Windows XP Activation Algorithm Defeated with Offline Tool

[T0@st]

Technology news outlets have today jumped on the emergence of a curious Windows XP-related activation tool - although the blog section of tinyapps.org low-key published details of this development back in late April. The tinyapps organization describes itself as "an aging catalog of tiny, well-made software primarily for Windows." Vintage operating system enthusiasts will be pleased to discover that the community-developed "xp_activate32.exe" tool is capable of "safely" activating Windows XP installs - with no need for nefarious software cracks or convoluted workarounds.

It is a bit difficult to fathom that there is continued demand for new XP activations - given the lack of robust/modern security features within a very old operating system (debuted in 2001). Official online authentication no longer exists - Microsoft shutdown all necessary servers nine years ago. According to The Register it was still possible - as recently as 2020 - to activate copies of Windows XP via a smartphone-based utility. The aforementioned (18 KB sized) "xp_activate32" executable is derived from Microsoft's phone app code. Legacy device hobbyists and workers tasked with maintaining ancient systems should express their thanks to retroreviewyt - who released the handy tool nine months ago.



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[Ferrum Master]

Is it legal? Well I still have a Working Pentium III board.

 

[john_]

It is a bit difficult to fathom that there is continued demand for new XP activations

There are old printers/scanners that only run under XP or 7/8, so a virtual machine with XP for example, which will take much less storage space than a virtual machine with 7/8 is probably the best option in such a case.

 

[LabRat 891]

It is a bit difficult to fathom that there is continued demand for new XP activations - given the lack of robust/modern security features within a very old operating system (debuted in 2001).

It's amazing how often 'high information techie folks' can't see past their own nose.

Example:

Microsoft ended support for Windows 3.1x series on December 31, 2001, except for the embedded version of Windows for Workgroups 3.11, which was retired on November 1, 2008

Why? Because there were innumerable industry/task specialized tools and software that ran it: Industrial Automation, Automotive programmers, Field Diagnostics, etc. etc.

The same occurred with XP.


Specifically, I can recall a customer @ my work (in the win8 era) w/ an early Win7 LG laptop from South Korea.
Somehow, he'd gotten working some old software he used to program the ECU/PCM on (Kawasaki?) motorcycles; it was Win9x/2000/XP software.
We had to reinstall Windows on a new HDD, and his software never worked again. (Which, became a problem for my employer, who'd promised it'd work)

So, there are still many 'offline' mission-critical devices running XP, or software that only runs on XP.
Regardless of bare metal or virtualized, Activating Windows w/o questionable 'cracks' is a boon for those stuck supporting/using XP.

 

[Daven]

An offline trip down memory lane PC build would be fun. If you can find the parts.

Any old build with a modern cheap SSD would be a good experience.

 

[T0@st]

It's amazing how often 'high information techie folks' can't see past their own nose.

It's amazing that parts of the readership cannot detect sarcasm or irony.
Anyway, I specified "new demand" - I'm not downing on folks who enjoy old systems, or those who are forced to utilize legacy hardware in the workplace. The last studio I worked at had stuff still running from the late 1990s - and yes, it was a headache to deal with.

 

[Steevo]

It's amazing how often 'high information techie folks' can't see past their own nose.

Example:

Why? Because there were innumerable industry/task specialized tools and software that ran it: Industrial Automation, Automotive programmers, Field Diagnostics, etc. etc.

The same occurred with XP.


Specifically, I can recall a customer @ my work (in the win8 era) w/ an early Win7 LG laptop from South Korea.
Somehow, he'd gotten working some old software he used to program the ECU/PCM on (Kawasaki?) motorcycles; it was Win9x/2000/XP software.
We had to reinstall Windows on a new HDD, and his software never worked again. (Which, became a problem for my employer, who'd promised it'd work)

So, there are still many 'offline' mission-critical devices running XP, or software that only runs on XP.
Regardless of bare metal or virtualized, Activating Windows w/o questionable 'cracks' is a boon for those stuck supporting/using XP.

Windows Vista and beyond don't handle serial connections correctly for extended periods of time for many reasons. I worked in machine automation for years and all the tablets/systems were XP based and new ones are Linux or Android based as MS has a stick up their ass.

 

[LabRat 891]

It's amazing that parts of the readership cannot detect sarcasm or irony.

Sensors need some diagnostics; you're gettting ghosts. There was none to detect.

It's a common 'feeling' amongst IT pros and 'enthusiasts' alike that somehow "old is bad, and you're harming us all by using insecure software"

 

[Ferrum Master]

So, there are still many 'offline' mission-critical devices running XP, or software that only runs on XP.
Regardless of bare metal or virtualized, Activating Windows w/o questionable 'cracks' is a boon for those stuck supporting/using XP.

People are just judging by their own metrics. Don't be harsh. The specific world of special tools and tailored devices is not obviously known for most. Especially when the code maintainer is long dead or retired but his code still works.

I actually hated XP and sat on 2000 for years also, as 2000 was much more stable for me.

 

[Readlight]

Pee single core computer

 

[T0@st]

It's a common 'feeling' amongst IT pros and 'enthusiasts' alike that somehow "old is bad, and you're harming us all by using insecure software"

See my various pieces poking fun at Microsoft product managers for encouraging everyone and their dog to jump on Windows 11.

 

[Kodehawa]

Is it legal? Well I still have a Working Pentium III board.

Doubtful. But this is very old abandonware and MS won't bat an eye.

 

[Ferrum Master]

Doubtful. But this is very old abandonware and MS won't bat an eye.

