Posted on 01/15/2006 9:17:52 AM PST by Hacksaw
How to Reinstall Windows XP Without Having to Reactivate With Microsoft
To tell you the truth, I have never understood what the big deal is with product activation. The fact of the matter is that software piracy is fairly rampant and that Microsoft is the target for a large percentage of the piracy due to their dominance in the operating system and office productivity software markets. They have a right to try to stop or at least control that privacy and the product activation seems to be a fair way of ensuring that only legitimate software owners get to benefit from using it.
All that said, I know that there are many users who abhor the process. It may be because they have had problems activating and have had to call the toll-free number and wait to talk to a Microsoft support agent who then read them some 278-character long (okay- it's a slight exaggeration) activation code.
Or maybe they just feel that it is some sort of invasion of privacy or that Microsoft is acting as "Big Brother" and monitoring their actions. No matter the reason, there are plenty of users who would rather never go through the product activation process again. Unfortunately for those users, they may very well run into a situation where they do. Product activation monitors the system configuration. If it detects a major hardware change or even too many minor hardware changes within a set number of days (I believe it's 180 days before it resets) then it crosses the threshold and requires reactivation.
Users who reformat their hard drive and perform a clean installation of the operating system will find that they need to reactivate the product. But, as long as the new installation is on the same system and there won't be any hardware changes it is possible to transfer the existing product activation and skip having to go through the product activation process again. Follow the steps below to save the activation status information and restore it once your system is rebuilt:
Double-click My Computer
Double-click on the "C" drive
Go to the C:\Windows\System32 folder (you may have to click on the link that says "Show The contents of this folder")
Find the files "wpa.dbl" and "wpa.bak" and copy them to a safe location. You can copy them on a floppy drive or burn it onto a CD or DVD.
After you have reinstalled Windows XP on your reformatted hard drive, click "No" when asked if you want to go ahead and go through the activation process
Reboot your computer into SafeMode (you can either press F8 as Windows is booting up to see the Windows Advanced Options menu and select SAFEBOOT_OPTION=Minimal or follow the instructions in Starting Windows XP in SafeMode
Double-click My Computer
Double-click on the "C" drive
Go to the C:\Windows\System32 folder (you may have to click on the link that says "Show The contents of this folder")
Find the file "wpa.dbl" and "wpa.bak" (if it exists) and rename them to "wpadbl.new" and "wpabak.new"
Copy your original "wpa.dbl" and "wpa.bak" files from your floppy disk, CD or DVD into the C:\Windows\System32 folder
Restart your system (if you followed the directions in Starting Windows XP in SafeMode you may need to go back into MSCONFIG to turn off booting into SafeMode)
Voila! Your Windows XP operating system is now reinstalled on your reformatted hard drive and you are all activated without having to actually go through the product activation process! Remember though. This won't work for transferring activation information from one computer to another or if you alter the hardware because the information contained in your "wpa.dbl" file will not match the configuration of the computer. This trick is only for reinstalling Windows XP on the exact same computer after formatting the hard drive.
Good information, but it doesn't really belong in the News topics, I'm afraid. I'm sure the Admin Moderator will adjust the topics.
btt
BTTT
I was doing some development work with a Microsoft product (I think it was 'Front Page'), and after about 3 installs I had to start calling Microsoft to activate the product over the phone. Talk about a pain in the....
That's how I found out about this - I am taking an A+ self study and use my own computer as the test machine. I got sick of calling MS and trying to explain that I don't have my copy running on multiple machines.
Since you pinged him instead of doing the common courtesy of asking me to do it (as I and most others would have) then that is quite possible.
To see his other lessons go here
It was "news" to me!
I'll be asking him to review topics selected on every thread I post from now on :)
(Denny Crane: "I Don't Want To Socialize With A Pinko Liberal Democrat Commie. Say What You Like About Republicans. We Stick To Our Convictions. Even When We Know We're Dead Wrong.")
I just bought a new laptop (the old one was from '98). The operating system is Windows XP Professional. (Not that I needed it. That's all they had.) I had CompUsa install everything for me. However, I noticed that my name is on some of the files. (The installer used my name right off the receipt.) Is there any way I can get my name off of my files?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.