A question about XP activation after reformat

  • Thread starter Thread starter Hudsonhawk
  • Start date Start date
H

Hudsonhawk

Hi everyone. First, I want you to excuse me for my English.
I have my XP from an original Windows cd. As you know, when you
install it for the first time, you have 30 days to activate via
Internet or by phone. In my case, I could activate automatically by
the Internet the first 5 times (due to my job, sometime I have to
format and reinstal my Windows more than a regular user do usually).
After the 5th time, I have to call Microsoft to activate it. The
problem in my case is that Microsoft has no representation in my
country, so I cannot call it (but a friend, who has it, helps me).
A couple of days ago, I found a procedure in a magazine to restore XP
activation. I only wanted to know if someone of the list did it, so it
can avoid the call to Microsoft... Do somebody has experiences about
it?
The procedure is the following:

1. Double-click My Computer, then double-click on the "C" drive.
2. Navigate to the C:\Windows\System32 folder.
3. Locate the files named "wpa.dbl" and "wpa.bak" and copy them to a
safe location such as a USB key or CD.
4. Reformat your disk and reinstall Windows XP on your reformatted
hard drive, click "No" when asked if you want to activate Windows.
5. Reboot your computer into SafeMode (press F8 as Windows is booting
up to see the Windows Advanced Options menu and select
SAFEBOOT_OPTION=Minimal)
6. Double-click My Computer, then double-click on the "C" drive
again.
7. Navigate to the C:\Windows\System32 folder again.
8. Locate the files named "wpa.dbl" and "wpa.bak" (if it exists) and
rename them to "wpadbl.new" and "wpabak.new"
9. Copy your original "wpa.dbl" and "wpa.bak" files from your USB key,
CD or DVD or other location into the C:\Windows\System32 folder
10. Restart your system.

Thank you in advance

Nick
 
Most pc users with xp probably must activate by phone by now as internet
doesnt work,however with a 800 # to microsoft,why hack it.
 
Hudsonhawk already said he was in a different country. 800 numbers
don't work outside North America.

Is there a toll-number that Hudsonhawk could use to activate? He
would pay for the call, but it's usually only a few minutes.


Lady Dungeness
Crabby, but Great Legs!



| Most pc users with xp probably must activate by phone by now as internet
| doesnt work,however with a 800 # to microsoft,why hack it.
|
|"Hudsonhawk" wrote:
|
|> Hi everyone. First, I want you to excuse me for my English.
|> I have my XP from an original Windows cd. As you know, when you
|> install it for the first time, you have 30 days to activate via
|> Internet or by phone. In my case, I could activate automatically by
|> the Internet the first 5 times (due to my job, sometime I have to
|> format and reinstal my Windows more than a regular user do usually).
|> After the 5th time, I have to call Microsoft to activate it. The
|> problem in my case is that Microsoft has no representation in my
|> country, so I cannot call it (but a friend, who has it, helps me).
|> A couple of days ago, I found a procedure in a magazine to restore XP
|> activation. I only wanted to know if someone of the list did it, so it
|> can avoid the call to Microsoft... Do somebody has experiences about
|> it?
|> The procedure is the following:
|>
|> 1. Double-click My Computer, then double-click on the "C" drive.
|> 2. Navigate to the C:\Windows\System32 folder.
|> 3. Locate the files named "wpa.dbl" and "wpa.bak" and copy them to a
|> safe location such as a USB key or CD.
|> 4. Reformat your disk and reinstall Windows XP on your reformatted
|> hard drive, click "No" when asked if you want to activate Windows.
|> 5. Reboot your computer into SafeMode (press F8 as Windows is booting
|> up to see the Windows Advanced Options menu and select
|> SAFEBOOT_OPTION=Minimal)
|> 6. Double-click My Computer, then double-click on the "C" drive
|> again.
|> 7. Navigate to the C:\Windows\System32 folder again.
|> 8. Locate the files named "wpa.dbl" and "wpa.bak" (if it exists) and
|> rename them to "wpadbl.new" and "wpabak.new"
|> 9. Copy your original "wpa.dbl" and "wpa.bak" files from your USB key,
|> CD or DVD or other location into the C:\Windows\System32 folder
|> 10. Restart your system.
|>
|> Thank you in advance
|>
|> Nick
|>
|>
 
Andrew E. said:
Most pc users with xp probably must activate by phone by now as internet
doesnt work,however with a 800 # to microsoft,why hack it.
Click to expand...

