Windows XP activation algorithm cracked

ClippyBeer

ClippyBeer

Moderator
Windows XP can now be activated without the use of cracks or patches.

https://www.theregister.com/2023/05/26/windows_xp_activation_keygen/

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/202...-windows-xps-activation-algorithm-is-cracked/

https://www.tomshardware.com/news/windows-xp-offline-activation

https://old.reddit.com/r/windowsxp/...ws_xp_web_activation_is_finally_dead/ilmr5s3/

How the utility works: input the string of numbers found on the Phone Activation screen into the utility.

The utility will then spit out it’s string (once you enter the first string in full into the utility) to allow you to activate XP “over the phone”

I haven't had the opportunity to test this myself as my XP is already activated. Maybe if I have time I will install XP in a VM and try it out but this is good news considering MS no longer allows XP online activation (I have heard phone activation still works).
 
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I did a fresh install of XP SP3 in VMWare Workstation. I can now confirm that the key generator works for offline activation of Windows XP.

After installing XP you will be greeted by the familiar reminder in the system tray that XP needs to be activated. Note the network connection is offline.

XP-Test-2023-05-31-10-59-55.png


Click on the activation keys icon in the system tray. Choose "Yes, I want to telephone a customer service representative to activate Windows"



You will then see a prompt that Windows is generating a new installation ID.



You will then see the Activate Windows by phone dialogue. Ignore the drop down to set your location since you aren't going to be calling Microsoft. You need only concern yourself with the installation ID in Step 3. This number will always be different for every Windows install. This is the number that you would normally provide to a Microsoft rep who would then provide you with a confirmation ID to enter in Step 4 to activate Windows.

In this case we will provide this number to our keygen. Launch the xp_activate32 tool.



Click on the "Get from the system" button and it will copy the installation ID and generate an installation ID



Click the "Store to the system" button and you will see "talking to the system..." message in the Confirmation ID field.



Success!



Close the Activation dialogue and xp_activate32 key generator. Windows XP is now activated.



Easy peasy and no internet or phone required. I have read that it works on 64 bit XP and Server 2003. No more XP activation hassles.
 
Thanks so much for the detailed instructions, hopefully those with the activation questions will read this and I will definitely link to this thread, :)
 
Thanks for the mirror Elizabeth. Good to have in case the author's Google Drive link becomes invalid. I recommend all XP users download and keep it in a safe place.
 
I installed Windows XP Pro on two old computers last summer. Phone activation did not work. However, I was able to activate them by calling Windows support.

BTW, newer versions of Windows will still work after the 30 day grace period. Windows XP will not which necessitates activating it before the 30 day grace period is up. Recently I forgot to activate Windows XP on a VM before the 30 day grace period was up. Now I can't even get past the activation at startup. Since phone activation fails it immediately logs off. Is there any way to get past this without reinstalling Windows XP?

If I can't get past this I will reinstall Windows XP on the VM and try the utility to see if I can activate it that way.
 
Here's something I tried a long time ago when a friend bought an XP computer from a refurbisher over twenty years ago. The vendor neglected to activate XP and once the 30 days passed she was unable to use her computer. The following method DOES NOT activate XP but does reset the timer giving you another 30 days to activate XP.

Start the PC in Safe mode by pressing F8 at bootup and selecting safe mode from the prompt that appears.

Once Windows has started in safe mode, click --> start --> Run.

In the "run" window, type: Rundll32.exe syssetup,SetupOobeBnk and click OK. Wait a minute, and then restart the PC.

Windows XP will now boot up with the familiar activation pop-up but at this point you can then use the xp_activate32 tool.

Please let us know how this method works for you and if the tool works as well for you as it did for me.
 
I just reinstalled Windows XP on a Computer #1. The computer is twenty years old and was working fine but I wanted install Windows XP on a SATA HDD which I had never been able to do in past.

I will try the above method to see if I can activate Windows XP offline. If I can't get that to work I will have to do it the old fashioned way by calling Microsoft support.
 
... I'm sure Microsoft doesn't care at this point ... I have one XP PC left ... my 2 other legacy PCs are running light linux distros ... I keep the XP PC around for the sake of a few games I like that don't run on linux or Windows 11 ... it's "retired" ... I don't use it online anymore
 
I just successfully activated my newly installed Windows XP Pro on my computer.

@ClippyBeer I have a question. Your example showed that clicking on Get from the system copied the Installation ID. When I did that the numbers didn't match. However, when I clicked on Store to the system Windows did activate OK.

