I rarely have to use it, but Microsoft’s Telephone Activation System is a real pain-in-the-ass. Most of the time I’m able to activate my various Microsoft products online, but from time-to-time it just doesn’t work. Then I have to dust off the phone and make the call.
Today, for example: I just purchased six new Dell Optiplex workstations and ghosted my standard image on to them. Would Windows automatically activate after I entered the correct product keys? No way. Instead, I was forced to activate each machine, one-by-one, over the phone.
So, what do you do to speed the whole process up? Here are a few tips:
- Mute your phone. The voice recognition system that Microsoft uses has trouble telling the difference between your voice and background. Mute the phone to avoid the problem altogether.
- As soon as you her the disembodied voice start to ask if you are in front of your computer, press ’1′ on the keypad. Don’t worry about interrupting – she doesn’t care.
- You should now be prompted to read off the numbers from the Activation screen. Remember that your phone is muted, and use the keypad to enter the numbers instead – it’s faster this way, anyways. Also, you can start entering the numbers as soon as she starts asking for the next block. Again, don’t worry about interrupting. I usually let her get as far as ‘And—’ when she tries to say ‘And block #2?’
- After you enter in the last block, let her talk. She’ll likely ask you ‘How many computers have you installed this copy of Windows on?’. As soon as she starts to ask the question, press ’1′ on the keypad.
- If you did it all right, she should happily say ‘Verified!’
- Once she starts giving instructions, press ’1′ on the keypad to skip them.
- As she reads out each block of numbers, once you’ve got them typed in, just press ’2′ on the keypad to make her start reading the next block. If you miss something, press ’1′ to have her repeat the last box.
- If you’ve typed the numbers in correctly, Windows should activate now!
Also, something to ponder – why does everything she say end in a question, even when not appropriate? Food for thought?
