Re:The Windows XP activation algorithm has been cracked
by jeroenhd on Friday May 26, 2023 @09:56AM
(#36084182)
The leaked keys were blacklisted down the line. Online and phone activation didn't work for them anymore. They regularly updated their list of banned keys as well.
Activation became a hard requirement further down the line, I think the process got more strict during one of the service pack upgrades.
It's possible your installs were all automatically activated over the internet. I think the hardware ID and the serial number were some kind of combined identifier and if your computer(s) were part of "the good list", your fingerprint may have been whitelisted so that automatic online activation never caused a problem.
Activation became a hard requirement further down the line, I think the process got more strict during one of the service pack upgrades.
It's possible your installs were all automatically activated over the internet. I think the hardware ID and the serial number were some kind of combined identifier and if your computer(s) were part of "the good list", your fingerprint may have been whitelisted so that automatic online activation never caused a problem.