Howdy.

I've known about copying the wpa.dbl file after activation trick for a fair while, and have only been able to test it recently (it had worked fine with my RC1 CD for yonks).

After recently getting my hands on an MSDN copy of XP Pro, I decided to automate it (I have an unattended installation with the latest rollups slipstreamed, plus SP1), and to use this nifty method of saving activation at later stages.

Anyway, I installed, activated, and re-installed. I booted into safe mode, deleted the unactivated .dbl file, and placed the activated one into the computer. However, upon reboot and attempting to log into the computer, P.A complained about my time being up, and needing to activate. So I did (and it worked ok).

I have tried many different methods of trying to stop this problem from happening, ranging from a command line replacement, to compressing the activated .dbl file with makecab and placing it in the i386 CD.

Yet everytime I've tried something new, it keeps coming up with the activation error.

Whats really strange, is that when I run through the activation procedure, it works perfectly fine, and I've done approximately 10 installs on the same hardware this way.

Its starting to really cheese me off.

Has anyone else had this same problem, if so, what did you have to do to fix it?

Just use the method detailed in the deploy.cab file on the Windows XP CD. You can activate your installation during installation, automatically. The method you are suggesting is not a legal way of activating your product.

Whats not illegal about it?

I have activated it legitimately, and I am making a backup copy of the file (of which, backing up any file on my computer is a right).

This is a fully legitmate license, so there is no violation of any copyright "restrictions", and I haven't reverse engineered any files.

The method outlined in the deploy.cab is pointless to me, because I've already activated this software (I forgot to mention that I am installing on the same hardware). Not only that, but there are no internet connections available on my computer during a full installation process.