Comprehensive understanding of Windows XP activation

Whether we install Lenovo OEM version, Shanghai government VLK version, or English VOL version, or the original version, it is actually dealing with activation, of course, we have three options after choosing XP: One is to find the version that is not activated, the other is to install the OEM version by modifying the string in BiOS, and the third is to install the original + number to activate. My machine is Lenovo Zhaoyang's book, originally the Lenovo OEM version, and then in order to consolidate computer English, I installed the English VOL version, but a little regret, my serial number does not have the SP2 test version installed, plus English The compatibility of Chinese version is still not ideal, so I changed the VLK version of the Shanghai government version, free activation, online upgrade, etc., but the VLK version can not be used after SP2, I think the old cover will be in the dream. Think about this problem! So I am now using the original + number to activate, here also thanks to the big tomato to provide the counting device!

Everyone knows that Microsoft has always had a restriction on the use of the Windows operating system: a legally authorized copy of the Windows operating system can only be installed on a computer, but in fact many people do not have Compliance with this limitation, and activation of technology
is a means of ensuring that an authorization can only be installed on a single computer. Therefore, within 30 days of installing Windows XP, we must activate it if we want to continue using Windows XP. In the process of activation, the system will combine the detailed configuration of the hardware and the PID (Product ID) number generated after installing the operating system, and then generate a string of code according to the hash algorithm (irreversible), and we need to pass this code Tell Microsoft via the Internet or by phone, Microsoft will return another new number to us, and use this number to successfully activate Windows XP. If it is not activated in time, Windows XP will not be available after expiration. When you start your computer later, Windows will compare the hardware device you are currently using with the hardware device you used to activate. If the hardware device changes a lot, we can't continue to use our Windows XP unless we can Contact Microsoft and reactivate. The situation is different for the brand machine purchased. The general brand machine is pre-installed with the OEM version of the Windows XP operating system and has been successfully activated. This version of system activation is determined by the BIOS. We can replace any hardware (except the motherboard, in fact, the string in BiOS), and do not need to be activated again.

Then everyone wants to know which kinds of hardware will be checked by the activation technology
? There are 10 kinds: graphics card, SCSI adapter, IDE controller (it can be said that the motherboard), network card and its Mac address, memory range (such as 0-64MB, 64-128MB, etc.), processor type, processor serial number, hard disk, Volume Serial Number (VSN), optical drive. During the installation of the operating system, the installer will check the above hardware, and record the corresponding data, and save it on the hard disk, which is actually the WPA.dbl file. In the later activation process, this number and PID will be used to generate a 25-bit string and send it out. And if we install Windows XP with SP1 integrated, or install SP1 and then activate it after installing XP, then we need to send the product key during the activation process (that is, a string of letters entered during the installation of the operating system). Combined with the number) to Microsoft, this will block out a wide range of leaked product keys on the network, so that products installed with these serial numbers cannot be activated. In the future, each time Windows starts, it will check the hardware repeatedly to ensure that Windows is running on the same computer. Similarly, if we format the hard drive and reinstall Windows XP, we need to activate it again, because the activation number saved on the hard disk is gone (that is, the Windows\\system32\\WPA.dbl file is gone), we want Regained.

So what is the exact concept of "the same computer"? If you activate technology
to check that all ten devices are in, then the computer can start normally and does not need to be reactivated. In fact, as long as there are more than seven (including seven), then activate Technology
will think that this is still "the same computer." However, the network card is quite special, and the network card device accounts for two of the ten types of devices. Another point to note is that what I said earlier is "as long as there are more than seven (including seven) that have not changed", instead of "three devices have changed", this is because the technology is activated
Determine if the same computer is looking at how many devices have not changed, rather than see how many devices have changed. So if we add another optical drive in the case of an existing optical drive, this will not affect the judgment of the technology
, instead, if we replace the existing optical drive with a new optical drive, this Will be activated Technology
thinks there is a device that has changed. Therefore, if we just want to load more devices into the computer, then we don't have to worry about activation. On the contrary, if you want to take out the loaded devices, you should pay attention. If we replace one of the above ten categories, but later activate technology
will not ask about this type of device again. So if we like, we can change the new optical drive once a week, without worrying that too many changes will lead to reactivation.

