Partial Workaround For Windows XP Product Activation

     One common problem arises when users need to reformat
     their drives and reinstall XP. This generally requires a
     reactivation of the OS (as you know, MS insists that XP is
     activated or via online or phone registration or it will cease
     to function after 30 days). For those who need (or like) to
     reformat fairly frequently this can, at the very least, be
     annoying. It may also lead to MS questioning the legitimacy of
     the reactivation, since individual copies of XP are restricted
     to single system use. But there is an easy - and legitimate -
     way around this problem.

     There is a file in your \windows\system32 folder named
     wpa.dbl. This "Windows Product Activation" file (actual a mini-
     database) contains information about the hardware installed on
     your system and the current state of your OS's activation. At
     every boot your hardware configuration is compared to the
     stored data in this file. If you change a piece of hardware
     that information is recorded in the wpa.dbl, but does not
     overwrite the original configuration it detected at the time
     the OS was first activated. If too many hardware changes are
     detected, the wpa.dbl will "tilt" and reset itself to the
     default size (the size it was prior to activation). This means
     that your installation will have to be reactivated.

     However, it is perfectly legal (and smart) to create a backup
     of the wpa.dbl file. Save it to removable medium (floppy, zip,
     cd) and after a reformat just put it in the \windows\system32
     folder, overwriting the existing file. One caveat - you need
     to remember to create a new wpa.dbl backup every time you
     change or add a piece of hardware, otherwise the copy you
     restore to the system will notice the difference and think
     it's been copied to a different computer. It will reset and
     you'll have to call Uncle Bill. --- Allan ( tweakxp forum
     administrator, http://www.tweakxp.com/idealbb

[report a broken link by clicking here]