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Windows XP activation no longer working?

Capt. 2110

Experienced Member
Joined
May 23, 2015
Messages
362
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I have several copies of XP, all legitimate copies, but none will register online, and the phone doesn’t acknowledge XP as a product and says the code is invalid. Is there anything I can do, or do I have to break XP for this project?
 
I have several copies of XP, all legitimate copies, but none will register online, and the phone doesn’t acknowledge XP as a product and says the code is invalid. Is there anything I can do, or do I have to break XP for this project?

I use an Enterprise edition and therefore doesn't require activation from MS. I also have 3 or 4 XP CD's from the likes of Dell, etc., which were never used, and I'm just going to pitch them. Short of stumbling upon a hack, you're pretty much S*L. You're best bet is to scour the net and some of the newsgroups for a way in. You may want to shop eBay for a Enterprise edition before the price goes through the roof. It's really a hard pill to swallow when you pay good money for a product and then can't use it because of some knee-jerk corporate decision.

Late edit:

Send me a PM with an email address and I might be able to help.
 
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I use an Enterprise edition and therefore doesn't require activation from MS. I also have 3 or 4 XP CD's from the likes of Dell, etc., which were never used, and I'm just going to pitch them. Short of stumbling upon a hack, you're pretty much S*L. You're best bet is to scour the net and some of the newsgroups for a way in. You may want to shop eBay for a Enterprise edition before the price goes through the roof. It's really a hard pill to swallow when you pay good money for a product and then can't use it because of some knee-jerk corporate decision.

Late edit:

Send me a PM with an email address and I might be able to help.

I installed XP on a computer several months ago and was able to activate it using the phone system.
 
Try disabling the certificate revocation:
Method 3: Turn Off Certificate Revocation in Internet Explorer
Turn off certificate revocation in Internet Explorer to permit Windows activation to succeed. To do so, follow these steps.

Note Microsoft recommends that you do not turn off certificate revocation in Internet Explorer.
Start Internet Explorer.
On the Tools menu, click Internet Options.
Click the Advanced tab, and then click to clear the following check boxes in the Settings list:
Check for publisher’s certificate revocation
Check for server certificate revocation (requires restart)
Click Apply, and then click OK.
Quit and then restart Internet Explorer.
Activate Windows.
In Internet Explorer, click Internet Options on the Tools menu.
Click the Advanced tab, and then click to select the following check boxes in the Settings list:
Check for publisher’s certificate revocation
Check for server certificate revocation (requires restart)
Click Apply, and then click OK.
Quit and then restart Internet Explorer.

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us...r-message-when-you-try-to-activate-windows-se
 
Some people have claimed internet activation will work if service pack 3, IE 8, and possibly other update are installed ahead of time.
 
Good point, especially pre-SP3 required the DST fix from 2007. I use nLite to make my own XP CDs for different systems that had a particular version installed (XP Home, Pro) with SP3, the OEM CD keys from the systems themselves, all of the necessary drivers, and so on. I still run Windows XP to this day for certain programs and hardware only work with up to Windows XP.

Windows XP does what Win10 don't.
 
Have you tried calling the activation line it presents when it fails?

EDIT: Err missed that OP tried this too.
 
So I've tried disabling the certificate revocation, but it didn't fix it, it still can't connect. I'll try updating the OS to register it, but from what I'm seeing, I think Microsoft wants nothing to do with XP.
 
I noticed this happen a couple weeks ago when a coworker wanted me to reload a box for her in my spare time. I ended up just using remove WAT just so she could have her machine running. She owns a license , but if they arent going to honor it.. We'll have to resort to such things.
 
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One approach is to use POSReady, which requires no activation. The other is to use one of the old hacks, such as WPAKill. If MS won't honor a valid product, why bother with them?
 
You MUST apply Service Pack 3 before a number of the internet connected features start to wake up. A standalone download of SP3 is/was available officially from Microsoft. Then it's a matter of forcing Windows Update (or waiting for it to check on its own) to poke the server a few times to patch itself up enough so the IE-driven windows Update page starts to work.

I just checked and I know for a fact the default url Windows Update in XP points to still loads the page and nags me to install a video driver that's broken.
 
Same crap I had to put up with doing a legit Windows server 2003 install a while back. You needed the last SP installed and then the last version of IE for any updates and registration to work. The old built in Windows Update is non working.

Most people just used XP Media Center Edition back in the day and went on with life.
 
You needed the last SP installed and then the last version of IE for any updates and registration to work. The old built in Windows Update is non working.

What's the latest IE that you have working? IE8 is the latest I can do. Also, updates only work with MS IE8. Actually I seldom use the internet on my XP PC's unless it for downloading something pertaining to a game.
 
I would like to find a hack for XP whereby one could use Firefox in lieu of the mandatory IE8 for doing MS updates.
 
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