Andrew this is another of your blatant outright lies.

Please stop spreading untruths and misinformation on these newsgroups.

Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada
--
Microsoft MVP (1997 - 2008)
On-Line Help Computer Service
http://onlinehelp.bc.ca
Syberfix Remote Computer Repair

"Anyone who thinks that they are too small to make a difference
has never been in bed with a mosquito."
 
Hudsonhawk said:
Hi everyone. First, I want you to excuse me for my English.
I have my XP from an original Windows cd. As you know, when you
install it for the first time, you have 30 days to activate via
Internet or by phone. In my case, I could activate automatically by
the Internet the first 5 times (due to my job, sometime I have to
format and reinstal my Windows more than a regular user do usually).
After the 5th time, I have to call Microsoft to activate it. The
problem in my case is that Microsoft has no representation in my
country, so I cannot call it (but a friend, who has it, helps me).
A couple of days ago, I found a procedure in a magazine to restore XP
activation. I only wanted to know if someone of the list did it, so it
can avoid the call to Microsoft... Do somebody has experiences about
it?
The procedure is the following:

1. Double-click My Computer, then double-click on the "C" drive.
2. Navigate to the C:\Windows\System32 folder.
3. Locate the files named "wpa.dbl" and "wpa.bak" and copy them to a
safe location such as a USB key or CD.
4. Reformat your disk and reinstall Windows XP on your reformatted
hard drive, click "No" when asked if you want to activate Windows.
5. Reboot your computer into SafeMode (press F8 as Windows is booting
up to see the Windows Advanced Options menu and select
SAFEBOOT_OPTION=Minimal)
6. Double-click My Computer, then double-click on the "C" drive
again.
7. Navigate to the C:\Windows\System32 folder again.
8. Locate the files named "wpa.dbl" and "wpa.bak" (if it exists) and
rename them to "wpadbl.new" and "wpabak.new"
9. Copy your original "wpa.dbl" and "wpa.bak" files from your USB key,
CD or DVD or other location into the C:\Windows\System32 folder
10. Restart your system.
Click to expand...

That procedure may or may not work.

The volume/serial number of the hard drive, which is changed when you
reformat it, is one of the items monitored by activation. It is
possible, depending on how many other of the monitored items have also
changed, that this may be enough to trigger the requirement to
reactivate.

Instead of going through all of this hassle, including the time and
trouble it takes to do this and especially to download and install the
myriad of critical updates that have been issued since SP2, why don't
you invest 100 bucks or so and get a permanent solution?

Purchase an additional hard drive, maybe even an external one
connected via USB2 or Firewire, and a disk imaging program such as
Acronis True Image.

When you have a newly activated fresh install of Windows XP available,
create a disk image of that backup on the additional hard drive. Then
remove that drive from the machine and put it away in a safe place.

Now when you need to do a reinstall you just dig out your image drive,
install it in the computer and run the disk imaging program to put the
saved image back onto your main hard drive, wiping out whatever is
there.

That should take less than half, and perhaps as little as a quarter of
the time it now takes you to do the reformat, reinstall, and update
trick.

Good luck

Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada
--
Microsoft MVP (1997 - 2008)
On-Line Help Computer Service
http://onlinehelp.bc.ca
Syberfix Remote Computer Repair

"Anyone who thinks that they are too small to make a difference
has never been in bed with a mosquito."
 
Thank all the ones who answer my post. For sure, all the solutions you
sent it are ok, but I live in Cuba, and it´s somehow difficult to
apply, do you know what I mean? I´d loved to have an external drive,
for example, but it´s not cheap here, and Firewire, I can´t even think
about it (the Acronis True Image sounds good, but I can´t buy it, there
´s no place here where I can buy a program.
Anyway, I appreciate for your ideas, I will take next time I need to
reformat

Thank you very much!

Jesus

P.S.- The procedure I took it from the Windows XP News newsletter
 
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