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NIC and WPA Votes


xmf

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I'm getting ready to clone my netbook's hdd over to a new Intel SSD (using Intel's included software), and I need to be sure I won't be prompted to reactivate my OEM copy of WinXP. The reason I can't re-verify is because the product key has worn off of Microsoft's sticker :angry: I've considered purchasing a new copy of XP, but I've worked pretty hard on streamlining the one I'm currently using, and I would really rather not incur the expense or time needed to get things back to where they currently are.

After researching online, I've seen a few articles about WPA and "votes", but I'm still not 100% clear on this issue and I don't want to take any chances here.

I've already upgraded my RAM from 1 - 2gb, and after reading about the NIC counting as 3 votes, I'm seeking some clarity on what would need to be done for those votes to be lost. For instance, if I disable LAN and Wifi in the BIOS, would that affect the vote count?

Also, even if the NIC vote count remains unaffected, will simply swapping the hard drive bring my vote count down low enough for XP to prompt for re-activation?

Thanks a bunch

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Licenturion did much research into this in 2001. Two of the original papers are: Here and Here.

Both those papers and XPInfo ( a program for basic research ) are on that page.

Wikipedia has some info too.

P.S. This is a very tender subject on clean boards like MSFN, tread carefully, read the forum rules and don't discuss circumvention. Probably best to take this elsewhere, but that's just my opinion as I don't work here. You can always PM the moderators to ask if something is legit or taboo!

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I'm getting ready to clone my netbook's hdd over to a new Intel SSD (using Intel's included software), and I need to be sure I won't be prompted to reactivate my OEM copy of WinXP. The reason I can't re-verify is because the product key has worn off of Microsoft's sticker :angry: I've considered purchasing a new copy of XP, but I've worked pretty hard on streamlining the one I'm currently using, and I would really rather not incur the expense or time needed to get things back to where they currently are.

In principle, any key retrieving software, like Magical Jelly Bean Key Finder should be enough to solve your problem, if the OS asks for the key after changing just the HDD, which I doubt it will.

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Replacing only the hard drive shouldn't trigger the activation as Microsoft (and in fact i tried it one time and it didn't ask anything).

Even if you were asked to activate, you won't be prompted to enter the key unless MS ask you to do so and then they should provide you the key.

As a final note, as long as you can provide MS proof you bought the notebook with an oem licence, they shouldn't bother you too much to activate it.

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Thank you all for the replies.

This article answers your questions pretty clearly.

I actually found that article before posting, but I still wasn't totally sure about what effect disabling items in the BIOS (as I described) would have on votes.

Licenturion did much research into this in 2001. Two of the original papers are: Here and Here.

Both those papers and XPInfo ( a program for basic research ) are on that page.

Wikipedia has some info too.

P.S. This is a very tender subject on clean boards like MSFN, tread carefully, read the forum rules and don't discuss circumvention. Probably best to take this elsewhere, but that's just my opinion as I don't work here. You can always PM the moderators to ask if something is legit or taboo!

I'm not sure what could be considered "dirty" about my post. I have a legit copy of windows and am simply seeking info to help me avoid needing to re-activate. If there's anything dirty here, it's MS' practice of supplying stickers that don't withstand laptop usage, and reaping money from customers that then need to re-purchase products - but that's a separate issue.

In principle, any key retrieving software, like Magical Jelly Bean Key Finder should be enough to solve your problem, if the OS asks for the key after changing just the HDD, which I doubt it will.

I researched this option, and it seems such programs do not work on OEM installs.

Replacing only the hard drive shouldn't trigger the activation as Microsoft (and in fact i tried it one time and it didn't ask anything).

Even if you were asked to activate, you won't be prompted to enter the key unless MS ask you to do so and then they should provide you the key.

As a final note, as long as you can provide MS proof you bought the notebook with an oem licence, they shouldn't bother you too much to activate it.

This is interesting. I don't mean any disrespect, but I'm curious how you came to have these opinions (aside from the hard drive which you've experienced yourself). I called microsoft and they essentially told me that if I didn't have a key I was out of luck.

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I actually found that article before posting, but I still wasn't totally sure about what effect disabling items in the BIOS (as I described) would have on votes.

It says that a disabled device does not come in the enumeration at next boot and so the votes are lost. If it is so for a device disabled in Windows, it is surely is for a device disabled in Bios. Also why would you take the risk to disable devices in Bios ? Why do you seems so scared when you can always fall back on your HDD and retry?

