Bork!Bork!Bork! Windows activation is a tricky thing, particularly for digital signage that should be directing customers to in-store bargains but instead shows passersby that someone has yet to give Microsoft their pound of flesh.

Today's bork was spotted by a Register reader in Virginia's Danville Mall. The screen is affixed to a wall, but whatever's driving it is having a very bad day indeed.

[1]

Judging by the taskbar and the old-school buttons, this is an older iteration of Windows, and the activation notification carries a distinct whiff of something unsupported.

Windows activation warnings tend to appear after installing the operating system or after changing specific components. A hardware-based hash is generated, and if that hash changes too much, Windows starts bleating about activation.

[2]Windows 2000 still earning its keep running a rail ticket machine in Portugal

[3]Nothing to declare at border control except a Windows 7 certificate error

[4]Recline of the machines: Terminator felled by dodgy battery

[5]Welcome to Wendy's! Before your order can be taken, you must first reset this kiosk

In the past, it was possible to activate Windows by telephone. Indeed, back in the days of XP and its ilk, there was no guarantee that a device would be connected to the internet. One of the brains behind Windows activation (in its earlier incarnations), former Microsoft engineer Dave Plummer, [6]told us that having a user key in numbers using a telephone keypad presented problems of its own. "Phone activation," he said, "is always going to limit the amount of information that can go back and forth and so will always be an attack vector and likely the easiest one for hackers to target."

Today, things have changed. Microsoft has retired the telephone procedure and [7]now directs users to its Product Activation Portal.

For whoever is running the Danville screen, a click on the activation message and a visit to Microsoft's portal should do the trick. With luck, there is a screen in an office somewhere with the same message being shown to a tired IT professional. Otherwise, having to climb a ladder to stop Windows from complaining about activation feels a step too far. Perhaps a return to simpler signage is required before a harassed techie ends up breaking a bone or two for the sake of Windows activation. ®

[8]

Get our [9]Tech Resources



[1] https://regmedia.co.uk/2026/01/12/bork.jpg

[2] https://www.theregister.com/2026/01/12/windows_2000_portugal_rail/

[3] https://www.theregister.com/2026/01/09/bork_birmingham_border_control/

[4] https://www.theregister.com/2026/01/07/terminator_felled_by_dodgy_battery/

[5] https://www.theregister.com/2026/01/01/bork_wendys_kiosk/

[6] https://www.theregister.com/2021/01/20/windows_product_activation/

[7] https://support.microsoft.com/en-gb/windows/product-activation-for-windows-online-microsoft-support-product-activation-portal-35f6a805-1259-88b4-f5e9-b52cccef91a0

[8] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2aWV9CgAQanmuuJtwtrKGjwAAAZE&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0

[9] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/