I just had to enjoy a live-session with one of the customer representative of Microsoft© The Netherlands. It was caused by my WinXP TabletEdition reinstallation on my HP© laptop. I do confess, I’ve never had an official Windows before it was forced on me by HP. So I had also been blessed with ignorance about the so-called activation process. Just another move from M$ to hit the software piracy of their products, since many critical updates and handy software can be downloaded from microsoft.com only after a WindowsGenuine™ validation tool. The formal doesn’t even operate on machines without activated Win OS. Usually, activation can be done via the Internet. Besides the fact I had used the CD-KEY from the sticker on the back of my laptop, for some reason I got an invalid key message when trying to activate my copy online .So I had to call a toll-free number and supply my installation ID , which is not the CD-KEY but a generated yet another key specific to your machine,windows version and cd-key, I might speculate.
Well, it wasn’t that paintfull to spell and copy-back 24digit number 
and it was quite fast. However, I do not intend to repeat this exercise, except for my own amusement >:} evil.
Here is what you need to do to avoid any future WinXP Re-Activations. NO MORE WINDOWS RE ACTIVATION!!!
Just follow the steps:
- After initial activation you must have a the following file present on you system: C:\WINDOWS\system32\wpa.dbl
- Make a copy on flash/floppy/netDrive etc.
- After a fresh-new reinstallation of WinXP, decline the call for activation on finish. Reboot the PC, press F8 to go into start-up menu of XP and choose Safe-Mode.
- Go to ‘C:\WINDOWS\system32\’ and make a backup copy of wpa.dbl → wpa.dbl.bak
- Copy (overwrite) the wpa.dbl file with the version you saved diligently in step-1
voala…
Please keep in mind this trick will ONLY work on exact configuration of hardware/windows/cdkey used. Therefore, DO NOT expect to run around in the hood and fixing everyone’s PC :-]
Last Note! Use this procedure under extreme prejudice if you do not feel competent enough. After all, one toll-free call fix it too.
The weather was perfect, the snow puffy and ready to slide on. Alot of happy faces and empty bottles…
Yesterday 30/11/2007 we said last good bye to the famous Bulgarian cartoonist Donio Donev, he deceased at the age of 78 in a public nursery-home. An iconic figure in the field of cartoons and hand drawn animations. His art is an reflection of the Bulgarian social culture, rooted deep in folks tales as part of the striking mentality on the Balkans. He is regarded a master of irony, as his stories are prominent for such humorous context. I can assure you that irony is universal as well as twofold. It has two faces, the gay and the grim one. I will probably not exaggerate if I proclaim Donio Donev to be the brightest among his generation of comedians. A generation which managed to humor us by twisting reality through the spin of a skillful irony. I do admire their devotion in trying to elevate people’s life from bearable to enjoyable. He still is in the hearts of many people, regarded as the sole face of the national cartoon scene for decades.
