| Forum Home | ||||
| Press F1 | ||||
| Thread ID: 42725 | 2004-02-20 11:22:00 | Forgotted WinXP Activation Code | hillisp (4195) | Press F1 |
| Post ID | Timestamp | Content | User | ||
| 216891 | 2004-02-20 11:22:00 | I want to reformat and reinstall WinXP on a friends computer. No hardware changes planned so I'm thinking the activation code should stay the same (or is there some random component that means it will change with a freash install on the same hardware). Of coures we dont have a copy of the original activation code anymore and I was wondering if there is anyway of extracting the existing code from the computer before I reformat it. Or is a call to Microsoft inevitable. I'm not very familiar with XP - I'm stickeing to Win2k personally - so if this is a stupid question please forgive me. Peter |
hillisp (4195) | ||
| 216892 | 2004-02-20 11:45:00 | Just let it activate again once its up and running, via the internet (assuming its connectable). With no change, there will be no drama (you need to change about 5 things before it objects) and the process takes about 10 seconds, its quite automatic once you give it permission. Have done it several times here, its simply not an issue. |
godfather (25) | ||
| 216893 | 2004-02-20 14:45:00 | If your hardware is not changing, apparently you can backup this regkey: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\WindowsNT\Cu rrent Version\WPAEvents Or, use TweakXP 3 to do the job for you ;-) As Godfather says though, there shouldnt be a worry :-) Chill. |
Chilling_Silently (228) | ||
| 216894 | 2004-02-20 18:56:00 | assuming xp was preinstalled, the code will be on the "genuine microsoft product" sticker on the side of your computer. my code is xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx ;) | Megaman (344) | ||
| 216895 | 2004-02-20 19:32:00 | Yes, there should be a sticker on the side on the PC. That ensures people don't "lose" their reg. robo. |
robo (205) | ||
| 216896 | 2004-02-20 20:19:00 | Windows Activation code and the Windows Product Key are two entirely separate things. Don't be confused by that. You need both. | godfather (25) | ||
| 216897 | 2004-02-21 01:15:00 | I thought that, on installation of Windows, a Product Key is generated randomly, based on the Windows Product Code (CD Key, basically), and this Product Key is what shows in the System Properties dialog. Then, when you activate, it uses the Product Key to generate an Activation Code, which Microsoft requires, and they send you back a code to enter. That's my understanding, anyway... |
agent (30) | ||
| 216898 | 2004-02-21 02:30:00 | When you install XP you use the number off the sticker/certificate. The software when installed will give you another number. Using these 2 numbers, contact MS (phone or internet) and the 2 numbers are used to give you a 3RD number. This is your activation code. *whew* I haven't used it, but might be worth a look-see here (www.majorgeeks.com) |
Pheonix (280) | ||
| 216899 | 2004-02-21 07:41:00 | Peter, I just re-activated XP 1/2 an hour ago. Here's how it goes... If you are just 're-installing' XP without reformatting the HD it will not ask you to activate (assuming it was activated by internet/phone the first time installed and no major hardware changes have been done) If you are doing a clean install/reformat you will be asked for your product key from side of computer or XP CD when you install the XP program, this key is NOT the activation number and once the XP install is complete it will ask you if you want to activate/register the product by internet or phone... if you don't you will have 30 days before you must activate. Someone suggested that you can copy the WPA (windows product activation) file from sys32 before you re-install XP and change it once you have the new program running. I tried this but still got the message 'You will need to activate in 5/4/3 days etc' so I decided to get a new activation code by phone just in case the workaround didn't work (note that there isn't anywhere to enter the old activation key anyway until you do the following...) When you go to activate screen your computer generates a series of about 50 numbers based on your hardware configuration, you phone Microsoft and the computerised voice gets you to enter the 50 numbers on your phone keypad then it reads you back another set of about 50 different numbers which is the product activation key that you enter into the fields provided on your computer screen.... WHEW! Each time you ask for an activation key you will get a different key generated (I missed one of the numbers being read by the 'woman' on the phone, so had to go through the whole routine twice... second time different key) From that I guess you can assume that if you had the old acitivation key written down you could enter it in the appropriate field and it would work. Registering your copy of XP is totally optional and has no bearing on activation, it just allows Microsoft to send you stuff that you may or may not want HTH Joe |
joe90ak (3042) | ||
| 216900 | 2004-02-21 07:50:00 | It is much more simple activating Windows XP using the internet if that is an option. | tommy (2826) | ||
| 1 | |||||