Hey guys! In a previous video we activated Windows XP using a phone.
[Block F is: Three. Five...]
Go check it out if you haven't already!
In this video I am going to show you all the bugs in that activation procedure, as well as how to take advantage of them.
The first bug (more of a terrible design flaw of the activation mechanism) is that it uses local time to determine whether the system is activated or not.
It doesn't even check if a trial period is valid! Eh, simpler times...
So, say, we have a trial period starting June 29th. We must activate Windows XP in 30 days - meaning that it will run out on July 29th.
But what if we want to cheat in some clicky waity game? We would turn off the internet and change the date further ahead.
Let's see what activation mechanism thinks about that.
Ah yes, my trial period is almost gone and not even an hour passed. Glad I skipped only 27 days, not the full 30.
Since Windows let us in, let's try rewinding the date back.
If it's so sensitive to local time, it must let us regain the trial period too.. right?
Sounds stupid, but let's try anyway.
Nope, doesn't work. In fact, it just completely cancels the trial, requiring you to activate now.
But no worries, there's also an oversight that lets you reclaim the trial period.
If you click "No" on that message box, it will log you off with a warm welcome.
Definitely not a way to go.
If you click yes, though, it will throw you into the activation window. That's where the fun begins.
Obviously, we could activate Windows XP via a phone, it's free for most regions. But I'd like to show you an oversight in that activation process.
The idea is to basically get this window to launch anything asides from its child windows. I played around with it and found a way to run a web page.
The link is kind of hidden away, you have to be really curious to find it.
You need to get to the phone activation screen, then change the product key and pass an incorrect one.
And voila, there's the link to Microsoft Activation Assistance Web Site.
From there, we can easily go to the Windows directory, fire up the command prompt and run the trial reset command.
In my opinion, that's a shameful bug from Microsoft.
Finally, once the trial had been reset, we can log in a few more times to witness the final bug.
If you click "Yes", it will show you the "Activation Successful" screen, even though all we did was just reset the trial.
No activation was performed, that's why it bugs out and doesn't let us in. Reboot fixes that issue.
These are all the bugs I wanted to show you. Windows activation mechanism is really simple and flawed. Hope you liked the video, thanks for watching!
Music: Tom & Jerry in War of the Whiskers OST. "PAWS"