OSNews: http://www.osnews.com/story/19095/Microsoft_To_Relax_XP_Activation_Rules_with_SP3 Exploring the Future of Computing en-us Copyright 2001-2009, David Adams adam+nospam@osnews.com Tue, 10 Nov 2009 05:01:34 GMT http://www.osnews.com/images/osnews.gif OSNews.com http://www.osnews.com And of course, http://osnews.com/thread?293661 http://osnews.com/thread?293661 When MS finally goes Enron on us, the celebration parties won't even have finished by the time all the Windows installs lock you out. Sat, 29 Dec 2007 22:33:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (stestagg) Comments RE: And of course, http://osnews.com/thread?293662 http://osnews.com/thread?293662 Good point though. Sat, 29 Dec 2007 22:39:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Buck) Comments What happens when XP end of life is reached http://osnews.com/thread?293668 http://osnews.com/thread?293668 What will happen to the WPA activation when Windows XP reaches end of life? Will microsoft completely disable WPA so people can still use it or will they shut off the WPA activation servers preventing users to activate and use it at all. Sat, 29 Dec 2007 22:56:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (siimo) Comments Why does this make much of a difference? http://osnews.com/thread?293674 http://osnews.com/thread?293674 You already have a 30 day grace period to activate XP. All that Microsoft is saying is that you now have 30 days to enter the registration key too, which is traditionally requested during installation. Given that you are asked for the registration key during installation, and given that almost every XP installation CD wil be SP2 or earlier, I really don't see how this will make a difference.

As for XP reaching EOL, Microsoft has suggest that they may do away with the activation requirement at some point in the future. And I, for one, think that they will. There will come a point in the future when maintaining servers to activate XP, and call centres to manually activate XP, will outweight the benefit. On the other hand, Microsoft will have a bloody hard time pulling down those servers without lawsuits on their hands. I know that they aren't going to eliminate the requirement in the near future. Vista's market position is far too weak after all, but give it 3 years. Sat, 29 Dec 2007 23:06:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (MacTO) Comments ...... http://osnews.com/thread?293676 http://osnews.com/thread?293676 Why not remove WGA/WPA altogether?

It never added to functionality to the Os , didn't stop pirates from breaking through and insulted Microsoft's genuine userbase.

They in turn instead of protecting their user's interest resorted into slanderous campaigns, shady deals and ludicrous lawsuits.

Way to Go Microsoft...

NOT!!Edited 2007-12-29 23:11 Sat, 29 Dec 2007 23:11:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (islander) Comments RE: What happens when XP end of life is reached http://osnews.com/thread?293677 http://osnews.com/thread?293677 When Windows XP reaches end of life, ReactOS 1.0 Final will be released. Sat, 29 Dec 2007 23:11:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Joe User) Comments RE[2]: What happens when XP end of life is reached http://osnews.com/thread?293678 http://osnews.com/thread?293678 As much hope as I have for ReactOs ..lets hope it doesn't become the emperor's new clothes. Sat, 29 Dec 2007 23:13:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (islander) Comments RE: What happens when XP end of life is reached http://osnews.com/thread?293679 http://osnews.com/thread?293679 Good question... I've had plans on buying a spare copy of XP Pro (Full version) sometime in the future, so I'll have it and not have to worry about this damn upgrade version and my old Win9x disc for "verification." The biggest thing holding me back is... how future-ready will XP be? PCs seem to be switching to SATA, which WinXP doesn't support without a boot disk, and there's no way in hell I want a floppy drive to be in my future machines. Even with SP3, it still seems that XP won't support SATA. With Microsoft already eager to drop support of this operating in favor of trying to force its pathetic successor onto us, who knows how support will be in the future.

