unless it's done by the original builder as a repair.)

Beyond the intial authentication, many users may never have seen a need to participate in this process again; but if you want anything other than the minimum Critical Updates, and in some cases if you want to receive Critical Updates automatically, you may be asked to reauthenticate when you sign up for the services. This has not changed.

Having searched for information on what recourse was available for those who might have been scammed into a counterfeit, and not finding anything, I felt it might be of interest to anyone who has had a problem with a counterfeit copy to know where to find information on assistance that might be available from Microsoft. This information may have been "available;" but was previously very difficult to find (apparently unless you happened to be one that Microsoft chose to inform about it).

I have no way of knowing how Microsoft previously determined which counterfeit victims to help, and which to ignore; but your friend was helped, and at least one other from whom I've heard was not. The only NEW THING is that I now know where he can go to ask if help is available in his case. (And so does anyone else who choses to look at the links in the opening post of this thread.)

John