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Unattended Activation Problems


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Hey,

Situation:

I have followed the instructions here: http://unattended.msfn.org/unattended.xp/view/web/29/#backup

I have tried installing the Cd, and everything almost works fine (a few driver issues, but they shall be sorted soon) and when it comes to logging on i get a message saying You must activate your copy of windows, before you can log on, with a yes no box, and if you click no it logs your off, if you click yes it brings up the windows activation window.

I am using the WPA.DBL from the same laptop, when it was activated, so i was wondering what is going on, because i am at a loss, i have tried it twice, and each time i get the same error :( and i am very confused as to what is happening, was i meant to copy any more files, or was it just the WPA.DBL file that should have been copied to the directory.

I have checked the internet, but didn't find much, thou i found a few sites that said i should have copied 2 files across. But i just wanted to make sure, because i am going to have to activate windows again, and because of HW changes (I have recently changed the HDD, Ram, and upgraded the BIOS which is the reason i want to format, and would like to format so its fresh) it means that i am going to have to ring MS up and get them to activate it because of hard ware changes, which is not a issue, because i had to do that last time. But its just easier if i don't do that, and also i don't wish to do that, and then find that there is a error of what i am doing, and have to ring them 3 or 4 time, before it works.

Thank you for any help.

Regards

Chris

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Hey MGadAllah thank you for you help.

I set the autoactivate to yes, and i still got the same problem, but i think the problem was with me activating it via telephone, because i have re-activated it now via the internet and the WPA.DBL file is now 16KB's not 3KB which it was before so i think that it is fine now :) But ifs possible would you be able to confirm estimatly what size your file is, if you are running windows XP Home. Because i am thinknig that most WPA files are going to be estimatly the same size, i dont want you to give me your file, because a) it wouldnt work, and B) it would be piracy, but im guessing that most WPA files are going to be the same, and if mine is the same, then i know its correct. I am very sorry if that offended any one, but i am not here to try and "steal" windows XP If you wish not to give me the size, then could you please confirm with a yes or no if your file is est 16KB.

Yet agian thank you for your help.

Chris

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Hey again

I'm afraid I'm no longer using XP home edition, if I was still using it, sure I will help.

I do not know what to do with such a situation because I do not know any other tricks that may work with you mate.

Hope some one can help you here

Thanks & good luck

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I have the exact same problem. I tried the backup method two different ways. I first tried using the WPA.DBL file from my activated setup before I even made the CD. That didn't work. I got the same exact problem as the OP. I then went ahead and activated manually, over the phone since the net way doesn't work for me anymore. After it was activated, I went ahead and took a copy of that particular setup's WPA.DBL file and used it on the next CD I made. This time, the computer allowed me to logon after install but, a few minutes later the 30 days/activation showed up.

I saw that AutoActivation bit, although it was my understanding from the guide that it is a seperate method from the one I tried. Are they supposed to work in sync with each other or am I missing something completely? I would appreciate any input. I use XP Pro by the way.

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Hello,

MGadAllah,

ok thats excellent thank you, and thanks you for your help, it was greatly appreciated, and needed.

Update on what i have done, i got the new wpa.dbl file that was 16Kb but still that did not help me, i formatted the HDD, and installed the unattended, (now everything is working fine, except the activation, and for some reason it dont like resetting after the final runonceex but thats a small glitch that should be easy enought).

But yet still it says 30 days left. And here is the lay out of my disk:

%CDROM%
|
|------$OEM$
| |
| |-------$1------...
| |
| |-------$$
| |
| |------System32
| |
| |
| |------WPA.DBL - 16kb
| |
~ ~

And also my WinNT.sif file has AutoActivate = Yes in it.

So i am out of options, thou i am going to try one last time with AutoActivate = No and see.

Regards

Chris

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It's my understanding that copying WPA.DBL over during installation doesn't work with SP2.

As far as using the Auto Activate method, that requires an internet connection at first logon or it will fail.

If your computer came with XP pre-activated from a Royalty OEM (Dell, Compaq, HP, Toshiba, Gateway, etc.) you can try using the OEMBIOS method outlined in the guide.

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WPA.DBL doesn't work since SP1 of Windows XP.

AutoActivate = Yes works if you havn't reached your activatations limit, else you must call MS to activate.

OEM Pre-Activation is the best method if you owned an OEM computer of course ^^

edit: You can use the old Windows XP no-service pack version to use WPA.DBL method and after apply SP2 but it's a poor method ...

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WPA.DBL doesn't work since SP1 of Windows XP.

AutoActivate = Yes works if you havn't reached your activatations limit, else you must call MS to activate.

OEM Pre-Activation is the best method if you owned an OEM computer of course ^^

edit: You can use the old Windows XP no-service pack version to use WPA.DBL method and after apply SP2 but it's a poor method ...

Out of curiousity, how is it a poor method? Is it just too time consuming or is there something else?

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