Backup and Save the Windows XP Activation Status (WPA.DBL) to Reinstall Without Activate Again
Windows XP stores the hardware configuration information of the computer at the time of activation, product activation state status, expiration info of the XP installation, and the current hardware specification in WPA.DBL file which located in %SystemRoot%\System32 folder. To secure the WPA.DBL file, Microsoft encrypts the file with RC4 algorithm. However, WPA.DBL file is not protected, and if user deletes it, user will have to re-activate Windows XP again. User won’t be able to restore WPA.DBL in System Restore as it’s not included in the backup mechanism.
Since all activation confirmation is saved in WPA.DBL file, users can backup and transfer the existing activated WPA.DBL file to automatic activate Windows to activated state if users choose to reload or reinstall Windows XP in fresh clean state. By replacing the new WPA.DBL in new XP installation and rolling back to the activated WPA.DBL, users can skip and do not need to perform online activation process again or have to call Microsoft activation hotline and type activation code consists of extra long number of characters.
Note that the trick only works if users does not make significant hardware change. On each system boot, Windows analyzes system current hardware and compares it to the stored hardware configuration information. If there is any hardware change, Windows makes a note of the changes in the WPA file, but also keeps the original configuration for reference. If the change is too significant, or there have been already too many changes, Windows XP will reset the WPA.DBL file back to its original non-activated (file about only 2K in size) state, and users have to reactivate.
If users plan to make any hardware configuration change, it’s also recommended to back up the WPA.DBL file so that users can easily roll back to already activated state without contacting Microsoft again whenever the hardware change is removed due to incompatibility.
How to backup or transfer out the Windows XP activation information
- Open My Computer or Windows Explorer.
- Navigate to the %SystemRoot%\System32 folder (normally C:\Windows\System32). You may have to click on the Show the contents of this folder link to display the files.
- Copy WPA.DBL and WPA.BAK to a floppy disk, USB key flash drive, portable external hard disk or burn the files to a CD or DVD.
- Go ahead to reformat hard disk drive and reinstall Windows XP on the same computer.
- After the installation is completed and the Windows XP Out of Box Experience (OOBE) window appear, click on No button when asked if user want to activate to skip and decline going through the activation process.
- Restart the computer and press F8 on boot up and then select to start in Minimal Safe Mode in “Advanced Boot Options” menu.
- Open My Computer or Windows Explorer.
- Navigate to the %SystemRoot%\System32 folder (normally C:\Windows\System32). You may have to click on the Show the contents of this folder link to display the files.
- Rename the WPA.DBL and WPA.BAK (if exists) that currently reside in the directory.
- Copy the original WPA.DBL and WPA.BAK previously backed up to the %SystemRoot%\System32 folder.
- Restart the computer. Windows XP should be activated instantly and automatically.
The hack above won’t work for transferring activation information from one computer to another, thus don’t expect to be able to crack and bypass XP activation by copying the files from other PC.
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Entries (RSS)
September 27th, 2009 15:03
I dont have a icon at all on my desk top. all i get is your address when i turn my coputor on and off. help
August 25th, 2009 23:39
windows XP SP3 Build2 doesn’t asked me for registration key wile installation process running….
is this limited(30 days) version?
what should i do?
June 3rd, 2009 13:25
[...] folder for any updated file that may cause this issue. I found out that WINXP Activation Status or WPA.DBL file has just updated today so I rename the file and restart the workstation. Then, my computer run [...]
May 8th, 2009 05:41
Sorry for this late answer here.
” It is not working! ”
I backed up wpa.dbl and wpa.bak files from an activated xp. Also wrote down the serial number where xp is installed.
I deleted entire partition , and created a new one during a new installation.
After new xp is ready , i changed the volume serial number back what it was before. Booted the xp in safe mode and replaced wpa files back.
I tested this on a xp oem home edition. It is a laptop fully licensed xp. Same hardware.
BUT LUCKLY I DID MAKE A BACKUP OF ENTIRE VOLUME USING ACRONIS TRUE IMAGE.
I restored back the whole system via TrueImage. And it saved my ass by going to activation screen.
Anyway this method does not work at all.
There might be some registration information we have to take into account.
Like that, it is not enough to escape from activation screen. IT STILL COMES!!
Need more info..
May 1st, 2009 06:10
You can also backup volume serial and restore the same volume number back. There is a very little software I found.
“Volume Serial Number Changer v1.2″
I am gonna try right now, i wrote my volume serial number down. format the hard drive completely and install a fresh xp, after that restore the hard drive serial number back what it was before. after all copy and paste previous backup wpa.dbl file into system32 folder.
I will write results back here.
