I got a new copy of Windows XP Pro OEM a few months ago and it was running quite happily and not bothering me to activate it. I eventually let it download updates and afterwards it pops up with the "You have 30 days to activate Windows."
I've reinstalled the Windows copy again (after a virus went beserk) thinking it would go back to the original OEM setting but I get the, "You have 30 days to activate Windows" again. Apparently a quick format of the hard drive wasn't enough, MS has installed something on my hard drive.
I'm not going to activate it because my copy will get locked on the current hardware.
What I'll do is boot up with Linux and get it to format the drive.
write all byte to zero:
http://www.dban.org/Seriously though, you're doing something wrong. MS hasn't done something bizarre on your disc. A zero write isn't needed, but it will give you peace of mind for sure.
