Halo 2 Vista Product Activation Investigation

[jcap]

Being that it's the year's end again, I am going to be performing my yearly PC cleanup very soon. Every year I get a new hard drive and install everything that I use as of recently on it. Even though Halo 2 has its pitfalls, I'm going to be reinstalling it anyway. However, when I go to reinstall it, I am concerned about the activation issues and limits. Because it was never clarified if the activation works based on the number of installations or the number of PCs, I don't want to install it again and have it be my last.

Now, I strongly believe that it is based on the number of specific PCs it is installed on and their hardware IDs, and even if it isn't, there's no reason I can't call tech support. This thread isn't necessarily about my concerns about activating as much as it is about what happens when the product is activated. I know that with Windows XP, the activation information is stored in the wpa.dbl file with all of the system files. With Halo 2 for Windows Vista, I'm not sure how it works. It is probably integrated somehow with LIVE on your computer since they weren't smart enough to link the activation to your gamertag, but that's just a wild guess.

However it is done, it is local. I want to know if reactivating the game on the same computer is as simple as copying a file which has the activation information over, like it was in Windows XP. In all likelihood, it is simple, but some investigation work has to be done. If anyone wants to take a shot at it, please do us a favor and look into it.

[TPE]

I had the problem before but it kinda went away and now it registers fine (It registered fine when I had 512 ram, then 1GB then 1.5GB)

[Vicky]

Just to acknowledge that i may got right as well, i've upgraded my mobo, vidcard, mem and cpu included... had to re-install vista for that but had no problem installing H2V again.

[Syuusuke]

All I did was reinstall Vista and H2V went smooth after the reinstallation.

[johnnyblaz20]

I installed on a new computer i built shortly after buying the game and had to call tech support. I'm not sure where the activation info is stored though.

[beele]

I installed mine on different computers (lappy and desktop) several times, never had any problem.

[StankBacon]

me and my bro share a copy.

we both used the same key, to install on my machine, and his.

that being said, hes reinstalled 2 times without any problems.

ive reinstalled 3 times, again, no problems.

[Syuusuke]

Get on my server

[jcap]

Ok, so it is confirmed that there are no issues reactivating on the same computer.

Now going back to the purpose of this thread, where is the activation information stored?

[Patrickssj6]

Ok, so it is confirmed that there are no issues reactivating on the same computer.

Now going back to the purpose of this thread, where is the activation information stored?
I'm pretty sure they are stored on the Live servers and a copy inside the registry...avoiding key generator issues etc.

[StankBacon]

well, since you cant activate unless your online, that leads me to guess its stored somewhere on there servers.

[jcap]

Being that you can play the game even when offline and not signed in, there's no way it stores the information on the LIVE servers other than the number of times the copy has been activated. Also, I didn't think you need an Internet connection in order to activate the game. I thought you could call support if needed and do it over the phone.

[m13120]

me and my bro share a copy.

we both used the same key, to install on my machine, and his.

that being said, hes reinstalled 2 times without any problems.

ive reinstalled 3 times, again, no problems.

Are you telling me that you both can play it at the same time such as like on a LAN server? Or are you saying you installed it, uninstalled then he installed, then he uninstalled, etc?

[johnnyblaz20]

C:\ProgramData\Microsoft Games\Halo 2 for Windows Vista

I think thats what your looking for. If not, oh well i tried.

I was looking for it for personal uses anyways.

[supersniper]

Lol in a hidden folder. Nice I never thought of checking there.

[Wakeboy1337]

Jcap could you just reactivate it and then do a search for all files on your computer modified within the last 5 minutes. You wouldn't be able to copy files this time but you would have the location for future use.

[johnnyblaz20]

I just re-formatted my HD. No matter what you do the game has to be activated online in order to play online. I was messing with that programdata file and it only made more problems.

[CanadianPanda]

Are you telling me that you both can play it at the same time such as like on a LAN server? Or are you saying you installed it, uninstalled then he installed, then he uninstalled, etc?

He saying its installed on both of their PC's at the same time and works at the same time.
Me and my brother an freind all use the same copy seeing as it dosent require a Disc to play.

[jcap]

Jcap could you just reactivate it and then do a search for all files on your computer modified within the last 5 minutes. You wouldn't be able to copy files this time but you would have the location for future use.
I was considering doing just that if I couldn't get an answer here. H2V spreads so many random files throughout so many random locations it's so annoying. -_-


Me and my brother an freind all use the same copy seeing as it dosent require a Disc to play.
You know, that's the exact reason they have product activation in place - to prevent people from giving out the game to all their friends so they get it for free instead of buying it like they should.

[johnnyblaz20]

I was almost sure the files in programdata were going to work. One of them is actually called h2v_lic.

[Pyong Kawaguchi]

the h2v_lic file is either one of the following things:
List of where all live files are, or the license installations for the game

[jcap]

Or neither.

plain text:

mspfile
original

[Syuusuke]

Could be wherever the LIVE files are located...

[m13120]

You know, that's the exact reason they have product activation in place - to prevent people from giving out the game to all their friends so they get it for free instead of buying it like they should.

That's what I was wondering, because if two people used the same serial, wouldn't an error come up when one of them tries to activate or play online? I mean, they did that with Halo PC, wouldn't they be smart enough to do it with H2V?

[jcap]

That's what I was wondering, because if two people used the same serial, wouldn't an error come up when one of them tries to activate or play online?
Nope.

I'm guessing the reason they didn't do it is because the server requires a CD key to operate as well. :suicide:

[jcap]

I have installed on 5 copies of vista and no issues. (Reinstalled laptop 2 times, PC 3 times)

Ok, so it is confirmed that there are no issues reactivating on the same computer.

Now going back to the purpose of this thread, where is the activation information stored?
.

[Syuusuke]

AHA! Success, it IS stored in the LIVE directory...

C:\Users\<YOU>\AppData\Local\Microsoft\XLive\Titles\4d53080f

The Config.bin file should contain the PID, character settings (PROBABLY) and pretty much the "activation info".
I renamed it to configuration.bin and sure enough when I try to play on LIVE, it asks for my PID. The Token.bin in there, no idea, but it probably is my "token"...

While running Halo 2, I noticed another config.bin was created so I'm guessing the profiles (and settings) exist in more than one place and if they are missing, they would be created accordingly.

[supersniper]

Ooh nice find! +rep!

[CanadianPanda]

im not sure if anyone has noticed but i have this installed on 6 different computers it can only be installed on 3. unless you call tech support and telephone activate.

Halo 2 has a limit of 3 different computers and can be reinstalled on those 3 computers as many times as the person desires but to get more you just call tech support.