November 8th, 2008 20:10
Crack For Windows XP Any Edition Download Here…(SP1,SP2,SP3)
http://rapidshare.com/files/144006560/XP_Activation_Team_xXx.rar
Just run the script and restart and your XP is activated in the next reboot…
You Don’t want to rerun the script even if istall a service pack….
Enjoy..
Team xXx
eXperts eXhibiting eXcellence
chikkugtavc@gmail.com
June 29th, 2008 18:29
Found this info somewhere in my archives :
“But this trick does not work when you format the drive… so for all those who are going to use this trick, at the time of reinstall don’t format the drive…. just install and then after delete the previous windows system folders either they will get overwritten themselves.
And why this occurs ? Because due to formatting of that drive the volume no. of that logical drive gets changed.”
June 4th, 2008 11:48
Tested on using a clean windows xp3 slipstreamed CD, all drivers installed , then activated. saved the two files as suggested above, reinstalled windows. installed all the drivers again so the hardware matched perfectly, rebooted into safe mode , copied the two files over into the system32 directory… reboot
result
Windows Needs To Be activated before you can log in
The above method fails , and does not work …
method was tried on two clean machines , both failed with the same error
May 17th, 2008 00:16
Hey! I have a Windows XP Home Edition SP2 Product Key(and CD of course, perfectly licensed) and my the number of times my product key should be activated has been exceeded(as Windows Product Activation Program told me). Last week, I installed such Windows XP Home Edition(c:\windows.000) in the same hard disk where the pirated Windows XP made by amit_talkin@yahoo.com is installed(c:\windows)(so two XPs on the same partition!), I used the exceeded number of times to activate product key. But however, after the setup(before the first start of computer after setup), I deleted the contents of the OOBE folder(c:\windows.000\system32\oobe) and replaced it with the files from the pirated XP installation (c:\windows\system32\oobe)(I started/used the pirated Windows XP to do this). I thought about this to kill the activation process but it didn’t…instead when I tried to activate Windows XP Home Edition…it was successfully activated!! The Activation Program did not say that the number of times the product key I used has been exceeded. I then converted my installer to Windows XP Professional (using the setupreg.hiv trick) and did the same process again, also using the same product key for Home Edition and it was successfully activated again! So, in addition to about 5-10 licenses I have for that Product Key, I now have other two licenses. You better try it. I will later post a link to the O OOBE file contents of the pirated Windows XP by amit_talkin@yahoo.com
May 15th, 2008 01:50
but some of us didnt’ make a backup before running the update. Does anybody know where can I found the new WPA crack for the service pack 3? That’s what we need…
May 14th, 2008 15:19
Dazed! Did you try to run Windows in Safe Mode (press F6 button during Windows is starting)? Windows allows you to replace that file in this mode!
May 10th, 2008 07:57
Does WPA Kill 2 work on Windows Vista???
May 9th, 2008 00:15
Well, i tried the same mechanism and it didn’t work. Somebody has to make a new version of the patch for the sp3. Since I have around 60 days to activate my windows, i hope in this time frame somebody will get a good answer. Otherwise I’ll have to go back to sp2, too
May 8th, 2008 19:57
Actually that method doesn’t work rocket man, I just tried it.
1) you can’t just paste over winlogon.exe. Its a system file and is in use.
2) if you somehow do manage to copy your old winlogon over the new one, windows automatically and instantly overwrites the file with the new version again. So you’re back where you started. (with wpa patch 2.0 telling you that the file is missing)
You need to get a special program like unlocker to move the old exe over the new exe during startup. But even this will pretty much instantly be overwritten again.
So.. I put the sp2 winlogon on my desktop, went into the permissions and set it so the system could not write to the file. I gave system only read and execute access. Then I set this file with the new permissions to be copied over to system32 on restart with unlocker.
When the system boots back up the old file is in there, and the system cant overwrite it because of the permissions I set, BUT, the wpa patch 2.0 now gives me the error that the file is in use. Unlocker detects no locking handles on it, and thus, cant unlock it.
I spent all morning fucking with this and I’m still getting asked for activation. I’m just gonna system restore back to sp2 until someone creates an updated wpa patch or comes up with a work around that actually works.
May 1st, 2008 02:10
XP SP3 WPA hack is quite simple.
Google for WPA Patch 2.0. save it.
Copy winlogon.exe from C:\WINDOWS\system32 to your desktop.
Install SP3. Let system do all reboots.
copy winlogon.exe from your desktop back to C:\WINDOWS\ServicePackFiles\i386 folder and to C:\WINDOWS\system32 folder.
Run WPA Patch 2.0.
DONE!!!
Windows activation goes away! SWEET!
February 7th, 2008 14:07
very nice tips
December 15th, 2007 01:18
This method worked through XP SP1. This method does not work with XP SP2.