Hi

I'd like to know how many times can I activate a Windows 7 retail installation online before it doesn't work anymore and have to call MS?

Thanks.

I can't find any public information on this, so you might have to call MS to get a definitive answer. I don't think anyone other than MS really knows the answer to this for retail media.

back when windows xp was launched, you could active online 3 times in 3 months. If you exceeded that you had to call. After the 3 months since the last activation it was removed. Enjoy~

I believe if it is retail has long has you activate it on the same PC (must be same hardware has it was originally activated on)it will activate. when you activate ur machine it creates a fingerprint file (Used to id ur machine's hardware) and any time your key gets checked it takes the fingerprint from your current system and compares it to the original fingerprint to make sure it matches.) Source: Windows 7 Inside and Out