Tim Meddick wrote:

Just changed my SYSTEM drive's VolumeID from 1AD1-ABE1 to 0000-0000 and
guess what? - No problems at all!!




Changing just one item does not in itself trigger an activation problem.
You need to make a series of changes to create a problem that you are
talking about.

I have made changes to my system by increasing or changing the memory
module but this too does not create a problem.

Few weeks later I will perform some other changes and again this won't
create any problems.

The problem only arises when you make substantial changes to make the
system think it is a different system.

Otherwise, I agree to your premise that cloning (or what I like to call
imaging because I use Ghost most of the time) does make an identical
copy of the HD and activation of Microsoft products (I emphasize MS) is
not a problem. I keep an image of my HD with Windows XP only then
install all the applications and create another image; then install all
the updates and create a third image. Finally, I make backups of my
data on a weekly basis knowing that the system is fully backed up.

hth