I figure disabling support for WGA at the end of XP's life is a possibility, leaving unactivated systems, and seems to be something Microsoft would do, but hopefully they don't. I haven't really thought of this before. What Microsoft needs to do is just release an updated XP, including drivers, software updates, and whatever else it takes to bring it up to date, and maybe clean up some of their bloat while their at it (removing/disabling pointless services right from the start would be a good idea...). Of course, hell will freeze over before Microsoft actually *improves* (read: reverts back to an older version) their product.Edited 2007-12-29 23:29 Sat, 29 Dec 2007 23:15:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (UZ64) Comments RE: What happens when XP end of life is reached http://osnews.com/thread?293680 http://osnews.com/thread?293680 Here is the answer:

Will Microsoft use activation to force me to upgrade? In other words, will Microsoft ever stop giving out activation codes for any of the products that require activation?

No, Microsoft will not use activation as a tool to force people to upgrade. Activation is merely an anti-piracy tool, nothing else.

Microsoft will also support the activation of Windows XP throughout its life and will likely provide an update that turns activation off at the end of the product's lifecycle so users would no longer be required to activate the product.


http://www.microsoft.com/norge/piracy/activation_faq.mspx Sat, 29 Dec 2007 23:16:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (autumnlover) Comments RE[2]: What happens when XP end of life is reached http://osnews.com/thread?293684 http://osnews.com/thread?293684
? PCs seem to be switching to SATA, which WinXP doesn't support without a boot disk,


I have all SATA devices in my computer and the XP installation has never required me to insert any floppy's. Sat, 29 Dec 2007 23:36:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (monacelli) Comments RE[3]: What happens when XP end of life is reached http://osnews.com/thread?293696 http://osnews.com/thread?293696 Then you're missing out, man. Because there's nothing like being told you must have a floppy drive in today's day and age. Pure bliss. XP makes me feel really special like that. Sun, 30 Dec 2007 01:20:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (wirespot) Comments RE[4]: What happens when XP end of life is reached http://osnews.com/thread?293703 http://osnews.com/thread?293703
the XP installation has never required me to insert any floppy's.


Same here. Makes you wonder............. Sun, 30 Dec 2007 02:38:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (camo) Comments and... http://osnews.com/thread?293705 http://osnews.com/thread?293705 crackers will have that extended to infinity shortly after its release. Sun, 30 Dec 2007 02:43:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (hobgoblin) Comments RE[2]: What happens when XP end of life is reached http://osnews.com/thread?293706 http://osnews.com/thread?293706 "and will likely provide an update"

Why can't they say that they will provide an update, or that they will disable WGA on EOL?

Don't get me wrong, I believe that they believe what they say, but the left hand and right hand issue always makes me cautious of really big corps promising that they will eventually do The Right Thing™. If the left hand does not disable activation, what will any of us do besides shaking our heads and "I should have known."?

Also there is no mention of Vista, though that is almost certainly just a mistake of not updating the page.

But really this is just an expression of my aversion to draconian activation schemes that involve phoning home and allow me to use what I've purchased only at the whim of the Corporation, even years later, and with almost no practical options in legal recourse. Sun, 30 Dec 2007 02:48:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (chrono13) Comments What a surprise http://osnews.com/thread?293711 http://osnews.com/thread?293711 With Windows users ditching Microsoft's crapware in droves; for Macintosh and even Linux, they'd better do something to keep the market saturated. Especially since Vista has proven to be a major dud. Relaxing WGA is nothing more than a thinly veiled attempt to increase piracy which increases the installed base ultimately increases peoples' dependence on Microsoft products. It's worth the loss of a little revenue to a company as wealthy as Microsoft. Sun, 30 Dec 2007 03:14:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (cmost) Comments RE[3]: What happens when XP end of life is reached http://osnews.com/thread?293716 http://osnews.com/thread?293716 I think he is talking about RAID. On older pcs with the promise controllers, they required you to use s floppy to install the drivers before the xp install could recognize your harddrive. Newer machine usually use s different chipset, either from Intel, or Nvidia, these don't require the drivers to be loaded. I had the same issue on my machine, I had an MSI mobo with a promise controller and a via controller. The via chipset worked right off the bat, the promise one required a third party floppy to install on any drive attached to that controller. Ofcourse at the time I was installing XP SP1 then upgrading to SP2. SP2 discs usually have the proper drivers already included on th disc since it became common to install on a SATA drive at that point. Sun, 30 Dec 2007 03:41:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (apoclypse) Comments Relaxed? http://osnews.com/thread?293724 http://osnews.com/thread?293724 It's not any more relaxed than it was before, I think that is the wrong word for it... As someone else mentioned, you could already run XP without activating it for 30 days anyway, so what does this give me?

