The product activation is a certify confirmation process necessary by some PC software programs. Particularly, product activation refers to a technique where a software application messes hardware serial numbers and an ID number particular to product's license to produce a single Installation ID.

Installation ID is sent to company to confirm the validity of product key and decide that it is not being utilized for many installations.

Initially Microsoft utilized product activation in some editions of Office 2000. Few copies sold in Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Hong Kong, New Zealand and United States necessary user to activate product from internet. After its accomplishment, product activation system was extended universal and included into all successive editions of Windows and Office.

This practice has become a topic of discuss, mainly because it was one of the first extensive uses of a product activation system in a general customer product.

As product activation and licensing servers are regular for business and industrial software, Windows XP provided lots of careless PC users their first introduction to it.

The system was launched by Microsoft to curb illegal distribution of Windows XP. Activation needs PC or user to activate with Microsoft within a particular amount of time in order to keep on using operating system.