For almost two decades, MSKey Readme1 has heralded the defeat of Windows XP’s product activation, not via mere circumvention, but by cracking the encryption algorithm itself.
Four years ago, WindowsXPKg2 launched on Microsoft’s GitHub platform. Based on the even earlier Inside Windows Product Activation: A Fully Licensed Paper3, it generates product keys but relies on an external, third-party server to return the Confirmation ID.
In a post last year on the Windows XP subreddit (Windows XP web activation is finally dead…), retroreviewyt shared xp_activate32.exe4, which calculates the Installation ID then generates and optionally applies the corresponding Confirmation ID to activate Windows XP, all offline. Wiping the system and reinstalling Windows XP results in the same Installation ID being assigned by Windows (assuming no change in hardware or product key), thus the same Confirmation ID obtains even in msoobe’s standard telephone activation window.
Long considered out of reach, this development bodes well for salvaging old syst
