https://www.wikihow.com/Activate-Windows-XP#:~:text=In%20order%20to%20get%20the,have%20access%20to%20the%20internet.

Has Microsoft taken the WinXP activation servers offline?

I used online activation for a spare copy of WinXP in a VirtualBox VM a few years ago, to run some old applications that would not install on Win 7. No problems then, but haven’t needed to reactivate it yet.

Yes, but you have to do it over the phone. If you have a smartphone, it’s even easier. Call the activation number on your screen, and take the smartphone option. They’ll send you a text containing a link; follow the link and you just do it in your phone’s browser.

tonyl wrote:

They’ll send you a text containing a link; follow the link and you just do it in your phone’s browser.

The link that’s sent will be the one below and it can also be used on a computer.  One would have to choose the option to “Activate by Telephone” and get the “Installation ID” to enter into the boxes at the website.  My experience is, when asked “How many computers is this install on”, that it works best to enter “0” (zero).

Microsoft Product Activation site (it’s a long URL but works):

https://microsoft.gointeract.io/interact/index?interaction=1461173234028-3884f8602eccbe259104553afa8415434b4581-05d1&accountId=microsoft&loadFrom=CDN&appkey=196de13c-e946-4531-98f6-2719ec8405ce&Language=English&name=pana&CountryCode=en-US&Click%20To%20Call%20Caller%20Id=+15128180951&startedFromSmsToken=rnW6ijL&dnis=19&token=KlXjll

tonyl wrote:

I have two bookmarks, different URLs, both of which still work at the moment, but I don’t know how long for.

The link in my post has been working for me for at least the last five years now, so hopefully its functionality will continue (since it’s very handy).

EP wrote:

ask the folks in MSFN forum – they might have an answer there

That was a rhetorical question.

XP already activated here, so nothing to resolve for me.  Just wondering why others were having difficulty.

Thank you so much for this link. It’s so easy to use. It’s a relief not to have to reinstall, AGAIN, in another 30 days. Hooray!

Wow it worked

Thank you 😊

Thank you for this.

With these instructions, I managed to reinstall an old legitimate WinXP again on an old PC that is going to be used as an off-line machine for some old programms. Some software just do not work correctly, or at all, with modern hardware and systems.

For anyone who needs Al Taylor’s link above, it can be shortened to:

https://tinyurl.com/y58x28vg

This will take you directly to Microsoft’s self-service Product Activation page:

I used a small AutoHotkey script to create the shortened URL.

See this post here on AskWoody for the script itself.

Rick Corbett wrote:

For anyone who needs Al Taylor’s link above, it can be shortened to: https://tinyurl.com/y58x28vg This will take you directly to Microsoft’s self-service Product Activation page

Great modification!  (I’ve never actually typed out the “full URL’, but rather just keep a shortcut file to it.)

By way of info, the original URL came to me from Microsoft to my mobile phone.

The url prompts for selection of 6 or 7 digit character blocks, but my key has 5 digit character blocks. Does this mean I can only activate by phone, or can I not activate at all with my key?

Okay, I see that now.  I apparently missed it on first reading.  Thanks for pointing it out.

In my call to Microsoft I chose the text to smart phone option and was instructed to tell how many digits were displayed one the screen, but there were no digits displayed.  After 3 tries with the same results, I tried the voice option and was supposed to be transferred to a person but got a message stating Windows XP is no longer supported and was disconnected from the call.  I guess this means Windows XP can no longer be activated by any means.

No product key was entered.  I was asked to tell if I see 6 or 7 digits but saw no digits.  Further investigation shows there is no activation wizard in system tools, and running from command prompt “C:\Windows\System32\oobe\msoobe.exe /a” doesn’t start activation wizard as it should according to search results found.  Why do I apparently have no activation wizard, and is there a way to fix this?  I assume there’s no way to activate without that functionality which would render my Windows XP useless after the 30 activation period is expired.   Any ideas?

Windows was activated before I did a repair install to fix some problems I was having, but it says Windows needs to be activated after the repair install completed.

By “Right-click on Computer” I assume you mean My Computer since there is no Computer showing when Start is clicked.  Under Properties for My Computer there is no Windows Activation to click.  Btw this PC has Windows XP Home if that makes any difference.

I suspect Windows Activation Wizard is somehow missing on this system, and there’s no way to enter a product key, installation ID or anything else without it.  I think my best hope is to recreate or install the Activation Wizard.  Is there any way to do that?

Calling in then using the text system to activate still works for XP. Used the phone number XP Pro SP1 provided when selecting activate by phone.