Tip #1395 - Avoid Win XP Re-activation
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WorldStart
The time may come that you'll
need to reinstall your Windows XP. It could happen. Maybe you'll add a new motherboard
or hard drive. Maybe you'll get constant errors and problems that just won't
go away. Or perhaps you're a neat freak who wants to rid yourself of clutter
and start fresh with a clean operating system. If you do reinstall Windows XP,
then you'll need to re-activate it too—that is, unless you keep this tip
handy ;-)
See, the first time you
activated XP it created a file called "wpa.dbl" that lives in the
WINDOWS\system32 folder. By creating a backup of this file on disk, you can
simply put it back into the folder after reinstalling XP and avoid the whole
re-activation hassle. Here's how...
Go to My Computer
then select your Hard Drive (usually drive C). Go to the WINDOWS\system32
folder and scroll way down until you find the wpa.dbl file.
Right-click and choose "Send
To" then either Floppy Drive (make sure you have a disk in) or CD-R/RW.
Now, when you reinstall
Windows XP you'll come to the activation screen—decline to activate and
let the install finish.
Restart your computer in
Safe Mode (keep hitting F8 at start-up then when the Advanced
Boot Options menu appears arrow down to Safe Mode).
Find your way back to the
WINDOWS\system32 folder. It's a good idea to rename the wpa.dbl
file you're replacing just in case you run into problems, so call it something
like "wpa.nothing".
Get the backup disk and
copy the old wpa.dbl file back to the WINDOWS\system32 folder
and reboot.
There you go—XP is
up and running again.
~ David
P.S. Your wpa.dbl file might
NOT work on another computer.
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