Featured in this episode of Chaos Lever
There’s little doubt that Windows XP is the greatest Windows operating system of all time. That iconic image of rolling green hills and a cloud scudded blue sky evoke a sense of peace and comfort for a certain generation of tech worker, and I am very much of that generation.
Windows XP also introduced an activation scheme that countless hackers and small businesses found their way around. For instance, I quickly discovered that you could call the activation hotline and claim the motherboard had been replaced on your system and get a reactivation key for free.
But the actual algorithm that generated the activation codes had remained uncracked until recently. A blog callend tinyapps.org has a blog post that details a tool called xp_activate32.exe that will generate valid keys based off the code you would use for phone activation. The keys are valid not just to the local system, but also to Microsoft’s servers, which may or may not still be online.
So, if you’re in a position where you must run XP, or simply want to for pure nostalgia, first of all don’t, there’s other ways, but second of all, now you can run it with a valid key. Me? I’ll just stare at the default desktop some more and dream of simpler times.