XP-Phone-Activation.jpg
 
I have a directory called "perm" with a 92k xp key generator from 2004 and other stuff that's needed create xp genuine installations. I compressed it to "perm.7z" and tried to upload it to archive.org, but keep getting network errors. Has anyone
got any ideas on how I might make this software available to the forum?
 

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UK-Tim said:
I have a directory called "perm" with a 92k xp key generator from 2004 and other stuff that's needed create xp genuine installations. I compressed it to "perm.7z" and tried to upload it to archive.org, but keep getting network errors. Has anyone
got any ideas on how I might make this software available to the forum?
Click to expand...
It looks like for uploading files upgrade.org has a page that allows drag-and-drop. Are you saying you tried that and got an error?

You could use something like Dropbox and providing a link to the file.
 
Yes MisterEd,

But, I finally managed to upload to archive.org this morning
but then the file was rejected due 45 flags of malware etc.

However after some encryption and renaming I seem to have the
3.8MB 7z file up there for download.

It's not easy to find because archive.org has changed the file name
somewhat. however the link is below:-

"https://archive.org/details/tuesdayto-wednesday.-7z"


After opening the The file named "TuesdaytoWednesday.7z" with "7-zip"
(I used version 22.01 x86) you should find a file inside called "TuesdaytoWednesday.Bin".

Open "TuesdaytoWednesday.Bin" with "7-zip" using the password of "TuesdaytoWednesday" and inside you should find a directory "perm" with 9 files inside.

There may well be some malware in the software although I doubt there's any in the "Windows XP Keygen.exe" which is the one I used to use.

I personally have never used any antivirus software, but always expect trouble, and so I use a multiple boot system with three primary "c" partitions on the hard-drive, so after downloading and running a suspect exe and getting what i need from it, I then re-boot on another c partition and format previous one, and then copy a fresh XP on to the recently formatted c partition, and 3 minutes later everything is back to how it was.

I haven't shared this software before as I believe part of it came from a disgruntled MS employee, and I thought the situation seemed quite volatile at the time.
 
You do realize that if somebody just goes to Archive.org they won't know how to open the file? They have to come to this thread to get the password? Was that your intention?
 
I would say it's my intention to serve this thread only, and not to give Archive.org a reason to pull the file. It's been "my" experience in the last 5 or 6 years that the useful software is more often found from forum links rather than the file storage sites. Although the exact opposite I've found to be the case of malware purporting to be useful software. When looking for the DAZ loader I must have pulled down
at least 20 pieces of malware before getting the real thing. I've also found I get better results when using languages other than English.
 
@MisterEd

As your from the US, could you tell me if "serials.be" is still up and running?

This is where I used to get many of my serial numbers for useful software, but now I get anything but this site, such as 404 or redirection. I've always assumed it was still operating, but I would need to use a proxy or Tor to access it these days
due to the level of EU legislation.
 
Hi folks.

I have a question. Not about the keygen, but if Microsoft take care about this.

I'm a programmer and I love xp. I think going to change some lines into the xp code for my needs, and, maybe, give this changes to my friends. Is it "legal"? Or will uncle Bill call me?
 
It's an interesting question for which I have no definitive answer, but I would
have thought that since the source is in the public domain and if you were to
set up a project on Sourceforge and or Github you will soon get an answer.
Either the project will be allowed to continue or the hosts will elect to remove
the project. I'm thinking of the release of the PGP source code.
 
Albo said:
Hi folks.

I have a question. Not about the keygen, but if Microsoft take care about this.

I'm a programmer and I love xp. I think going to change some lines into the xp code for my needs, and, maybe, give this changes to my friends. Is it "legal"? Or will uncle Bill call me?
Click to expand...
Windows XP will not let log in if you don't activate it before 30 days have elapsed. Versions of Windows after that will simply not let you personalize the setup if you don't activate them before 30 days. Other than that you can continue to use them.

I activated two Windows XP computer last year. Unfortunately, the only way to do that now is to use phone activation which requires you to call Microsoft support to help complete the activation process. The problem is that is taking up their time which would be best used for more valuable support activities.

I doubt if Microsoft really cares if someone finds a way around activation of Windows XP. Just don't expect them to ever officially state that.

A few days I had to reinstall Windows XP in a virtual machine because I forgot to activate the previous install before 30 days. This time I used an already used key but used the offline telephone activation program shown in post #11 to activate it. That is a lot easier than calling Microsoft support.
 
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