DescentBB

The story behind my question... I recently bought a new Dell laptop.
I, of course want linux on it and that is what I did. I got Gentoo Linux all set up on this thing and then gave about a third of the hard drive back to windows XP. OK, so two OS's on this laptop. I have to keep windows around mainly for my Visual C++ class and certain Games. Everything else is done under Linux. I recently got into using vmware to run windows under a virtual machine in linux. Now I have no need to reboot to do my school work.

BUT... every time I switch between the vmware load and the normal boot of windows XP (only one installation of XP with two hardware profiles set up) it requires activation again. Can you see where I am going? I am wondering if this is a media center edition thing or a problem with all versions of XP. My desktop doesn't do this but it could just be that the hardware of the desktop and the virtual hardware don't differ enough. It is running pro.

So the big question... Is there any kind of activation crack out there? This copy that I am running (which came with the laptop) is legit of course. Microsoft reps are of no help and are quite rude about it telling me \"you will just have to call activation up each time it happens\".

I'm guessing there isn't but it couldn't hurt to ask.

I really hate Microsoft now.

Did you the activate the copy of XP before you wiped it?

The difference between your desktop and the laptop is exactly that.

Laptop driver support isn't really fully there under linux too many proprietary stuff out there, so the driver difference is enough to cause this.

if you are only doing this for school, consider VNC into your desktop, or just not dual boot.

Is there soem way to just DISABLE the whole inbuilt activiation thing?

surely by now someone's cracked it so the whole activiation thing can just be thown down the well.

Not sure we're \"allowed\" to talk about such things on the DBB thuogh , might get spanked

A bit of Googling would surely help, as Windows is so widely used
that many crackers must have given it a try.

Xamindar wrote:"you will just have to call activation up each time it happens"

This is a mere taste of Microsoft's ability to screw over their customers,
regardless of whether they are in breach of contract (the EULA).
Here is more (beware: 4 pages of horror!):

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/11/22 ... a_worries/

I read that article.
And after having done so, decided that the only \"upgrade\" I'll be making from Windows 2000/XP is to Linux.