[Am-info] XP PCs as a paperweight

[Gene Gaines]

Fred Langa warns new Windows XP users of the
consequences of failing to "activate" the operating
system with Microsoft. Be afraid. Be very afraid.
By Fred Langa  (www.langa.com)

As reported in Information Week, see:
http://www.informationweek.com/story/IWK20020117S0002

...

Between end-of-year budget purchases, holiday promotions, 
and Christmas gifts of small-business PCs preloaded with 
Windows XP, millions of people are right now experiencing
their first few weeks' with the new operating system.

That means many users are heading for a surprise, as the 
internal counter inside every copy of Windows XP gets ready 
to enforce the mandatory "product activation" after one 
month of use. 

The Myth Of 'Reduced Functionality'
We've gone over Windows Product Activation, or WPA, in 
considerable detail before; there's no need to rehash it. 
(See Is Windows XP's 'Product Activation' A Privacy Risk? 
and 1000 Posts Later: A WPA Update as well as the references 
at the end of this article.) 

But the key element for today's discussion is this: The WPA 
system keeps track of how many times you've launched the 
software and/or how much time has passed. Before the end of 
a Microsoft-determined amount of time or number of launches, 
you must--must--contact Microsoft to receive a special 
50-digit key to "activate" the software. This is separate 
from the serial number you need at installation. If you do 
not contact Microsoft and get the activation key, the WPA 
system limits your use of the unactivated software. 

Different versions of XP software react differently to WPA 
violations. For example, Windows XP is far harsher in 
responding to a presumed WPA violation than is Office XP 
(which includes stand-alone versions of Word 2002, Excel 2002, 
FrontPage 2002, etc.). In Office XP and its stand-alone "2002" 
components, WPA allows 50 launches of the software without 
activation. At the end of that time, if you haven't activated 
the software WPA puts the software into "reduced 
functionality mode." You can view your XP-created documents, 
but you can't modify them or create new ones. You can, however, 
still copy, back up, or otherwise access your files, or modify 
them with other, non-Office XP tools. 

In contrast, the Windows XP operating system's implementation 
of WPA goes far beyond mere "reduced functionality." 

A Road Block, Not A Speed Bump
If Windows XP reaches the end of its one-month grace period 
without being activated, it simply locks you out, period. After 
login--even as Administrator--instead of seeing the normal 
desktop, you're shown a message: 

     "This copy of Windows must be activated with Microsoft
     before you can log on. Do you want to activate Windows 
     now?  Yes/No)"

If you answer yes, you're taken through the activation process, 
after which--if your system successfully completes its 
activation--you can resume computing normally. But if you 
answer No or if your machine is unable to complete 
activation process, you can't continue. You're stopped cold, 
completely locked out of the operating system. You can't do
anything with XP, even if you have Administrator rights, until 
and unless you successfully complete the activation process. 
(Resetting the system clock to an earlier date via your PC's 
BIOS setup program won't let you regain access to a locked 
system. Once WPA is triggered, your system stays locked until 
it's activated.) 

An unexpected lockout can be a real problem. For example, if 
you're using XP's native NTFS file system, once WPA locks you 
out you can't even copy your data files to another machine to 
keep working. In fact, unless you previously set up your PC as 
a dual-boot system with a non-XP operating system in another 
partition, or unless you have DOS-based boot floppies 
available, you may not be able to do anything with your system. 

Of course, if you have boot floppies or can boot from CD or a 
second operating system on another partition, you always can 
start over by reformatting your XP partition. But unless you 
have a prior backup of your data, you'll lose everything. Once 
WPA locks you out, you can't back up your XP/NTFS files using 
normal methods. 

...

Most people don't have dual-boot systems or elaborate floppy-
based recovery procedures. In fact, most people don't bother 
with backups.  If that describes you, then once WPA locks you 
out, and until and unless you successfully complete the 
activation process, your shiny new XP system will be nothing 
but a giant paperweight. 

The Clock Is Ticking
If you're in your first month of use of XP and you haven't activated 
your copy, you need to know what's coming. WPA cannot be ignored, 
and will soon force you to activate or to stop using your PC. 

...

Unfortunately, Microsoft doesn't spell out the consequences of 
failing to activate a copy of XP. I think the company should. 




Gene Gaines
gene.gaines@gainesgroup.com
Sterling, Virginia