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Remove Windows XP activation permanently with this handy guide
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Do you have Windows XP without the genuine serial key? Don't worry -- with a few clicks of the mouse and a little bit of cleverness, you'll be able to make your Windows XP genuine forever. See Step 1 below to begin.
Steps
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Click Start, then choose Run.
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Type “regedit” (without the quotation marks).Advertisement
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Double click on HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE or click on the plus sign.
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Click on Software.
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Click on Microsoft.
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Click on Windows NT.
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Click on CurrentVersion.
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Now chose the “WPAEvents” option.
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Right click on OOBETimer and select Modify.
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In the Edit Binary Value window, remove all the values in the value data box. Click OK and close the registry editor.
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Go back to Run and type the following command without quotation marks: "%systemroot%\system32\oobe\msoobe.exe /a".
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In the Activate Windows wizard, chose the second option. It should be “Yes, I want to telephone a customer service representative to activate Windows.” Click on Next.
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Click on Change Product Key.
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Enter your genuine key in the New Key box and click on Update.
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Check whether your Windows XP is genuine (optional). Type the following command in Run without quotation marks: "oobe/msoobe /a".
- If a box appears saying “Windows is already activated," it means your Windows XP is genuine.
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After deleting the WPATimer Value in Regedit, right click on WPAEvents. Select Permissions and set permissions to deny for all groups and users. After rebooting, the machine put the values back. If you deny permissions, it can't reset.
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Community Q&A
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QuestionCan we do this procedure in safe mode?Community AnswerBoot up in Safe Mode with Command Prompt. At the cmd window, type "explorer" or "explorer.exe" and then go to the run box (WINDOWS KEY + R). Type the following exactly without the quotation marks: "rundll32.exe syssetup,SetupOobeBnk". This will renew the 30-day activation for Windows XP. Restart your computer after that.
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QuestionI tried the procedure in safe mode. It worked three times, but doesn't anymore. The rundll.command no longer works. What can I do now?Community AnswerThis wiki is just resetting the XP Activation grace period, which you can only do 3 times and then XP stops working. You must enter a legit XP key and activate online or over the phone for XP to keep working.
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QuestionWhat do I do if my Windows is unable to find %systemroot%\system32\oobe\msoobe.exe/a?Community AnswerPut a space before the "/a" and see if that works, otherwise do the below: Run>CMD cd %systemroot%\system32\oobe\ msoobe /a And if that fails: Run>oobe/msoobe.exe /a
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Tips
- If you want your Windows XP to be always genuine and not get into any legal problems with Microsoft, you have to disable Microsoft Windows critical updates. Here's how to do it:
- Go to Start, then to Control Panel. (Be sure that the Control Panel is in classic view.)
- Go to Automatic Updates and double click on it.
- Select Turn Off Automatic Updates, and hit Apply. You are done!
- One more thing: It must be annoying to have alerts every 2 minutes that Automatic Updates is turned off. So to remove the annoying alerts, you have to double click the small "red" icon where the clock is situated in the extreme bottom right. The Security Center will appear and on the left there will be some options. Be sure to select the "Change the way Security Center alerts me" option and uncheck the "Automatic Updates" option.
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About This Article
Article Summary
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1. Modify the OOBETime registry key.
2. Start the Activate Windows wizard.
3. Select the option to call a customer service rep.
4. Click Change Product Key
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5. Enter your key.
6. Click Update
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Thanks to all authors for creating a page that has been read 875,382 times.
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