Published January 21st, 2004 by Jim O'Halloran
Reinstall XP without Product Activation
This is very handy “How to Reinstall Windows XP without product activation“.
Isn’t it galling that we need to contact Microsoft for “permission” if we choose to reinstall a product that we already legally own and use, and have “stamped” so before?! Well, no worries, there is a trick for getting around product activation for Windows XP when reinstalling.
Michael Kypri Says
I really need to activate windows (it’s past the thirty day period), it’s my cousins copy of windows, but it has some very important files that i need to access! Please help in any way you can!
Oct 5th, 2006 at 11:33 am
jim Says
Why would you entrust “very important files” to an illegal copy of an partating system, which makes it absolutely clear that it will expire after 30 days AND not keep a backup copy of said files?
As far as help goes… Theres a few options. 1) Purchase a legal copy of Windows that you can Activate, and install that over the top of the current OS. 2) Pull the hard disk out and put it as a secondary drive in another comuter. This will allow you to obtain a cop of your files. or 3) Use Knoppix or anotherLinux Live CD to obtain a copy of your files.
Oct 6th, 2006 at 7:04 am
Michael Says
I ended up getting a ‘Bart Disc’ off a friend which got me my files. I now have a legal copy of windows which i purchased so thanks for the help.
Nov 15th, 2006 at 9:20 am