Imagine it’s 2001. sTurn on your old Dell PC, and boot up your freshly installed copy of Windows XP to hear that A staccato “bummm” sound And see classic Rolling hills from stock desktop wallpaper. Well, if you are really interested in going back to an old operating system more than 20 years after it was released (note: yYou probably shouldn’t), users can now generate cracked product keys in all their pirated glory.
As George W. Bush once declared during the height of XP: “Mission accomplished,” even if that final crack is about 20 years late to the lot.
As I first mentioned before logthe tinyapps blog It was revealed back in April that someone had hacked the Windows XP product activation encryption algorithm, allowing users to generate usable XP activation keys.
The actual xp_activate32.exe program is listed on the blog. It basically takes the string of numbers generated by the old Windows XP phone activation system and converts it into a correct code to unlock the operating system. Test the operation log on An XP virtual machine running on Windows 7 found that key generation software generated a 25-digit activation hotspot code. other users in p / windowsxp The subreddit also confirmed that the process worked and produced exact keys.
Microsoft for a long time Shut down the activation servers for their product keys, which means that users can no longer activate keys using the company’s online service. so This development may be one of the few methods used by people with older devicesIt is in fact using older hardware that simply won’t run any modern operating system software.
It’s not like this is the first time users have attempted a key skillfully or roughly in XP. a Github repository From 2019 it is possible to generate confirmation IDs for the operating system, but this requires associating with a separate server that appears to be down. the XP source code has been leaked to the Internet Back in 2020, but users were still hard pressed to get access to the once beloved Microsoft OS after the activation servers shut down. Users have reported being able to use legitimate keys over the phone.
Of course, you shouldn’t go ahead and download any version of XP that you find on Google. Even if you get it up and running, connecting it to the internet is also very risky. Windows has long ceased to do What kind of security updates for Windows XP. The crack may be useful for accessing old hardware, and it can be used to run old software that has been discontinued for a long time.
Prior to XP, older versions of Windows, like Windows 95, Much easier to crack, as it requires little more than an integer sequence of numbers in a row. until ChatGPT can easily manufacture it keys Once you understand the right parameters for them.
Want more consumer electronics from Gizmodo? Check out our guides to The best phonesAnd The best laptopsAnd The best camerasAnd The best televisionsAnd The best printersAnd The best tablets. If you want to learn about the next big thing, check out our guide HEverything we know about iPhone 15. click here To provide the best deals of the day, courtesy of our friends at The Inventory.
“Certified food guru. Internet maven. Bacon junkie. Tv enthusiast. Avid writer. Gamer. Beeraholic.”
More Stories
Nintendo is launching a music app with themes from Mario and Zelda, and more importantly, a Wii Shop channel
The Google Pixel Tablet 3 will take another step towards replacing your laptop
Apple still excels at building the best computers