legit Posted January 20, 2006 Posted January 20, 2006 Hey all, So i once was told that you can reinstall windows without having to call microsoft simply by copying a file from the old install to the new install. can anyone tell me the file that you copy? also i was told that it only works if no hardware has changed, is this changes from the last install or from the time between copying the file and reinstalling? thanks - legit Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arkadiy Posted January 20, 2006 Posted January 20, 2006 Umm, you need a Windows XP CD and CD-key. And if you change your stuff it doesn't matter, Windows will still detect it and run normally..... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cookieman123 Posted January 20, 2006 Posted January 20, 2006 Check out this thread: http://forums.overclockersclub.com/Win_Xp_...ion-t62906.html Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
legit Posted January 20, 2006 Posted January 20, 2006 (edited) EDIT: yeah thats the link, but since the last install i've added a new hard drive and optical drive, does that count as hardware changes or no? Edited January 21, 2006 by legit Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
spazmire11 Posted January 21, 2006 Posted January 21, 2006 the file is WPA.dbl and you can find it in your system32 directory. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wellcomef3-a Posted January 21, 2006 Posted January 21, 2006 (edited) Hey all, So i once was told that you can reinstall windows without having to call microsoft simply by copying a file from the old install to the new install. can anyone tell me the file that you copy? also i was told that it only works if no hardware has changed, is this changes from the last install or from the time between copying the file and reinstalling? thanks - legit You can copy the file over from the old computer to the new one BUT if you have changed or upgraded four or more components out of a list of ten on your computer in a period of 120 days or less it will not work, you will just trigger the activation code. So that means if you're trying to re-install the same copy of Windows onto a different computer altogether it will sus out what you're up to and refuse to run! And it's changes from the original activation/last install. Edited January 21, 2006 by peter.ski Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
NCC10281982B Posted January 21, 2006 Posted January 21, 2006 Umm yeah... I'm not at liberity to dicuess it... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
silkster Posted January 21, 2006 Posted January 21, 2006 (edited) If this is the same machine (with only 2 minor things change like Optical drives ect..) then you can go ahead reformat and reinstall Windows. Backup your wpa.dbl file before doing this located @: C:\WINDOWS\System32\ On your freshly reinstall Windows, go ahead and see if you can activate over the web, this should go without a problem unless you reinstall over 8 times or something... If it doesnt work over the web, restart in safe mode: go to your C:\WINDOWS\SYstem32 Locate wpa.dbl, delete it and then copy your BACKUP COPY of ur old wpa.dbl. Restart normally. Once you're logged on your desktop, run the activation and it should go Edited January 21, 2006 by Silkster Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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