Why did you call Microsoft ? The key is needed for installation, not for activation. Usually of course, if you have it for installation, you have it for activation. Have you actually tried Magical Jelly Bean Key Finder or have you stopped at the consideration that "it seems such programs do not work on OEM installs".

Did you activate the system yourself the 1st time you used it ? Do you still have the install media ?What brand is it ?

Have you read about the "120 days" in the article ? When did you change the RAM ?

Edited by Ponch
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Your assumption that the key finder programs won't work on OEM install are completly wrong they work perfectly. But if you don't have confidence in those, you can still use program like aida or OCS inventory that can also get the key and they work perfectly with oem keys.

Microsoft has provided in the past even media for customers for free.

Edited by allen2
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It says that a disabled device does not come in the enumeration at next boot and so the votes are lost. If it is so for a device disabled in Windows, it is surely is for a device disabled in Bios.

I was seeking clarification on what type of disabling would cause votes to be lost. Disable wifi in BIOS? Disable wifi within XP? Disable LAN in BIOS? Disable LAN in XP? Disable both in XP or in BIOS?

Also why would you take the risk to disable devices in Bios ?

If I know that doing so represents no threat as far as reactivation issues, I would do so for small performance gains because I don't use onboard LAN or wifi.

Why do you seems so scared when you can always fall back on your HDD and retry? Why did you call Microsoft ? The key is needed for installation, not for activation. Usually of course, if you have it for installation, you have it for activation.

I'm not scared, I'm being cautious because I don't want to wind up wasting a bunch of time, energy, and money. Admittedly, I did not read the linked article thoroughly enough to see the portion about being able to revert back to old hardware config to avoid needing to reactivate. I also am unclear as to whether XP SP3 provides a 50 digit number as the original XP did, with which one can simply call MS and obtain a 42 digit reactivation number. I assumed that one would need the original key found on the MS sticker to reactivate because this is what I was told by the rep I spoke with at MS.

Have you actually tried Magical Jelly Bean Key Finder or have you stopped at the consideration that "it seems such programs do not work on OEM installs".

Below is an explanation I found about the product key jellybean will find. Also, because my question is about reactivation vs re-installation, it seems such a program would be useless in my situation since, apparently, reactivation does not use the key on the windows sticker.

"The factory installed image is done using a Windows Volume Licence Key (VLK), via a disk cloning process. The VLK will be the same for (at least) all instances of that laptop, but is valid as long as there is a unique Windows CoA for the same version of Windows attached to the laptop.

The individual CoA on the bottom of the laptop has a unique OEM licence key, to satisfy the EULA requirement on the manufacturer in using their VLK for factory installations."

Did you activate the system yourself the 1st time you used it ? Do you still have the install media ?What brand is it ?

Have you read about the "120 days" in the article ? When did you change the RAM ?

It's been a few years, I honestly don't remember whether I had to activate XP initially. It came pre-installed on my (then new) ASUS netbook, and with no install media. I also do not remember if I upgraded the RAM within 120 days of activation (if I did activate it initially).

Edited by xmf
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I was seeking clarification on what type of disabling would cause votes to be lost. Disable wifi in BIOS? Disable wifi within XP?

You make it look like you have not read the article at all. :whistle:

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Have you actually tried Magical Jelly Bean Key Finder or have you stopped at the consideration that "it seems such programs do not work on OEM installs".

Though you have again quoted information that you have found about the product, you still have not answered the question. Have you actually tried it? Assuming you have not, please do so.

Cheers and Regards

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The answer is not that "it doesn't work on OEM installs" but that it's not the key he needs to reactivate by phone IF he needs to reactivate by phone which he probably won't. That's the reason why I did not talk about key finders in my 1st answer. Also the article I linked to was answering all of the questions. But for any reason, he hasn't tried yet to run his new XP on SSD.

Also maybe Asus can find the unique key on basis of the computer's serial number if he REALLY needs it.

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COA (sticker) key has nothing to do with phoning MS for activation. That one is your PC's key and is unique to your PC.

1 - Needs Activated - Phone MS with phone# given on the screen

2 - Provide the string of numbers displayed to Robo-Voice

3 - Robo-Voice provides a string of numbers back

4 - Activated

You're mistaken about "uses volume license key". That's a misnomer...

How To Activate XP

Note Some original equipment manufacturer (OEM) and select installations of Windows XP that use a volume license agreement are pre-activated and require no additional steps to activate.
A better term is "Royalty Key". Use the KeyFinder to get that key (different from the COA sticker).

