Volume Activation Planning Guide

Volume Activation Planning Guide

The KMS client computers are activated after meeting the activation threshold. The computers running Windows server 2008 or Windows Server 2008 R2 the activation threshold is five. For computers running Windows Vista or Windows 7 the activation threshold is 25. The thresholds include clients and servers that are running on physical computers or virtual machines.

Retail

Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 products that are acquired through a retail store are individually licensed and are activated in the same way as retail versions of the Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 operating systems. Each purchased copy comes with one unique product key (printed on the product packaging), which the user enters during the product installation. The computer uses this product key to complete the activation after the installation of the operating system is complete. This final activation step can be accomplished online or by telephone.