What if there are too many hardware changes from a friend? At the time of Windows startup, most of the hardware has been changed. We can look at two situations:

1. For computers without SP1, we can only start the system to safe mode and then activate Technology
We will ask us to activate Windows by phone. First we have to copy a string of 50 digits, then call the toll-free number to Microsoft's activation center, tell the operator the number we copied, and get a string of 42 digits from the operator. We enter the digits into the computer. And then we can successfully activate our Windows.

2. If our Windows XP has SP1 installed, the situation is much simpler, the system can still start normally, and we have three days to reactivate via the network.

We also reinstall the system, for the time being, don't consider using Ghost as a backup. Let's take a deeper look at what happens if the hard disk is formatted. In fact, two kinds of data will be recorded on the hard disk: the serial number of the hard disk itself, and the volume serial number (VSN) of the partition on the hard disk. The VSN data is stored in the first sector of each partition, so every time we format this partition, the partition's VSN record will change. If we can remember the ID of the partition before formatting the partition, then we can use the software to modify the new partition ID to the previous record, so that when the technology
is activated, we can add one more. I definitely answered it. First enter the partition we want to format in command line mode, such as the D drive, then directly enter "VOL" and press Enter, write down the VSN displayed on the screen (for example: F8AA-63DE), and then format the hard drive. After formatting, download a free software for modifying the hard disk partition VSN here: Volume ID, and then run it from the command line. For example, we need to change the new VSN of the D drive to the F8AA-63DE we recorded earlier. Then we can enter "volumeid d:F8AA-63DE" in the command line state and press Enter, then restart immediately, the VSN will be modified (remember to do before the system is activated). There is one more thing that will make the partition VSN change, that is, the partition file system conversion, whether the system converts the FAT file system to NTFS with the system's own convert.exe or the partition magician converts NTFS to FAT, which will make the partition The VSN has changed. So if our Windows XP is installed on the partition of the FAT file system, but we want to convert the file system to NTFS, then this operation is best done before the system is activated, so that the technology
check system is activated. At the time, there was no change in our hardware. If we have activated the system, we can also consider using the Volume Id software mentioned above to modify the VSN. It is also useful to back up the WPA.DBL and WPA.BAK files in the Windows\\System32 folder. These two files record information about product activation, and after backup, once the file is damaged, or we overwrite the system, you can restart to the command line mode to restore these two backup files back, avoiding Activate again. However, this method is only effective on a small scale. The information recorded in this file can only be satisfied with a specific Windows installation, and once the hardware on the computer changes, it will not be effective. There are still many friends who use mobile hard disk now. Like I have a 20G IBM mobile hard disk, because we use mobile hard disk to store and exchange data at most, and the operating system is installed on a fixed non-mobile hard disk, so the mobile hard disk Plugging and unplugging does not affect the operation of the activated technology
.

Some friends have replaced the motherboard, which is equivalent to replacing the IDE controller, and usually the motherboard's friends may change a faster update processor. If our processor has a serial number built in (for example, a Pentium 3 CPU), this means that we have changed three hardware (even if we replace the processor part with a built-in serial number, such as Athlon, this is the same) ). If we also add memory at the same time, or the motherboard has a SCSI adapter, we will have four to five hardware changes, so we must try to ensure that the network card has not been replaced, so that we can win two more hardware for us. If our new motherboard integrates a graphics card (and usually will also integrate a network card), then basically all of our hardware has changed. In this case, we can't replace too much hardware or continue to use Windows XP. Phone activation is prepared for this situation. Of course, this is an extreme example.

If we add a new hardware device, and this device is mentioned in the above ten categories, such as hard disk, then activation technology
at startup can also detect the original In the case of an old hard disk (even if the old hard disk is connected to the slave disk), this is allowed. But if we format the old hard drive as a slave and make a fresh install of the new drive as the primary, the hardware hash is calculated and sent to Microsoft is the new hard drive ID we are now using as the primary. This means that this type of device has no match, and we will have one more hardware change. If this change accumulates to a certain extent, we can't reactivate it through the network, but by phone. Therefore, from the perspective of activating the technology
, the best way to add hardware is to add new hardware as a "attachment". For example, if we want to add an optical drive, then we'd better use the new drive as a slave while preserving the original drive, or even move the old drive to the primary if necessary. XPInfo is a very useful program that can be used to tell us which types of hardware devices have been activated in the Technology
query at system startup.

This question was not confirmed before. Let me give a clear answer: The Windows XP retail license is permanent and valid, which means that if you like, we can continue to use the product. But Microsoft also admitted that computers need to be upgraded. In the 120 days after we first activated Windows, if our hardware