I totally understand why MS have this and Apple don't, this isn't an anti MS thing, I just don't get the relaxed bit of the article...

Maybe someone can help me out here... Sun, 30 Dec 2007 04:35:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (thavith_osn) Comments RE[2]: What happens when XP end of life is reached http://osnews.com/thread?293730 http://osnews.com/thread?293730
When Windows XP reaches end of life, ReactOS 1.0 Final will be released.


And bundled with a copy of Duke Nukem Forever, as well. Sun, 30 Dec 2007 04:51:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (elsewhere) Comments RE[2]: What happens when XP end of life is reached http://osnews.com/thread?293732 http://osnews.com/thread?293732
PCs seem to be switching to SATA, which WinXP doesn't support without a boot disk, and there's no way in hell I want a floppy drive to be in my future machines.


XP doesn't, but XP SP2 (and presumbaly SP3 will be better) should. I use an SP2-slipstreamed version of an XP SP1 install disc the odd-time when I need to re-install an OS at work (not my official job, but I'm the IT-designate in our branch office), haven't run into a problem. Sun, 30 Dec 2007 04:55:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (elsewhere) Comments RE: Relaxed? http://osnews.com/thread?293733 http://osnews.com/thread?293733 "product activation key" is a bit misleading - if you take the word "activation" out of there it makes more sense. Right now you have to enter the XP CD key during setup. With Vista, Microsoft changed it so that you don't have to enter the key until after a month, and now they plan to make XP the same way. This essentially means that Vista has a built-in 30 day trial, although I don't know what the license has to say about that.

This will only apply to XP installs made with a disc that was sold with SP3 or had SP3 slipstreamed in, though. Sun, 30 Dec 2007 05:09:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (mmebane) Comments Won't effect the real pirates or OEM http://osnews.com/thread?293735 http://osnews.com/thread?293735 It should not effect an OEM install on legitimate hardware.

I also suspect it won't bother anyone who has modifed the DMI area of their bios to OEM activate XP also.

Software activation is so easily broken I don't know why MS wastes money on it. I'm sure they'd improve their bottom line but just dropping it from sp3 totally. Sun, 30 Dec 2007 05:27:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Bit_Rapist) Comments RE[5]: What happens when XP end of life is reached http://osnews.com/thread?293737 http://osnews.com/thread?293737 Same here. Makes you wonder.............

Nothing to wonder about at all. Different versions of XP have different drivers slipstreamed into the installation.

Install a new copy of XP that came with your new HP which has SATA and windows won't ask for a driver diskette because the SATA drivers are already on the CD.

Anyone can create an XP disc with any service pack + all updates using nlite and your existing XP CD.

Simple as pie really Sun, 30 Dec 2007 05:31:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Bit_Rapist) Comments RE[2]: Relaxed? http://osnews.com/thread?293739 http://osnews.com/thread?293739 Thanks... Sun, 30 Dec 2007 05:40:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (thavith_osn) Comments RE: Won't effect the real pirates or OEM http://osnews.com/thread?293740 http://osnews.com/thread?293740 It should not effect an OEM install on legitimate hardware.

It will................


I also suspect it won't bother anyone who has modifed the DMI area of their bios to OEM activate XP also.

It will................

Software activation is so easily broken I don't know why MS wastes money on it.

You might be surprised how this plays out.

