Question about Office XP product activation

[Workin']

I have legal OEM copies of WinXP Pro and Office XP Pro. Like many people here, I reformat my hard drive practically every month, which means I have to go through the stupid telephone activation with MS every time.

A while ago I found out that you can avoid the reactivation call for WinXP if your copy is legit and if you do not change your hardware configuration at all - as would be the case with a simple "cleansing" reformat and reinstall. Before you reformat, copy the ..\system32\wpa.dbl file onto a floppy, and then after the reformat copy it back to the hard drive in safe mode and restart. Activation will then not be required. This info is on MS's web site, by the way - there is nothing illegal or immoral about it, it's a way for MS to avoid having to take an expensive phone call from a technically savvy user doing a simple and legal operation.

My question is, does such a file exist for Office XP? I couldn't find anything about it on MS' web site or searching using Google. Or is there some other legal way to skip activation for a simple reinstall on the same system?

 

[joinT]

wow, sweet tip man I haven't bothered to get Office XP though, so I can't help you with finding the file for that, except with a .....



BUMP!

 

[apoppin]

copy the ..\system32\wpa.dbl file onto a floppy, and then after the reformat copy it back to the hard drive in safe mode and restart.

It seems like a way for a unscrupulous person to avoid activation altogether - using a system file copied off another "activated" machine.

M$ recommended this? . . . Am I missing something?

Anyway, since I have nothing useful to add . . . consider it a "bump" also.

 

[Moonbender]

It seems like a way for a unscrupulous person to avoid activation altogether - using a system file copied off another "activated" machine.

Yes, if that unscrupulous person happens to have the exact same system, they could copy it.

 

[Workin']

Am I missing something?

Yes - as moonbender said, the other system would have to be identical - including the same hard drive volume serial number and processor serial number, among several other things.

I wouldn't say MS "encourages" it but they don't discourage it, either. And they don't make a secret of it, although they don't put it on billboards or TV ads.

I was wondering if there's a similar thing for Office XP. I don't really mind calling MS, it's toll-free and it usually takes less than 5 minutes, but if I could save the hassle then why not?

 

[apoppin]

I was wondering if there's a similar thing for Office XP. I don't really mind calling MS, it's toll-free and it usually takes less than 5 minutes, but if I could save the hassle then why not?

Thanks for clarifying.

And since there is a toll-free number, why don't you ask M$ about Office XP?

 

[Workin']

And since there is a toll-free number, why don't you ask M$ about Office XP?

Heh, all those phone activation people know is where to type in the product ID and how to read back the activation code. They won't (or can't?) tell you anything else. The idea for them is to get you in and out ASAP. But they are very polite and friendly.

 

[Hamburgerpimp]

XPAntiSpy3 does all that an more. Let me know if you need it, it's only 64K in size.

 

[Workin']

Originally posted by: Hamburgerpimp
XPAntiSpy3 does all that an more. Let me know if you need it, it's only 64K in size.

According to the XPAntiSpy web page it doesn't allow you to bypass product activation in any way. PM me if you have more information, I don't want to contribute to anyone's infringing on MS's money machine.

 

[QueHuong]

Great tip, thanks.

I would like to know more about XPAntiSpy3 too.

 

[ynotravid]

Good stuff

 

[jchung]

hmmm, the xp activation work-around is a good tip, i'll remember that. I haven't made any changes to either my desk or laptop so I've never had to re-activate Office XP, yet. good to hear that the ms activation folks are pleasant, as well they should be. I do like the Office XP though, there are a number of improvements, and the activation wasn't really a big deal. I did like 97, but everyone's switching over gradually, so may as well follow suit. I'll have to check out antispy.