Here is a set of phone numbers to help you out. Worst case, you contact a real person and explain that this is a Pre-Installed OEM PC and the COA is worn off.

You've posted Topics on SSD (and Alignment), "XP or Windows 7" on a "New Desktop" you were going to purchase, and previously problems with XP on an Inspiron 6400.

it's an Inspiron 6400 w/ an nLited install of XP Pro.
I will assume that you didn't buy this one. You also spoke of a Netbook here.
I recently acquired a netbook with an Intel N450 chip.
Before that you inquired about nLite and a Dell OEM MCE.
My configuration is a simple Dell laptop with one hard drive.
Can we assume that it's indeed the Inspiron and Dell MCE that we're speaking of? If so, your "Royalty Key" is already embedded in the WINNT.SIF file (at least MINE is) and that should be the key used, so you SHOULD have no problems with MS whether Re-Activating or calling MS to talk to a Live Person, although they might argue the fact that you used nLite.

I would tend to agree also with Ponch (ASUS? where did you get that from?) in that even though the COA is worn you should still have a Serial Number or Service Tag Number somewhere proving that you're legitimate but the COA Sticker is toast. Heck, you could give that and a scan of your Dell XP MCE OEM CD (more than likely a DVD). You're seriously freaking for no reason IF you're legit with a legit Notebook/DVD combo.

Edited by submix8c
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COA (sticker) key has nothing to do with phoning MS for activation. That one is your PC's key and is unique to your PC.

1 - Needs Activated - Phone MS with phone# given on the screen

2 - Provide the string of numbers displayed to Robo-Voice

3 - Robo-Voice provides a string of numbers back

4 - Activated

You're mistaken about "uses volume license key". That's a misnomer...

How To Activate XP

Note Some original equipment manufacturer (OEM) and select installations of Windows XP that use a volume license agreement are pre-activated and require no additional steps to activate.
A better term is "Royalty Key". Use the KeyFinder to get that key (different from the COA sticker).

Here is a set of phone numbers to help you out. Worst case, you contact a real person and explain that this is a Pre-Installed OEM PC and the COA is worn off.

You've posted Topics on SSD (and Alignment), "XP or Windows 7" on a "New Desktop" you were going to purchase, and previously problems with XP on an Inspiron 6400.

it's an Inspiron 6400 w/ an nLited install of XP Pro.
I will assume that you didn't buy this one. You also spoke of a Netbook here.
I recently acquired a netbook with an Intel N450 chip.
Before that you inquired about nLite and a Dell OEM MCE.
My configuration is a simple Dell laptop with one hard drive.
Can we assume that it's indeed the Inspiron and Dell MCE that we're speaking of? If so, your "Royalty Key" is already embedded in the WINNT.SIF file (at least MINE is) and that should be the key used, so you SHOULD have no problems with MS whether Re-Activating or calling MS to talk to a Live Person, although they might argue the fact that you used nLite.

I would tend to agree also with Ponch (ASUS? where did you get that from?) in that even though the COA is worn you should still have a Serial Number or Service Tag Number somewhere proving that you're legitimate but the COA Sticker is toast. Heck, you could give that and a scan of your Dell XP MCE OEM CD (more than likely a DVD). You're seriously freaking for no reason IF you're legit with a legit Notebook/DVD combo.

Freaking? That's a stretch considering you are interpreting based on a forum discussion. And one of the main reasons I started this discussion is because (as I previously stated) I was told by a rep at MS that I would be out of luck if my hardware change on XP SP3 required me to reactivate and I didn't have the key from the MS sticker.

Also, this is not a conspiracy :sneaky: I have a netbook, a (now older) Dell laptop, and a desktop. I also thought that maybe ASUS could provide the activation key on the worn sticker based off of my netbook's serial # but I called them and they could not. However, as you and others in this thread are stating, I should not need that anyway.

Edited by xmf
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I was seeking clarification on what type of disabling would cause votes to be lost. Disable wifi in BIOS? Disable wifi within XP?

You make it look like you have not read the article at all. :whistle:

The section on NIC I did read. When the author mentions disabling, they don't specifically mention on what level (bios/within xp) and to what degree (wifi only, lan only, etc). I assume this could differ based on one's setup. So for my netbook, do I have one NIC that controls both wifi and lan? My question still stands as to exactly what activity would disable to NIC so its votes would not be counted in WPA.

Edited by xmf
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