How to activate Windows 10 on HP and Compaq computers and tablets. My windows activation has all of a sudden stopped working. It states on my desktop, This copy of Windows is not genuine, when i know its a working key. If you are using this key. Best to use a new genuine key. Windows-10-Activation-Error-Code.jpg' alt='Windows Activation Code Product Key' title='Windows Activation Code Product Key' />Windows Product Activation WPAWindows Product Activation WPAon Windows XPVersion 3. Last Updated August 2. Hold mouse here for list of most recent changes. Alex Nichol, MS MVPOne new feature in Windows XP that has caused great concern is Windows Product Activation WPA. There are a great many rumors, and much misinformation, from which you might be led to think that WPA is going to call Microsoft every day and say just what you are doing with your computer that, if you make any changes at all to your computer hardware, the machine will be instantly disabled and that WPA is a sneaky way for Microsoft to store personal information about you or your computer, or to begin charging you a monthly fee for your continued use of Windows XP. In fact, all of these rumors are false. How to Find Your Windows 8 and 8. Product Key Number Information The Windows 8 product key is a sequence of 25 letters and numbers divid. Windows Updates Activation Looking for a Windows 8 key or a Windows 8 activation code Windows 8 forums provide the answers youre looking for so join a. Windows Activation Code Product Key' title='Windows Activation Code Product Key' />Product Key refers to the traditional method of upgrading or licensing any version of Windows. If you purchase a new copy of Windows 10 from a retailer, have a Volume. Fix Windows 10 Activation Failed Error Code 0x803F7001 I show you a quick workaround for this annoying error. Click Start Settings Update security. Windows 10 Activation Key Enterprise Pro Product Key. How to Activate Windows 10 with Product Code and Serial Key. You can use these serial to activate Windows 10. Windows 10 8. 1 Pro Activation Product Key Free Only. Updated on September 30th, 2017 by Softlay Editor. WPA is a fairly easy going check when Windows boots, confirming that it is still installed on the same computer as last time it checked. Thats all. But the rampant misinformation is understandable, because it is hard for the general consumer to find a simple yet comprehensive explanation of just what WPA is. This page tries to fill that gap by explaining WPA in a straightforward, detailed way and to show that it will be a lot less trouble to most people than many have feared. Whats the idea of WPA The Microsoft License for use of Windows has always been limited to allowing installation on only a single machine and that excludes having the same copy installed on a laptop as well as a desktop machine only MS Office is licensed for the combination. Microsoft believes that this has been subject to much casual abuse. WPA is a means of ensuring that a single copy is not installed on more than a single machine. So, within the first 3. Windows XP, you must get the system activated if you are to be able to go on using it. This involves the computer dialing in and giving some information about the hardware on which Windows is installed, receiving in return a release code which will be recorded on the system. More is said below about OEM copies provided preinstalled on a new computer. At subsequent boots, Windows checks to see that it is still running on hardware that it can recognise as being the same. If it does not match well enough, you will be unable to do more than backup files until you call Microsoft to explain for example, that the old machine broke down and had to be rebuilt and get a new release code. What hardware gets checked The WPA system checks ten categories of hardware Display Adapter. SCSI Adapter. IDE Adapter effectively the motherboardNetwork Adapter NIC and its MAC Address. RAM Amount Range i. Processor Type. Processor Serial Number. Hard Drive Device. Hard Drive Volume Serial Number VSNCD ROM CD RW DVD ROMIt then calculates and records a number based on the first device of each type that was found during setup, and stores this number on your hard drive. Initially, this is sent to Microsoft in an automatic dial up, together with the Product ID number derived from the 2. Product Key used in setting up Windows. If Service Pack 1 has been installed, the entire Product Key is also transmitted This can then be checked against a list of known pirated keys. The hardware is checked each time Windows boots, to ensure that it is still on the same machine. Also, if you subsequently perform a complete format and reinstall of Windows, Microsofts activation center will have to be contacted again because the information held on the machine itself the number previously written to your hard drive will have been wiped out by reformatting the hard drive. If your hardware is substantially the same, this will be done by an automated call without your needing to talk to anyone. What does substantially the same mean WPA asks for votes from each of these ten categories Is the same device still around, or has there never been one Seven Yes votes means all is well and a NIC, present originally and not changed, counts for three yes votesMinor cards, like sound cards, dont come into the mix at all. If you keep the motherboard, with the same amount of RAM and processor, and an always present cheap NIC available for 1. If you change the device in any category, you have lost that Yes vote but will not lose it any more thereafter if you make changes in that category again. So, for example, you can install a new video display card every month for as long as you like. Note that it appears that if you boot with a device disabled disabled not removed, the device is not found in the enumeration so if, say, you disable a network. NIC and then reboot, you may be missing its three votes and find that a new activation is needed. If you are doing such. Hint 3 in What about formatting a hard disk NIC is back in service. What if I make too many changes If, on Windows startup, there are not the required seven Yes votes, the system will, in the original version of Windows XP, only boot to Safe Mode. You will be required to reactivate by a phone call to Microsoft. You will have to write down a 5. In exchange, you will be given a 4. This will reactivate your copy of Windows. This is made easier if Windows XP Service Pack 1 has been installed The system will continue to boot normally for three days, during which time you will be able to contact the activation center via the net. If the extra changes have been removed, or if 1. What about formatting a hard disk Two things are recorded for disks the number of the disk drive itself, and the Volume Serial Number VSN of the partition on it. HINT No. 1 The VSN is part of the data in the partitions first sector, so it is changed when you reformat the drive. It is worth getting the freeware utility Volume ID to restore the original VSN. Before you reformat, run VOL from a Command Prompt, note the VSN e. F2. E 3. C4. B in the second line. Then, after the reformat and new Windows XP installation, defer the new activation until you have run Volume ID to restore the old VSN, and rebooted. This is not essential but it saves one of the Yes votes against any future hardware change. If you dont wish to run this utility, the next best way to obtain the same result would be to delete the old Win XP files from the hard drive before reinstalling, rather than actually reformatting. HINT No. Another thing that changes the VSN is converting a FAT 3. NTFS. So, if you upgrade a system using FAT 3. Windows XP and intend to convert to NTFS, do the conversion before activating the system. Remember, you can wait a while you have 3. The machines hardware at the time of the first activation is what counts. Or, if you have already activated, use Volume ID as described in Hint No. If you are doing this after activation, also first back up the WPA. DBL and WPA. BAK files, as described in Hint No. HINT No. 3 It is valuable to back up the two files WPA. DBL and WPA. BAK from the WindowsSystem. Install Sidebar Windows Server 2008. 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.