I'll offer a hint: If you activated XP via wpakill or some such shit. Y'all got a problem. Sun, 30 Dec 2007 05:42:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Googlesaurus) Comments RE[2]: What happens when XP end of life is reached http://osnews.com/thread?293752 http://osnews.com/thread?293752 What Microsoft needs to do is just release an updated XP, including drivers, software updates, and whatever else it takes to bring it up to date

Have you tried nLite? http://www.nliteos.com/ I've been using it for years to add all the patches, drivers and software I need to my XP install CD. Sun, 30 Dec 2007 08:59:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (frood) Comments RE[3]: What happens when XP end of life is reached http://osnews.com/thread?293755 http://osnews.com/thread?293755 Then your SATA drives are running in IDE compatibility mode (ie. reduced performance, not all SATA-features). If you set your drives to AHCI you'll need to install drivers from a floppy when booting the setup CD, or slipstream them. (Though not all motherboard support AHCI, some only offers IDE compatibility mode) Sun, 30 Dec 2007 10:31:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (nxsty) Comments RE: Why does this make much of a difference? http://osnews.com/thread?293756 http://osnews.com/thread?293756 Lets say you upgrade your BIOS as happened to George Ou and XP decides the computer you are using is different to the one you activated it on. This is where the 30 days becomes useful. Sun, 30 Dec 2007 10:42:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (andrewg) Comments RE[3]: What happens when XP end of life is reached http://osnews.com/thread?293760 http://osnews.com/thread?293760 Did you see the Duke Nukem Forever trailer that was released last month? Sun, 30 Dec 2007 12:07:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (stestagg) Comments RE[6]: What happens when XP end of life is reached http://osnews.com/thread?293761 http://osnews.com/thread?293761 No, I use a vanilla XP disk downloaded directly from Microsoft, and still have never been asked to install any SATA drivers. I guess I tend to use decent motherboards. Sun, 30 Dec 2007 12:09:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (stestagg) Comments RE[4]: What happens when XP end of life is reached http://osnews.com/thread?293762 http://osnews.com/thread?293762 >> Then your SATA drives are running in IDE compatibility mode (ie. reduced performance, not all SATA-features). If you set your drives to AHCI you'll need to install drivers from a floppy when booting the setup CD, or slipstream them. (Though not all motherboard support AHCI, some only offers IDE compatibility mode)

Yes, also applies to XP 64 bit (SP2)

AHCI is not detected. only ATA mode. Sun, 30 Dec 2007 12:27:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (crispi_1971) Comments MapleStory100.com http://osnews.com/thread?293765 http://osnews.com/thread?293765 [url=http://www.maplestory100.com]MapleStory Hacks[url]
[url=http://www.maplestory100.com]MapleStory Guide[url]
[url=http://www.maplestory100.com]MapleStory Cheats[url]
[url=http://www.maplestory100.com]MapleStory Topsite[url]
[url=http://www.maplestory100.com]MapleStory Help[url]
[url=http://www.maplestory100.com]MapleStory[url]
[url=http://www.maplestory100.com]MapleStory Mesos[url]
[url=http://www.maplestory100.com]MapleStory Leveling Guide[url] Sun, 30 Dec 2007 13:38:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (maplestory100) Comments RE[3]: What happens when XP end of life is reached http://osnews.com/thread?293766 http://osnews.com/thread?293766 This kind of vague promises was one of the major reasons why I switched to Linux.

Another thing, even if Microsoft actually intend to keep their promise, there may be situations that is out of Microsoft's control that prevents them from doing so.

It could be things like international conflicts, or in a long term perspective there might not even be a Microsoft. Such events might be very unlikely. But then, who predicted the Enron scandal, who predicted that Great Britain would be in war with Argentina in modern times, who predicted the fall of Soviet Union. Sometimes, unlikely things actually happens.

This kind of antipiracy protection really isn't fair to the customers that actually pay for their software licence and have the right to use the software. They should really not have to worry about things like this.

Still I suppose these new rules from Microsoft are an improvement to the people that uses the Microsoft platform. Sun, 30 Dec 2007 13:55:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (unoengborg) Comments RE[7]: What happens when XP end of life is reached http://osnews.com/thread?293769 http://osnews.com/thread?293769 ... Nope, you're BIOS simply supports SATA/IDE compatibility mode. (Which, BTW, is far slower then the native mode...)

