Jo22 wrote on 2021-04-04, 11:39:Well, Microsoft wants XP (and Win Seven) to die. Badly.
So it's just natural that the company has no interest to lend a helping […]
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Discrete_BOB_058 wrote on 2021-04-03, 07:06:
My copy of Windows XP Home was pretty old(around 2002) and it required activation after Windows was installed. Today I decided to take out this copy and put it in my VMware; but the activation servers are down and the telephone servers are unavailable too.
A friend of mine has a SP3 copy which even requires activation after install. Is there any way to do this activation later, or get a 30-day trial like the Pro edition?
Well, Microsoft wants XP (and Win Seven) to die. Badly.
So it's just natural that the company has no interest to lend a helping hand.
It's the same old story. If you're sincere and play by the rules only, you're the fool. 🙁
Anyway.. From what I remember, it's possible to use the old activation err "methods" up to SP2*.
Once done, someone can do a backup copy of winlogon.exe and install SP3 offline via installer.
Once the update process is successful, someone can use a live Linux distro an inject the old winlogon.exe to the old location on the XP partition.
(*Note : In some places on earth, say Germany, this is legit, even. There, users are allowed to use patches and whatnot as an interim
solution to make the software operational, until the provider of the legally acquired software gives support/does send the activation codes.)
I wasn't fully aware of this being the case in some specific regions.
I won't discuss anything related to (I'm being creative here) *all* ways to activate WinXP, but I sincerely hope that Microsoft will eventually give us retro enthousiasts a way to activate it in a mostly convenient way.
In the past I've tried quite a lot of different ways to use WinXP, including just using certain OEM versions (Fujitsu Siemens install disks are not able to activate in any traditional way, but will auto-activate if used on a FS mainboard from my experience) and I even managed to get my hands on an official install disk which installed a version of XP Pro which doesn't even require activation at all. It did need more specific keys to install it as the usual ones would not work. It was some kind of mass licensing version but officially even that would not be completely legal iirc?
I sorta had to dive into the details of this once I figured out that using NLite to slipstream an XP install disk from FS sometimes would make the install disk not work anymore or something?
I've experimented quite extensively with different install disks and different service packs. Sometimes the created install disk would not work properly anymore or sometimes it would not work anymore as an original royalty OEM install disk (so no more auto-activate if installed on the correct hardware).
Would be nice if Microsoft would, at some point in the future, provide some (more legal) way to install Windows XP (Home Edition!) if only because historically WinXP was quite significant. Yes I know XP Pro has virtually no downsides vs the Home Edition, but imo both those versions should be considered significant, if only from a more historical perspective.
WinXP is probably one of the most important Windows versions ever released.