I don't mind calling Microsoft at 1-888-571-2048, but, where do I get my WIndows XP 50-digit installation ID?
After my kid's hard disk crashed I put a spare disk, which was long lying around, in the computer. Up popped "Activate Windows" which hangs forever with the laptop on my desk not hooked to anything but power.
Googling, I find this is the Windows XP activation process:
- Start with a unique 25-character product key on the CDROM case
- This creates a 20-digit product id
- A hardware hash is created from 10 hardware items
- The hardware hash + product key combine to a 50-digit installation ID
- You give that 50-digit installation ID to Microsoft (1-888-571-2048)
- Start -> Run -> oobe/msoobe /a
- This modifies the two files wpa.dbl & wpa.bak (save them for future use)
- C:\windows\system32\wpa.dbl & c:\windows\system32\wpa.bak
- In the future, press F8 to boot to safe mode = minimal
- And just copy those files back onto the newly formatted hard disk
When I run "Start -> Run -> oobe/msoobe /a" on my second laptop, it says: "Windows is already activated. Click OK to exit"
However, my kid's laptop with the spare hard drive in it, won't boot. It's stuck at the "Activate Windows" screen with nothing to press or hit except the red x to close the window.
I don't mind calling Microsoft at 1-888-571-2048, but, where do I get my Windows XP 50-digit installation ID?