Well yeah. But still I actually keep that machine alive just exactly for those old software or device moments. PIII-S Tualatin 1.4GHz actually ain't that bad. There are comeback of retro gamers, retro HW. I still can plug a Voodoo in it and test it.

 

[LabRat 891]

See my various pieces poking fun at Microsoft product managers for encouraging everyone and their dog to jump on Windows 11.

-Check Communications subsystems too. There seems to have been a breakdown.

An offline trip down memory lane PC build would be fun. If you can find the parts.

Any old build with a modern cheap SSD would be a good experience.

Be wary.
If it's often-used, modern SSDs w/o TRIM will die much faster than on NVMe-patched Win7 or newer. How fast exactly, I don't know. But I'm not sacrificing a QLC drive to find out the 'worst case scenario'
(Note: I have seen some workarounds/unofficial patches that supposedly address TRIM)

If it's inoften-used, QLC, TLC, and MLC drives may begin to bit rot. QLC is worst (~1 year), and even at best (p)SLC NAND is rated to store data for 1.5-3years (IIRC, from industry spec-sheets).
(Note: I have had a couple MLC drives experience 'error correction' slowdowns after a year or few of unpowered storage.)

Some Options:
-Buy an old SLC drive or a semi-modern 'industrial SLC SSD' for the build.
-(If USB-boot is reliable) Buy a USB-NVME adapter and either a very cheap used 16GB Optane M10 ($5-15), or a liquidation-priced P1600X (58GB or 118GB) ($30-60).
Optane will not bit-rot, and write-endurance negates the lack of TRIM.
(Note: I've never gotten XP to boot off NVMe, even using CoreBoot, Clover, etc. but, it's not impossible to run XP off an 'external drive'.)
AFAIK, all the bridge chips used in those USB-NVMe adapters support both UASP and (the older) BOT.

 

[john_]

Be wary.
If it's often-used, modern SSDs w/o TRIM will die much faster

[noob mode on] How about removing the SSD every 3-6 months connecting it on a Win7/10/11 system and letting it there for a day to do it's TRIM?[/noob mode still on!]

 

[LabRat 891]

[noob mode on] How about removing the SSD every 3-6 months connecting it on a Win7/10/11 system and letting it there for a day to do it's TRIM?[/noob mode still on!]

Not far off from what I was pondering on after my post:
A multi-booting system w/ 7+(or modern Linux distro) 'should' mitigate the issue.
If say, it was your 'retro test bench', a multi-boot wouldn't be an inconvenience, but rather a useful feature.

 

[Ferrum Master]

Not far off from what I was pondering on after my post:
A multi-booting system w/ 7+(or modern Linux distro) 'should' mitigate the issue.
If say, it was your 'retro test bench', a multi-boot wouldn't be an inconvenience, but rather a useful feature.

Wait there is no garbage collection as an alternative anymore? Well yes, it is slower, but it ain't used no more?

 

[LabRat 891]

Wait there is no garbage collection as an alternative anymore? Well yes, it is slower, but it ain't used no more?

I'm not sure. But, I am sure that 'vanilla' SP3 XP is 'SSD unaware'. Any HDD-expectant feature will likely make the concerns w/ an SSD worse.

IIRC, XP also has background defragmentation by default, which will accelerate failure.
(SSDs don't need defragging, and all the data movement will accumulate writes quickly.)

 

[Ferrum Master]

I'm not sure. But, I am sure that 'vanilla' SP3 XP is 'SSD unaware'. Any HDD-expectant feature will likely make the concerns w/ an SSD worse.

IIRC, XP also has background defragmentation by default, which will accelerate failure.
(SSDs don't need defragging, and all the data movement will accumulate writes quickly.)

Ye, but Garbage colletion still did the job. So the TRIM feature was just a different flavor of the same. Maybe I missed something and GA is not present anymore. Older SATA drives had it, and no stress with XP or early Linux stuff. @W1zzard could you help with this one?

 

[natr0n]

Played with a special version of XP other day and it updated fine.

 

[caroline!]

XP? what year is it?

 

[DemonicRyzen666]

There are old printers/scanners that only run under XP or 7/8, so a virtual machine with XP for example, which will take much less storage space than a virtual machine with 7/8 is probably the best option in such a case.

I work in Food service we have a weight scale that still use Windows 98.

 

[ymdhis]

There are old printers/scanners that only run under XP or 7/8, so a virtual machine with XP for example, which will take much less storage space than a virtual machine with 7/8 is probably the best option in such a case.

Yeah, my old Canon flatbed scanner did not have drivers for anything above XP, so the only way to use it in Vista and Win7 was to use a virtual machine running XP.

Eventually I just got a new flatbed scanner which was up to 6x faster.

 

[trsttte]

I don't want to be that guy but this is far from the first offline activation tool for windows xp

There are old printers/scanners that only run under XP or 7/8, so a virtual machine with XP for example, which will take much less storage space than a virtual machine with 7/8 is probably the best option in such a case.

I'd wager that old printer/scanner - if somehow it's still alive and you can still find ink cartridges for it - would run even better in linux as the spool service is famously and hilariously bad (and setting up linux is not harder than setting up a windows vm and getting the usb assignment right)

 

[LabRat 891]

I don't want to be that guy but this is far from the first offline activation tool for windows xp

The 2nd image actually addresses that. It even references the purposely vague paper on XP's activation, before XP hit official retail channels.

No worries though, the headline and body of most articles about this aren't terribly specific about that fact. (which, is probably why that image is there)