[ Date Index ][
Thread Index ]
[ <= Previous by date / thread ] [ Next by date / thread => ]
Not Linux, I know, but interesting (amusing even), nonetheless. -------------------------------------------- "Windows XP enlists ten hardware components to calculate the installation ID, but six of them can be canceled without any problems: Volume ID ---------- Adapted by means of tool MAC address -------- Tuned by means of driver Graphics card -------Switch over to docking station CPU serial number - Switch off in BIOS SCSI host adapter -- Switch over to docking station IDE controller ------- Switch over to docking station Important: A LAN does not tolerate two computers with the same MAC address. " ----------------------------------------- (Switching to 'Docking Station' in Device Manager / Performance / File System settings doesn't mean you actually have a docking station of any kind so can be used for non-notebook computers that cannot even USE a docking station!) If you want WindowsXP on a network, you're stuck (until someone finds another route around Activation - juding by the speed of this one, that won't be long!) But then why would anyone want more than one copy of Windoze XP on a LAN anyway! --------------------------------------------- "It is more than sufficient to only once activate a computer with 128 MBytes of RAM. With its file wpa.dbl you can then "activate" all other computers of the same memory size." [no matter what other hardware is installed as long as it's set as a notebook and the volume tag etc is set to match]. "Can Microsoft be tricked that easily? Yes it can! After the next restart of the computer [after changing to docking station] the analysis of the installation ID makes clear that suddenly the graphics card and the IDE/SCSI controller are no longer used to calculate the hardware ID. In computers that can be docked, XP ignores the identification of the graphics card, the SCSI host adapter and the IDE controller. So only three more differences in the configuration of the hardware remain: Identification of the hard disk Identification of the CPU Identification of the CD-ROM drive Because these three components are allowed to be different without XP insisting on a new Activation, this should be sufficient. So we copy the file wpa.dbl into the system32 directory of the second computer and start Windows XP. In the start menu it still says "Activate Windows". But when you call it up, you get your just reward though: "Windows Product Activation: Windows is already activated. Click OK to exit." "So first of all Tecchannel saved the file then started changing hardware. Two items OK, but replacing a third - the CPU - triggered the deletion. Although you'd think the CPU is only one component, it's actually tallied up as two. Switching off the CPU serial number in the bios and therefore knocking it down to one doesn't get the earlier wpa.dbl back - this has been restored in a non-activated state. Copy the saved version back? That surely shouldn't work - but it does. Next, Tecchannel tried a completely new installation using the same product key. This produces a new product ID, but nevertheless copying the wpa.dbl file back again works. They also use this file on another computer, altering the computer's volume ID first, which is easily enough done. They can also use forged network cards MAC addresses, so now they've taken two parts of the hardware ID out of the picture. Next, use the hardware profile to tell the computer it's a notebook with a docking station. This works, and tells WPA to stop counting the IDE/SCSI controller and the graphics card. That gets the differences counted down to three, hard disk, CPU and CDROM ID, which is within the limit, so WPA is effectively toast. What does this mean? Tecchannel's investigation shows that, at the very least, you can use the same wpa.dbl file to activate as many computers as you like, provided the RAM size is the same. A 'universal' file that didn't even require the same RAM might be a possibility, but it's more likely that people will simply swap files to get one appropriate for their hardware. " ------------------------------------------------------- Oops! http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/4/20433.html http://www.tecchannel.de/betriebssysteme/746/4.html Egg on BG's face again. Neil Williams ========== mail@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx www.codehelp.co.uk -- The Mailing List for the Devon & Cornwall LUG Mail majordomo@xxxxxxxxxxxx with "unsubscribe list" in the message body to unsubscribe.