This might just be an ethical question, but thought I'd ask. Say someone buys a legal copy of XP, but does not like the idea of WPA. Would it be illegal for them to get a "crack" to bypass WPA? My reason for asking? My dad would like to try XP, but HATES the idea of WPA. The usual story... hates giving M$ info and such.

DISCLAIMER!: This is in no way implying that I would do this. Nor does it imply that I am asking for a crack. Like many here, I do not believe in such things.

it wouldn't be legal as it would allow the one copy of XP you bought to be installed on multiple computers which is exactly the reason it's there in the first place.

Do a search for the EULA (End User Licence Agreement), the the statement you agreed to when you pressed F8 during installation, and you will find all of what You agreed to when you purchased the license. As rhbowler said, it would be illegal.

Thanks guys! The only intent would be to bypass (in this instance) WPA. Installing on extra stations never came into the picture. Unfortunately (or fortunately), I've bever bothered with reading the EULA.

I reread your post. I thought you were giving him your copy which would be illegal. If your Father purchases XP, all he has to do is Activate and not Register. WPA sends no personal information, only a hardware identifying string which in no way indentifies the user. You may install XP and not Register it (providing Name, Address, etc.) and still have it supported by M$. All you need is Product Key. Registration is mearly an advertising tool clearly meant for your TOTAL DESTRUCTION, DAMNATION, ENSLAVEMENT, and... well maybe not, but you get my drift.

Nope. Don't even have a copy. (Although I plan on getting one and don't have a problem with WPA.) I had heard about not having to register and fully plan on skipping that part when I do purchase XP. This was all hypothetical anyway and just wanted to make sure.

Forgot to ask something. (Probably belongs to in another post, but it's semi-related.) I had read somewhere that having a NIC installed and then doing a XP install will increase the # of changes one can do to the hardware before having to check-in with M$. Does this ring a bell with anyone?

Not true, you can make 6 hardware changes in 120 days, or within any 120 days period, I have made 4 changes to my XP Pro and my machine has not complained yet (New Nic, New Audio Card, New DVD player, New Keyboard)

Thanks!

Roni's right. I think they were originally going with 4 changes but recently upped it to 6 within 120 days.

Roni, there are only ten hardware items that are recorded for WPA, most of the items you changed don't even count.

NIC's are one of the items that are checked though. (modems aren't)

From the READ1ST.TXT:

Products: Windows XP Home Edition, Windows XP Professional only

If you are prompted to activate your installation of Windows XP, defer
activation until you have completed planned upgrades or changes to
your computer's FIXED hardware and their device drivers. Otherwise,
you may need to reactivate after making such changes. FIXED
hardware/drivers include the first instance of devices such as
video, network (excluding modems), SCSI, hard drives, CD-ROM/DVD, and
system memory. USB or other removable devices (such as cameras and
printers) do not affect activation.

So if i read that correctly, if you have say a DVD and a CDRW then only the "first" one counts? And also, if you have multiple harddrives only the master counts? You can change the secondary hdd as often as you wish is how i take that.

That's how I read it too, but I'm not 100% sure on that. I think you can add all the hardware you want anyway; it doesn't become an issue unless those originals are no longer there. So certainly you could add a second hard drive later without penalty to the Activation mechanism (assuming you ever did reach the criteria for reactivation.. most people wouldn't).

>So if i read that correctly, if you have say a DVD and a
>CDRW then only the "first" one counts? And also, if you have
>multiple harddrives only the master counts? You can change
>the secondary hdd as often as you wish is how i take that.

There is some murky water out there. The System Volume string counts as one; beside the hard drive identification string, if you repartition the hard drive the System volume string will change even without changing the hard drive. And when they say System volume I hope that they are talking about the active main volume that contains ntdetect and ntldr (This is the official name for that) and not the Boot partition, which is, where the Winnt directory is located (This directory can be in another hard drive)

I know that the Keyboard and Audio Card do not belong there but the DVD and Nic do, and now that I remember I also added another 256 Mb of Ram so there is another change.