.. BTW, -don't- change it back now - unless you're really feel like getting an INACCESSIBLE_BOOT_DEVICE BSOD.

- Gilboa Sun, 30 Dec 2007 14:33:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (gilboa) Comments RE[8]: What happens when XP end of life is reached http://osnews.com/thread?293770 http://osnews.com/thread?293770 .. s/you're/your/g
(Edit doesn't seem to work)

- Gilboa Sun, 30 Dec 2007 14:35:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (gilboa) Comments RE: ...... http://osnews.com/thread?293772 http://osnews.com/thread?293772 It never added to functionality to the Os , didn't stop pirates from breaking through.

Well, the combination of activation + wga kinda makes Windows a pain in the ass to casual copy anymore. I had to hunt down a WGA crack for a friend who legitimately owned a Windows license, but lost the ability to do a system restore off of his hard drive. So I guess in a way, you could also say it encourages people to hunt for cracks, but my dad is never gonna be able to 'loan' a copy of his CD to a friend ;) Sun, 30 Dec 2007 14:37:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (WorknMan) Comments RE[8]: What happens when XP end of life is reached http://osnews.com/thread?293774 http://osnews.com/thread?293774 I don't actually change anything. And I don't have any performance issues, in Vista at the moment, my WEI value for disk transfer is 5.5 Sun, 30 Dec 2007 14:43:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (stestagg) Comments RE[6]: What happens when XP end of life is reached http://osnews.com/thread?293777 http://osnews.com/thread?293777 one thig for sure is that a stock OEM version will NOT work on SATA without drivers. Sun, 30 Dec 2007 15:44:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (sgibofh) Comments RE[2]: What happens when XP end of life is reached http://osnews.com/thread?293783 http://osnews.com/thread?293783
Even with SP3, it still seems that XP won't support SATA.


You could use nLite to recreate your install cd to include the sata drivers if they are not supported. Sun, 30 Dec 2007 17:20:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (dev454) Comments RE[2]: What happens when XP end of life is reached http://osnews.com/thread?293784 http://osnews.com/thread?293784 Actually, ReactOS is pretty much dead. Most of the core devs have left, and the ones that remain know very little about system level programming and even less about win32 internals. Sun, 30 Dec 2007 18:16:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (betam4x) Comments RE[3]: What happens when XP end of life is reached http://osnews.com/thread?293786 http://osnews.com/thread?293786 Certain motherboards emulate a standard IDE controller for the SATA, giving the OS a free-ride.

Mine is one of those.

Extended on-board ( but not on-chip) controllers usually require a floppy for the installation to recognize the destination drive.

Then, all too often, Windows XP will misconfigure the setup and assign a non-C letter to the boot drive, causing havoc with ill-written software ( with hard-coded paths ).

--The loon Sun, 30 Dec 2007 19:28:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (looncraz) Comments RE[2]: What happens when XP end of life is reached http://osnews.com/thread?293810 http://osnews.com/thread?293810 What do you mean by "XP doesnt support SATA"? All my computers (excpet iBook) use SATA 2 and they all run XP just fine. Eg. Intel macs, all desktops sold in the past few years etc. Sun, 30 Dec 2007 23:13:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (sultanqasim) Comments I'm still waiting .... http://osnews.com/thread?293811 http://osnews.com/thread?293811 For HAIKU (did I spell that right?)

The new BEOS

ps. Happy New Year! Sun, 30 Dec 2007 23:30:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (medamnit) Comments RE[4]: What happens when XP end of life is reached http://osnews.com/thread?293874 http://osnews.com/thread?293874 Did you see the completely off-topic and irrelevant post you just wrote? Mon, 31 Dec 2007 15:14:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (rockwell) Comments RE[3]: What happens when XP end of life is reached http://osnews.com/thread?293881 http://osnews.com/thread?293881 again: non-slipstreamed, OEM versions of XP will *NOT*, I repeat *NOT* work with SATA.

