Frequent Validation Problems

[pmoreland]

I have a small mountain of used pc parts. Occasionally I will mix them together to create a functioning PC. Every time I do this, the copy of XP I use forces me to re-validate. Which means I have to call India, type in a series of numbers, have that fail, and then speak with someone, explain that I swapped out a hard drive or motherboard or the like, and then am delivered a new series of numbers, etc.

Has anyone figured out how to avoid this problem?

 

[samir_nayanajaad]

Well what I do to avoid this is to not download that windows validation tool, you cant get updates form microsoft.com until you download this, but the automatic updates still works as long as you don’t download and install that validation tool.

Set your automatic updates in the windows security center to "never download or install updates without my permission" or something like that to make those automatic updates not so automatic. Then just uncheck that validation tool download when you need the newest updates without calling Microsoft to see if its ok that you take a leak without them knowing.

 

[joefriday]

I don't think that's what the poster was asking.

There's a crack you can use to get around this problem. I have an early windows xp Cd, so I used an xp home build 2600 wpa crack. Basically it removes all the windows product activation after a fresh install, so you're never bothered by this bit of re-registering windows after a significant hardware change. biggest drawback for you is that it requies a fresh install. Should be less painful than wpa though, assuming you put all your important files on a partition other than the system drive.

The only problem with this is that you cannot update windows xp with service packs. Even the sp2 on CD fails to install. I am currently doing an experiment right now though, to see if service pack 2 (or service pack 1 for that matter) is actually necessary. The test mule is a Dell optiplex with a 1.2 GHz tualatin, behind a Belkin router. The only "security" programs used are zone alarm version 3.7 and firefox 1.5. It's an a cable modem connection 24/7. So far so good. Even did some warez surfing. Only time will tell whether or not service packs are necessary. My hypothesis is that I will find no problems though. It seems the biggest security problems in XP are Internet Explorer and Outlook express; not using them mitigates the security threat substantially.

 

[johnjailbait]

its called corp edition Download it i mean *cough* buy it

 

[joefriday]

I have corporate edition as well (legal, from my college), but its not worth the hassle of finding a decent distro if all one needs is a good WPA crack.

 

[raptor50]

I went through the same hassle eveytime I mess with my setups swapping this and that when troubleshooting and such. It is quit a pain in the ass. Does the crack work that well? I think the auto update is no longer working too.