# Avoid XP's Activation After a Reformat



## kilowatt1 (Oct 27, 2001)

Recieved this tip today in one of my weekly newsletters. Hope it helps.

From time to time, it's wise to reformat a machine if it starts acquiring too many quirky problems nobody seems to know how to fix, or if it's been so riddled by spyware, it would take days to clean, and even then, it would never work right again. So, to simply avoid the hassle of the activation process when you do format, follow these steps.

Before you reformat, go into the "C:\Windows\System32" folder, and copy the "wpa.bak" and "wpa.dbl" files to a safe place, such as a CD or Flash Drive.

After you finish reinstalling Windows, but before you reactivate, copy the two files you saved to the desktop. Next, boot up in safe mode by pressing F8 just before the Windows loading screen and selecting "safe mode". Then go into the "C:\Windows\System32" directory and locate the two files there with the same name. If they exist, rename "wpa.dbl" to "wpa.nonactivated" and "wpa.bak" to wpabak.nonactivated.

Now, put the "wpa.bak" and "wpa.dbl" you temporarily placed on desktop into the "C:\Windows\System32" folder. After a reboot, you should be all set to go.

Note that this will only work if you're running the same or very similar hardware as before.


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## qam13 (Jul 29, 2006)

That's a cool tip.


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## pugmug (Jun 13, 2005)

What is the point if you are using a legal copy of the o/s to start with?


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## loserOlimbs (Jun 19, 2004)

pugmug said:


> What is the point if you are using a legal copy of the o/s to start with?


I agree as long as you have an internet connection, activation takes inly a second!

Or you can buy XP Pro, which has no activation.


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## Rockn (Jul 29, 2001)

pugmug said:


> What is the point if you are using a legal copy of the o/s to start with?


Because the two seconds it takes to activate is too long for some people.


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## JohnWill (Oct 19, 2002)

loserOlimbs said:


> Or you can buy XP Pro, which has no activation.


That must be news to Microsoft, not to mention me!  I don't know where you got this idea from, but there is no difference in regard to activation between XP-Home and XP-Pro.


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## brendandonhu (Jul 8, 2002)

Maybe he meant XP Corp?


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## JohnWill (Oct 19, 2002)

Could be, because I'm running XP-Pro on this machine, and it sure needed to be activated.


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## Rockn (Jul 29, 2001)

I think the only ones that don't need to be activated are the volume licenced and open licensed versions.


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## Stephen47 (Oct 4, 2002)

wouldn't this take longer than the activation anyway?


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## Stoner (Oct 26, 2002)

It would be convient for a computer that had no internet connection. Probably not common these days, but there are some out there and killowatt1's method is a lot simpler than having to make a telephone call to MS to get authorization.


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## JEBWrench (Jul 4, 2006)

I thought there were a limited number of activations per copy of XP?


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## JohnWill (Oct 19, 2002)

The rules for number of activations are somewhat complex, and they time-out around 3-4 months. If you activate on the same hardware, you can do it multiple times. If you move to new hardware, you'll typically be speaking to someone in India to get your new code. I'm getting to know those guys by name.


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## Big-K (Nov 22, 2003)

This is one of many reasons why I use win2k


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## rbrager (Aug 15, 2006)

I will try this tip the next time the dragon eats its tail (XP fails) just cause I'm curious.


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## thecoalman (Mar 6, 2006)

Mine is stored in the BIOS, no activation required.  I've reinstalled a few times even with some minor hardware changes and nothing yet... last time was new graphics card.


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## rbrager (Aug 15, 2006)

thecoalman said:


> Mine is stored in the BIOS, no activation required.  I've reinstalled a few times even with some minor hardware changes and nothing yet... last time was new graphics card.


Are you going to share how you accomplished this?


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## thecoalman (Mar 6, 2006)

OEM disc that is tied to the mobo, not sure if you'd be able to activate it on another system. I never tried it so I don't know.


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## rbrager (Aug 15, 2006)

My System, XP Home, was purchased seperately from the MoBo. If my system requires
refreshing I will try this technique first. If not I can always talk to the guys in India.


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