And no, not everyone can create a slipstreamed XP.

It means that it can work, but out of the box: no not always. Mon, 31 Dec 2007 16:16:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (sgibofh) Comments RE[3]: What happens when XP end of life is reached http://osnews.com/thread?293890 http://osnews.com/thread?293890 ORLY?

When did this happen and why hasn't there been an article about it on OSNews?

--bornagainpenguin Mon, 31 Dec 2007 18:02:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (bornagainenguin) Comments RE[3]: What happens when XP end of life is reached http://osnews.com/thread?293904 http://osnews.com/thread?293904 It is SATAII that requires drivers. But you can disable this in you bios and install XP & drivers then enable it again. Mon, 31 Dec 2007 22:38:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (jboss1995) Comments RE: Why does this make much of a difference? http://osnews.com/thread?293907 http://osnews.com/thread?293907
There will come a point in the future when maintaining servers to activate XP, and call centres to manually activate XP, will outweight the benefit.


or when MS has sucked every last ounce of blood out of it and believes it to no longer be profitable. Mon, 31 Dec 2007 22:46:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (jboss1995) Comments Relaxed???? http://osnews.com/thread?293911 http://osnews.com/thread?293911 This is just a way for MS to make it difficult for non-technical users that get so frustrated that they will finely give up and buy vista. SP2 did not require you to reactivate XP. This is MS using a SP3 to influence movement to vista. Remember MS was not planning on releasing a SP3 for XP. Mon, 31 Dec 2007 23:06:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (jboss1995) Comments RE[3]: What happens when XP end of life is reached http://osnews.com/thread?293925 http://osnews.com/thread?293925 umm. SATA drivers are a different story. If you are using an augmented motherboard (i.e. has an extra chip for SATA connections), which are older, you need to insert a floppy since BIOS cannot directly map your disks but this external chip does (because the external chip has its own BIOS) so windows can access to chip via drivers and detect your disks.

But, if your motherboard has a SATA controller embedded in to southbridge (nForce4, P965 and newer), your BIOS will see and map your disks directly so windows installer.

Edit: Cleared some ambigious parts.Edited 2008-01-01 08:35 Tue, 01 Jan 2008 08:33:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (SilentStorm) Comments RE[2]: Won't effect the real pirates or OEM http://osnews.com/thread?293926 http://osnews.com/thread?293926 It will................

really? so millions of HP and Dell machines are going to suddenly start prompting for activation?

Sounds like a surefire way to piss of a lot of customers!

It will................

If you've modified the DMI area of your BIOS your machine looks just like an OEM machine to Windows.

If it effects a proper DMI modification it will effect a legitimate OEM install.

You might be surprised how this plays out.

Somehow I doubt it. lol.

I'll offer a hint: If you activated XP via wpakill or some such shit. Y'all got a problem.

I'd expect as much, thats a given with any service pack.

I'm talking about specifically modifying your BIOS to make an OEM copy of XP believe its installed on an OEM machine from Dell, HP etc. etc.

I'll install the beta of the sp just to be sure but I don't think there will be an issue on those machines, not without breaking activation on genuine installs also. Tue, 01 Jan 2008 08:51:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Bit_Rapist) Comments RE: And of course, http://osnews.com/thread?293978 http://osnews.com/thread?293978 When MS finally goes Enron on us, the celebration parties won't even have finished by the time all the Windows installs lock you out.

Given that MS has supported XP longer than any major Linux distro version, I'd say that your fears need to be balanced by a reality check ... Tue, 01 Jan 2008 22:11:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (tomcat) Comments RE: What a surprise http://osnews.com/thread?293980 http://osnews.com/thread?293980 With Windows users ditching Microsoft's crapware in droves; for Macintosh and even Linux, they'd better do something to keep the market saturated.

Do you have a reference to back up this statement -- or is it just an anecdotal opinion? Sounds like the latter. Tue, 01 Jan 2008 22:14:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (tomcat) Comments