How to Make Windows XP Genuine Forever

Remove Windows XP activation permanently with this handy guide

Last Updated: February 10, 2023

Do you have Windows XP without the genuine serial key? Don't worry -- with a few clicks of the mouse and a little bit of cleverness, you'll be able to make your Windows XP genuine forever. See Step 1 below to begin.

Steps

1
Click Start, then choose Run.
2
Type “regedit” (without the quotation marks).

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3
Double click on HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE or click on the plus sign.
4
Click on Software.
5
Click on Microsoft.
6
Click on Windows NT.
7
Click on CurrentVersion.
8
Now chose the “WPAEvents” option.
9
Right click on OOBETimer and select Modify.
10
In the Edit Binary Value window, remove all the values in the value data box. Click OK and close the registry editor.
11
Go back to Run and type the following command without quotation marks: "%systemroot%\system32\oobe\msoobe.exe /a".
12
In the Activate Windows wizard, chose the second option. It should be “Yes, I want to telephone a customer service representative to activate Windows.” Click on Next.
13
Click on Change Product Key.
14
Enter your genuine key in the New Key box and click on Update.
15
Check whether your Windows XP is genuine (optional). Type the following command in Run without quotation marks: "oobe/msoobe /a".
- If a box appears saying “Windows is already activated," it means your Windows XP is genuine.
16
After deleting the WPATimer Value in Regedit, right click on WPAEvents. Select Permissions and set permissions to deny for all groups and users. After rebooting, the machine put the values back. If you deny permissions, it can't reset.

Community Q&A

Question

Can we do this procedure in safe mode?

Community Answer

Boot up in Safe Mode with Command Prompt. At the cmd window, type "explorer" or "explorer.exe" and then go to the run box (WINDOWS KEY + R). Type the following exactly without the quotation marks: "rundll32.exe syssetup,SetupOobeBnk". This will renew the 30-day activation for Windows XP. Restart your computer after that.
Question

I tried the procedure in safe mode. It worked three times, but doesn't anymore. The rundll.command no longer works. What can I do now?

Community Answer

This wiki is just resetting the XP Activation grace period, which you can only do 3 times and then XP stops working. You must enter a legit XP key and activate online or over the phone for XP to keep working.
Question

What do I do if my Windows is unable to find %systemroot%\system32\oobe\msoobe.exe/a?

Community Answer

Put a space before the "/a" and see if that works, otherwise do the below: Run>CMD cd %systemroot%\system32\oobe\ msoobe /a And if that fails: Run>oobe/msoobe.exe /a