Backing up Windows Activation & Restoring

h0stn0tf0und

I've seen on a few windows tweak sites that the windows activation files can be backed up. I used ubcd4win and copied the wpa files, reinstalled Windows and copied over the backed up files but it didnt work. There was no hardware changes, the machine is exactly the same. Is this a myth that it can be backed up or am I doing something wrong?

SouperComputer

surely it would be just as handy to call M$ and activate it!

h0stn0tf0und

surely it would be just as handy to call M$ and activate it!

Yeah I just activated it over the net. The idea of being able to back up the activation was appealing as I find myself reinstalling every couple of months on the exact same hardware. I see another post regarding this, has anyone successfully backed up and restored?

Backing up the wpa.dbl and wpa.bak files only works if you reinstall Windows over the copy that's already on your machine. It doesn't work with a clean install.

rogue-entity

Karsini wrote:

Backing up the wpa.dbl and wpa.bak files only works if you reinstall Windows over the copy that's already on your machine. It doesn't work with a clean install.

It does. It worked for me at least. It is entirely to do with how Activation works (http://aumha.org/win5/a/wpa.php). And you do need to be in Safe Mode when backing up or Restoring your Activation files.

Each time you change your hardware you lose the votes that hardware gives upon checking activation. And wiping your HDD loses you one vote as Activation checks the Volume Serial Number for the "C:" drive.
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rogue-entity

rogue-entity wrote:

It does. It worked for me at least. It is entirely to do with how Activation works (http://aumha.org/win5/a/wpa.php). And you do need to be in Safe Mode when backing up or Restoring your Activation files.

Each time you change your hardware you lose the votes that hardware gives upon checking activation. And wiping your HDD loses you one vote as Activation checks the Volume Serial Number for the "C:" drive.
.

That's exactly where I found my info:

HINT No. 3: It is valuable to back up the two files WPA.DBL and WPA.BAK from the Windows\System32 folder.Then, should they get damaged, or should you do a ‘Repair’ reinstallation of Win XP, these files can be copied back to restore the prior activation status. However, this only works in those limited circumstances. The contents of these two files is matched to the specific Windows setup; therefore, contrary to what many journalists and members of the user community have written in recent months, restoring these files will not restore your activation status following a reformat and clean install.

Capt'n Midnight

Karsini wrote:

restoring these files will not restore your activation status following a reformat and clean install.

Formats do tend to change the volume serial number all right..

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/winxppro/evaluate/xpactiv.mspx

The 10 different hardware values used to create the hash are outlined in the table below:

Table 1 Hardware hash component values
Component Name Example Hash Value (#o of bits)
1 Display Adapter 00010 (5)
2 SCSI Adapter 00011 (5)
3 IDE Adapter 0011 (4)
4 Network Adapter MAC Address 1001011000 (10)
5 RAM Amount Range (i.e. 0-64mb, 64-128mb, etc) 101 (3)
6 Processor Type 011 (3)
7 Processor Serial Number 000000 (6)
8 Hard Drive Device 1101100 (7)
9 Hard Drive Volume Serial Number 1001000001 (10)
10 CD—ROM / CD-RW / DVD-ROM 010111 (6)
"Dockable" 0 (1)
Hardware Hash version (version of algorithm used) 001 (3)

The product ID (nine bytes) and hardware hash (eight bytes) are used by Microsoft to process the activation request.

Microsoft defines "substantially different" hardware differently for PCs that are configured to be dockable. Additionally, the network adapter is given a superior "weighting." If the PC is not dockable and a network adapter exists and is not changed, 6 or more of the other above values would have to change before reactivation was required. If a network adapter existed but is changed or never existed at all, 4 or more changes (including the changed network adapter if it previously existed) will result in a requirement to reactivate.

Finally, the Microsoft activation clearinghouse system will automatically allow activation to occur over the Internet four times in one year on substantially different hardware. This last feature was implemented to allow even the most savvy power users to make changes to their systems and, if they must reactivate, do so over the Internet rather than necessitating a telephone call.

Capt'n Midnight

Capt'n Midnight wrote:

Formats do tend to change the volume serial number all right..

Of course, but would that just be one strike rather than forcing a reactivation?

I noticed that the product ID (the xxxxx-OEM-xxxxxxx ...) can change depending on the date Windows is installed. I know for certain that it did with Windows 98, but I never bothered to look in XP.

h0stn0tf0und

Thanks for all the replies guys. So I need to make sure I keep the same Hard Drive Volume Serial Number. I wiped the drive (Killdisk) and formatted it so that would explain my problems. How do I access this serial number and can I change/set it?

Capt'n Midnight

One way to see the number is to type VOL at the command prompt BEFORE you format.
Changing it back to what it was is a little trickier - there are utils to do it.

I'd doubt that it alone is locking you out btw: a better option would be to bckup the system state and windows folder in ntbackup or use the cloning utils.

h0stn0tf0und

h0stn0tf0und wrote:

Thanks for all the replies guys. So I need to make sure I keep the same Hard Drive Volume Serial Number. I wiped the drive (Killdisk) and formatted it so that would explain my problems. How do I access this serial number and can I change/set it?

You can change it with this app:

http://www.sysinternals.com/Utilities/VolumeId.html