I purchased Windows XP and have a question about registering it. I am
a student at Pioneer Pacific College for Networking Technology and so
I install and uninstall OS's a lot. Is there a way I can do this
without having to register it every time, without having to
continually buy XP?

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Request for Question Clarification by jasonm1-ga on 05 Aug 2002 22:32 PDT

Hi tigerwitch,

Do you install the OS on multiple machines, or on just one?

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Clarification of Question by tigerwitch-ga on 06 Aug 2002 10:03 PDT

I install Windows XP on multiple systems that I have in my home. Every
30 days I have to install it again because I'm unable to register it
multiple times. I have 3 computers in my home and a laptop. While it
is good training for me to install OS's it can be quite annoying doing
repeatedly. I was told by one of my teachers that if I explained the
situation to Windows I could get a code or something that would save
me the trouble. Thank-You.

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Request for Question Clarification by googlebrain-ga on 06 Aug 2002 11:29 PDT

Ok, so your situation is that you have Legitimate Copies for each
machine, but because you re-install the OS a lot (because of your
networking classes) you are having problems getting Windows XP to
Re-Activate, since this looks for all the world like a Pirate copy,
since you have already activated a computer (the same one) using that
copy of XP.

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Clarification of Question by tigerwitch-ga on 06 Aug 2002 19:34 PDT

Yes I have installed XP on all of my computers several times and since
I'm not software literate yet, I didn't know you could only register
it three times. Is there a way I could fix this so that I don't have
to keep installing XP every 30 days and so I don't lose files and data
I've saved?

According to the EULA for Windows XP, you're only allowed to install
your copy of XP on one computer. Therefore, if you want to keep XP on
all your computers you need to purchase a copy of XP for each one. So
unless you plan on spending a lot, there's no way around it.

From what I understand from one of my teachers, if I spoke to
Microsoft, I could get an authorization number that would allow me to
install Windows XP several times, just as with the school. As I said
before,I install and uninstall XP on several different computers, not
just the ones at my home.

The way that your school does it, tigerwitch, is they use a Corporate
version of Windows XP that does not require activation (or at least
this is the way it is supposed to be done). If you call Microsoft and
explain why you can't activate online and they think you're even
remotely legit, they'll give you a code and you'll be on your way to a
completely Redmond dominated world...

-jordan3757, CCNA

Thank-you Jordan3557-ga for the most sensible answer I've seen yet. I
didn't think to just call Microsoft and explain my situation. Maybe
they will help and maybe not. We'll see, thanks for your info.

The problem with windows xp is the product activation code. To be able
to install it on then one machine is to either get special permission
from microsoft or some sort of special multi user license, or get an
engineers code which can be used to activate any windows xp
instillation. The problem with this is that you are not supposed to
have them, and using them is illegal.

Just copy c:\windows\system32\wpa.dbl to disk or another disk
partitiion and copy it back after the reinstall.

This is the file that holds all the activation data.

If you just spend the dough on XP Professional..you dont have to go
through that crap..or you could just d/l it on kazaa or somthing..