Serials vs. Activation Serials

More of the high profile softwares are switching to "activation"

Adobe's line of products, Microsoft OS's, etc.

So what's the difference between a standard serial and an activation serial?


My best guess is a serial is a one time answer.

Enter the serial once, for any machine, and if correct, you sucessfully registered the product

For activation, first enter a serial. Next it creates a dynamic "activation" serial using an algorithm based on the serial you entered before and some sort of hardware ID.


Am I close with that one?

Activation is usually done online where the software communicates with a remote device which verifies if it's legitimate and then sends code back that activates the product.

But how does it work when you do the "activate by phone" option? The program must internally know if the final activation serial is correct, right?

Sometimes if you find a program you like and activate it ,its best to block it from assessing the net . It will phone home ,check for pirated serial # and may even disable itself .

speaking of activations. NIS 2005 occasionally needs me to reactivate. I don't know why, though. I searched the forum looking for this topic, but couldn't find anything...probably b/c it's so old and there are newer versions.