Microsoft stops activating windows XP

[norm8332]

I "retro" game on many platforms and I recently discovered after a hard drive replacement that I cannot activate Windows XP! I thought microsoft stated that they would allow it to be activated for "it's useful life" then remove activation completely via a patch.

It looks like Microsoft may be going back on their word. This means that Windows XP will only work as long as your current hardware does because replacing a hard drive, video card etc. will make the activation window come up and that means your XP machine is basically bricked! This really ticks me off because I have a ton of games etc. on my XP machine that I can no longer play. What can be done? Please get the word out so maybe we can convince Microsoft to correct this.

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/win ... 89238b6d9e

[eslapion]

And today Oct 29 2018 the robo activation bot say they no longer will activate Windows XP. Call live person at Microsoft Tech Support and was told they no long will activate Windows XP. I think that's illegal and Microsoft wants to fight a class action suit is my best guess.

Damn!

My old tower still uses XP.

Am I wrong if I say, you can simply 'ghost' your old hard drive onto a new one and XP will not require activation ?

I still use Symantec Ghost to back-up my old machine and I did use it in the past when a hard drive started to have too many bad sectors and needed replacing.

Is there any 'cracking' software that will activate XP without the need for Microsoft activation ?

A few years ago, Adobe placed 'activation free' versions of Photoshop CS2, Illustrator CS2 and other 'antiquated' softwares online for pretty much anyone to download. Considering Windows XP is about 15 years old, they should really do the same.

[norm8332]

That's what I did, I "ghosted" it to another drive - that's it. The thing is: I paid for everything. Microsoft has no right to invalidate my installation. I have the authentication sticker on my PC. If they are going to shut down activation for XP completely, they should release a patch to disable it altogether. We shouldn't have to rely on a third party to hack it. They got my money and it's not up to them if I want to continue to use the product I purchased.

I guarantee there are still millions of PCs with XP that are still used for accessing "old" games and programs. They are basically revoking my right to repair my old PC.

[beamrider]

If you can find a retail product key, that might work?

Did you only change the drive, I thought you could swap one (maybe two) component(s), but if it decided it had essentially been moved to a new PC then it would trigger reactivation (which wouldn't work without telephone support - now withdrawn).

[vicist]

This might be worth a look....

https://www.reactos.org/

It's a free windows OS replacement written from scratch and seems to be able to run native windows apps and games.

[eslapion]

That's what I did, I "ghosted" it to another drive - that's it. The thing is: I paid for everything. Microsoft has no right to invalidate my installation.
...
They are basically revoking my right to repair my old PC.

That's correct. Although I know (because I have one) there are licenses of Windows 7 for 32 bit systems and these might very well work on your old PC.

If you can find a retail product key, that might work?

Absolutely not! Installing requires the product key. Once you install (or re-install) Windows XP then you must perform an activation either online or through a phone call.

Refusing to perform the activation is a violation of Microsoft's own license terms as there is absolutely no expiration date in there.

[tokra]

From what I read in other forums, you need to have a completely updated XP (with SP3 and all later updates). Either pull these online or download an update-package. After that usually the telephone-activation should still work (last report of success I found was Oct, 2nd 2018).

[English Invader]

A couple of years ago, I repurposed a very old PC with Windows 98 for use as a retro gaming rig. The hard part was finding video and sound drivers but I got there in the end and it can even go online after a fashion with an old version of Puppy Linux.

I still keep a few old XP laptops around for old games but the number of games I'm unable to run on Linux Mint through Wine becomes smaller and smaller by the day and, more often than not, the games I'm unable to run on Linux tend to pose the same problems on Windows. There are also a lot of games that can be sourced digitally through Steam or GOG that have been optimised to run on contemporary systems and, if we throw DOSBox into the mix, that brings MS-DOS games into the party as well. The need for legacy hardware and operating systems for games is becoming less and less relevant.

I occasionally make time to use my Windows 98 gaming rig or one of my XP laptops but most of the time it just isn't convenient because I'm already able to run the vast majority of games I want to play.

[eslapion]

A couple of years ago, I repurposed a very old PC with Windows 98 for use as a retro gaming rig. The hard part was finding video and sound drivers...

I have a P3-600 myself fitted with Windows 98SE. The beauty of this old OS is it doesn't need online or phone activation at all.

However, the problem with Windows XP is it covers a far wider time period when it comes to software and hardware compatibility. There's just too much stuff which won't work with a WinXP substitute.

While Windows 98/SE runs all software for Windows 95 all the way to stuff coming out around 2002, Windows XP (with SP3) runs software for Windows 2000 all the way to just before Windows 10 came out. That's a market compatibility covering nearly 15 years and that's completely unprecedented in the computer world. Windows XP is the very first OS from Microsoft which requires such a thing as online activation.

There are many industrial equipment based on small Windows XP PCs and if they lose support then billions of dollars are going to be at stake.

Windows 7 - 32bit is a possible upgrade for some of them but clearly not all of them.

On my own Windows XP PC, which has dozens of legacy software installed, upagrading from XP to Win7 (through Vista) is not available because the HAL was not installed properly. It uses the standard PC multiprocessor HAL so Vista won't install at all.

[cbmeeks]

That's what I did, I "ghosted" it to another drive - that's it. The thing is: I paid for everything. Microsoft has no right to invalidate my installation. I have the authentication sticker on my PC. If they are going to shut down activation for XP completely, they should release a patch to disable it altogether. We shouldn't have to rely on a third party to hack it. They got my money and it's not up to them if I want to continue to use the product I purchased.

I guarantee there are still millions of PCs with XP that are still used for accessing "old" games and programs. They are basically revoking my right to repair my old PC.

Apple did the exact same thing to me...well, indirectly. I bought a 2009 MBP that had Snow Leopard on it. That particular machine runs Snow Leopard like a champ. And I only wanted to do light development on it (web, Python, etc.). But now, I cannot connect to any sites with it. Just about every major site (and Apple) are saying I need to upgrade. Cannot even access the App Store. So I upgraded once to Mtn. Lion and it was so slow that it was taking 45 seconds for mouse clicks to work.

So there I have it....$1600 brick that looks beautiful in my closet.

Now, Windows 10 is starting to piss me off. It will not stop with the damn "Fix my account". See, I didn't log in with a MS account on it. It's none of MS's damn business what I do with it. I paid for the OS. But it's constantly trying to get me to sign in to my MS account.

So, starting VERY soon...I'm moving to Linux for good. Now I just need to find a distro I want to use.

[dragos]

Did you even try to find a solution yourself?

There are many fixes to this problem online. I do not have the problem because I always use a VLK version. you should too. but if you need the warm fuzzy of using exactly what you paid for, try google....