One thing i've been wondering about.

It's likely i'm going to be installing XP onto someone's system next week (i know, i know. I'm going to try and get them to try something more recent, but still...) and i'm pretty sure i'm not going to be able to activate it (The old hard drive failed).

I guess i'm going to  to use other methods but not sure which untrustworthy place I can trust.

Anyone able to help?


(And yes, i'm even considering installing Mint on there.)

I don't think xp requires ’activation' per se, just a valid key (which it doesn't check online).

Windows update will want to install Windows Genuine Advantage, or whatever it's called. That shit was annoying as heck.

IIRC there's some relatively easy trick to disable it (registry hack?). Download sp3, disconnect from nw, apply sp3, disable WGA, reconnect.