Can't Activate Windows XP Pro - Infinite Activation Loop

[JP]

This problem is just one reason why I curse M$ for their activation policy.
Read on for my newest & most excellent computer nightmare:

I booted my computer the other day just like I do every morning to check my
email and low & behold - I get a message saying my copy of WinXP needs to be
activated. OK - nothing new, but extremely annoying since I've already
activated my copy more times than I can count. I click OK to start the
activation process and proceed to the next window, which says my copy of
windows is already activated. OK great. I click OK and I am logged off! NOT
GREAT!! This entire process repeats itself so I am stuck in an infinite
activation loop that has no solution. Oh the fun! You can imagine how I'm
loving M$ right now...

OK, in order to salvage my current settings and not have to reinstall all my
software, I'd like to hack my registry hives so WinXP thinks it hasn't been
activated. I've done a few things

1) I moved all my old [root\WINDOWS] files and [documents & settings\user
files] to a backup drive. I did this to backup my old settings and allow a
fresh WinXP installation.

2) I reinstalled WinXP, so now I have new settings on the drive which hosts
my OS and the old settings stored on my backup drive.

3) I've been using BartPE to try and copy the old hives to the drive with
the clean installation in order to salvage my settings, but I've been getting
some serious errors when I do this. Turns out I'm going to need to access the
old hives and wipe all activation activity to do this.

I need to know a few things:

1) Which registry keys does the activation of WinXP mess with?

2) How can I open my old backup hives in regedit or some registry editor
without importing them into my new registry?

[porciniman]

This may sound quite naive, but did you try, in your annoyed state, to
activate by phone?!
Just a thought.

[Alias]

I agree that activation only inconveniences paying customers but, that
said, you should have opted for the phone activation.

Alias

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[JP]

The problem is that there is no prompt to activate by phone. Here is the
order of screens:

1) You need to activate WinXP - blah blah blah - press OK
2) Activate by phone or over the internet - this screen nevers shows up!!
3) Your copy of WinXP is activated.

So by skipping step 2, there is no way to reactivate WinXP. I am stuck with
steps 1 & 3, get logged off, then repeat. I would have tried the phone
activation if it were possible, but that option is not available to me.

[Alias]

JP wrote:
> The problem is that there is no prompt to activate by phone. Here is the
> order of screens:
>
> 1) You need to activate WinXP - blah blah blah - press OK
> 2) Activate by phone or over the internet - this screen nevers shows up!!
> 3) Your copy of WinXP is activated.
>
> So by skipping step 2, there is no way to reactivate WinXP. I am stuck with
> steps 1 & 3, get logged off, then repeat. I would have tried the phone
> activation if it were possible, but that option is not available to me.

800 426-9400 in the USA. If you're not in the USA, call it anyway and
ask them for the number for your country.

Alias

[Peter Foldes]

#2 does not show up? You have a good memory.

I would do a Repair install in your place

--
Peter

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"JP" <J...@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message news:5E0006E2-CC6A-4887...@microsoft.com...

[Rock]

JP wrote:

<snip>

> I booted my computer the other day just like I do every morning to check my
> email and low & behold - I get a message saying my copy of WinXP needs to be
> activated. OK - nothing new, but extremely annoying since I've already
> activated my copy more times than I can count. I click OK to start the
> activation process and proceed to the next window, which says my copy of
> windows is already activated. OK great. I click OK and I am logged off! NOT
> GREAT!! This entire process repeats itself so I am stuck in an infinite
> activation loop that has no solution.

<snip>

See if anything here helps:
http://rickrogers.org/fixes.htm#Activation

--
Rock
MS MVP Windows - Shell/User

[Rock]

JP wrote:

> I ended up fixing the problem. Here's what I did:
>
> 1) Copied the Documents & Settings and Windows folders to a backup drive
> using BartPE
> 2) Reinstalled WinXP
> 3) Used regedit and exported this entire branch:
> HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\WPAEvents
> 4) Imported my corrupted Hive and imported the good WPAEvents key
> 5) Deleted the Windows & Document & Settings folder using BartPE
> 6) Copied my old folders back over to the OS drive
>
> That fixed the problem. I was able to get the activation screen working so I
> could call India and activate my WinXP again (this is number 16 - w00t!!).
> The problem was a corrupted registry key and all I needed to do was import a
> good one! Thanks for the help guys!

Glad you got it fixed and thanks for posting back your resolution.

[salim...@yahoo.com]

get the activation crack for the version of winlogon.exe that u have
and run it in safe mode as instructed. make sure to use a crack that
works for the version that u have. remember to create a backup copy of
winlogon.exe just incase. if u mess this up u will not even be able to
boot in safe mode anymore.

[Peter Foldes]

What can I say. You are a real genius.

--
Peter

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<salim...@yahoo.com> wrote in message news:1142870208....@i39g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...