For the ones who want to know the changes that count, they are:

1- Serial number system volume
2- Nic MAC address string
3- CD-ROM drive
4- Video Card
5- CPU serial & Processor model
6- Harddrive identification string
7- SCSI host adapter
8- IDE controller
9- RAM size
10- Dockable or not dockable computer

The whole idea is that we aren't taking the software and installing it into a different system. With the list that you gave, that would prevent us from doing so. Ae new motherboard chipset, along with a processor and video card would pretty much be a new system.

Even then you could call MS and explain that you built a new machine and they will reactivate XP.

Let me ask this. This is my initial plan for now. When I buy XP I plan on dual-booting with W98SE. (Mainly just to test my hardware/software.) When I fully switch over to XP (no more dual-boot), I plan on installing it on a new hard drive. Since I would be starting completely over with XP (on a new HD), it would make me contact MS again, wouldn't it? Would it just be easier to buy the new HD first, install XP as the main OS, and then switch the HD's back and forth manually when I want the other OS? (This would leave the other HD unplugged from the system, just to clarify.) I'm simply wanting to cut down on having to deal with MS.

Be kind, this is my first post. :)

You could do that, or spring for a copy of Ghost or Drive Image and create an image file and then copy that to the new hard drive when you install it. Since you'd be putting it on the same machine you shouldn't have any device problems. Plus you have 30 days to play with XP before it becomes an issue.

As an aside, Ghost and Drive Image make great backup programs.

Simple. You have 30 days to activate. Take your time and setup your system the way you want and then activate. Thereafter any change that triggers activation is a phone call. I havn't heard of anyone being turned down yet. All you need to do is keep your documentation.

Would this work even though the HD is changing? Let me get this straight. Dual-boot, but don't activate. Test up to 30 days. When everything is working install to the new HD?

I use Ghost 2001. Works great. Just hope it will work with XP. I don't plan on using NTFS for home use. My wife doesn't use the computer all that much (she's computer literate enough to know not to just delete anything), and I don't have an always-on Internet connection.

Welcome to the show HowardL!

>Would this work even though the HD is changing? Let me get
>this straight. Dual-boot, but don't activate. Test up to 30
>days. When everything is working install to the new HD?

Yes. You will still have to put up with the nagging pop-ups untill you activate.

>I use Ghost 2001. Works great. Just hope it will work with
>XP. I don't plan on using NTFS for home use. My wife doesn't
>use the computer all that much (she's computer literate
>enough to know not to just delete anything), and I don't
>have an always-on Internet connection.

I know Ghost 2001 will work within W98, but not sure about standalone within XP. I would upgrade to 2002 if you can. According to the following, 2001 is not compatible:

http://service2.symantec.com/SUPPORT/ghost.nsf/docid/2001052308534125

>Welcome to the show HowardL!

And yes, welcome to HowardL!

Just changing a hard drive would have no affect on activation. Of the ten things checked for activation, you would have to change six of them in a 120 day period to require re-activation.

Why is this so hard to understand?

it would still be illegal, because you're altering the software in a way the manufacturer did not intend.

Happy computing!

Alex "crazygerman" Byron
Webmaster, Editor-in-Chief
PC911

Anything worth knowing about us is known already, so I dont know why folks worry about WPA.

;-) Also if you activate XP and afterwards (reboot first) backup two files onto a "fully formatted" floppy…

windows\system32\licdll.dll
windows\system32\wpa.dbl

Then install XP onto a new machine (legally of course, you must uninstall it from the first one) and then boot to a safe mode command prompt and copy the saved files to the new install.

When you reboot you will get a warning, something to the effect that XP must be activated, do you wish to? Select No. The system will freeze, just shut it off and wait a few seconds then turn it back on, chkdsk is going to want to run, let it. You will boot normally into XP.

When you goto activate it will identify that your original installation has changed by "X" pieces of hardware and just activate it. I've done that 4 times since 1st release (am trying to figure out the best combination of hardware and also testing WPA for the critics)

It worked like a charm the first two times, the 3rd time I had to call, (took less then 5 minutes and was no big deal) and the 4th I just did the 4th time.

P.S. before copying over the saved file do the following…

Open a run box and type CMD to open a command prompt.

Type the following…

sfc(space)/purgecache

when you hit enter this will purge all files that have been backed up into the windows\system32\dllcache folder. Keeps XP from replacing the new file with the old file if it thinks it's been corrupted.