Our customers have a lot of questions about OneCare activation and want to know exactly what it is all about. We commonly hear feedback from customers who say that activation is only for the purposes of adding a second PC, but it is much more than that.
So why do customers need to activate in the first place? You may have noticed that OneCare is not a traditional software package, it is a subscription based service. One way to think about it is to compare it to your cell phone service, where you pay a fee for a period, receive updates to your service during that period and have a phone number associated with your service. Similarly, it is necessary for OneCare customers to have a Windows Live ID account so that we can provide them with the proper level of service. Getting a Windows Live ID means you have one simple way to interact with your OneCare account whether that means Activating a 2nd PC or getting support.