Windows XP re-activation triggers

Just a little information that I got from TechRepublic that I thought I would share....

BE AWARE OF CHANGES THAT TRIGGER REACTIVATION

There has been a lot of confusion about Windows XP's built-in activation. Administrators often confuse registration and activation, plus many admins aren't aware of what triggers the reactivation code. Microsoft is partially to blame, for it has indicated only that "substantial changes" trigger reactivation.

A product's Installation ID, which is based on the product ID and numeric hardware hash, determine product activation. Here are the components that make up the hardware hash:


* Processor Type

* Processor Serial Number

* RAM Amount Range

* Hard Drive Device

* Hard Drive Volume Serial Number

* Display Adapter

* SCSI Adapter

* IDE Adapter

* Network Adapter MAC Address

* CD-ROM/CD-RW/DVD-ROM


Replacement of all other hardware devices, including mice, keyboards, and floppy drives, do not require product reactivation.

The exact number of components on the list that can be changed or replaced without triggering the reactivation code depends on the type of the machine and whether a network adapter exists. For example:


* Desktop computers with an installed network card can change six components. If there isn't a network card or if it's replaced, only four changes are allowed before the reactivation code is triggered.

* Laptops with a network card can change nine components. If there isn't a network card, only seven changes are allowed before the reactivation code is triggered.


NOTE: Changing the same component several times only counts as one change.


Heh...I know XP users are the MINORITY here, but given the penetration that Windows has into the enterprise market, I felt that the info was worth posting.

That's nice....so, being an xp user and since I've recently installed a network card and more RAM, I'm "allowed" 3 more changes to MY computer by Bill and Company. How nice of them.

screw all that. I dont have the info in front of me and I forget the name of the file but it can be found on google or maybe someone here knows it. Before you make any changes you copy I THINK wma.something or something along those lines. You make the changes and then you just take that file off the disk before you made changes and replace it with the one that is in windows

presto no need activation

Quote:

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Originally posted here by Euclid
screw all that. I dont have the info in front of me and I forget the name of the file but it can be found on google or maybe someone here knows it. Before you make any changes you copy I THINK wma.something or something along those lines. You make the changes and then you just take that file off the disk before you made changes and replace it with the one that is in windows

presto no need activation

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http://www.betanews.com/print.php3?sid=995502967

I found a article here about the product activation being bypassed.

I think some of the activation triggers have changed with SP1 but I have not been able to find any details yet...

Hmmmm....I posted this for informative purposes, not to spark a debate and certainly not to discuss activation cracks. Can you spell illegal? We all know that the activation feature sucks....I just want to help folks out by making them aware of what the trigger thresholds are...nothing more, nothing less.

Allen, I was not in any way advocating any kind of activation cracking. I was thinking along the same lines as yourself and just trying to make people aware that I had thought the triggers had recently changed with SP1.

mmelby...just to clear the air, I wasn't referring to you. And I personally don't really care if someone has a cracked copy of anything...the majority of us have all travelled that road at one time or another. The point is that we really should not be promoting illegal activities on a site dedicated to security. I once posted the keys to every M$ product ever released, which I also quickly deleted because it was wrong, even though my intentions were not to encourage piracy but to help Admins who had lost their documentation. The point is, posting instructions that enable people to steal something is just as lame as asking how to hack Hotmail, IMHO.

I personnally find nothing wrong with breaking the activation crap. I have an msdn subscription, I own the software, and I don't want to have to tell Microsoft when I'm using it and when I change components.

Yeah, I installed it with a key I got off the internet, yeah I broke the activation and activated it with another key off the internet when they released sp1. Screw them, I own it.

Also from TechRepublic:

Microsoft made several changes in the activation process with Service Pack 1 for Windows XP. Here's a look at a few of the changes:


* There's a three-day grace period for reactivation.

* During Windows XP setup, the system checks the product key. If the key is on the known pirated product key list, installation fails. The following two product IDs automatically fail during setup:



1. XXXXX-640-0000356-23XXX

2. XXXXX-640-2001765-23XXX



* The product key that's used to install Windows XP will be included in the Installation ID, which is required during the activation process.

* Windows Update checks a list of valid product keys before installing updates, which helps prevent the installation of updates on cracked and pirated versions of Windows XP.

* You can encrypt the volume license key (VLK) in an unattended setup file. This prevents users from getting and distributing a key that doesn't belong to them.

* Service Pack 1 also contains fixes for known holes that bypass product activation.