Trick to Activate Windows XP

I work with a WinXP virtual machine quite a bit, and recently made some changes to the memory settings.  Do this too many times and then it complains that you need to reactivate it!  Here is a neat workaround that resets the timer then locks the system access from the timer.  (brilliant)  (the link to the original article is included below – I’ve copied the text because this type of information has a habit of disappearing)

http://www.wikihow.com/Activate-Windows-XP-Without-a-Genuine-Product-Key

1. Click on the “Start” button
2. Find and click the “Run” button
3. Type: “REGEDIT”
4. Click the plus next to “HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE”
5. Click the plus next to “SOFTWARE”
6. Click the plus next to “Microsoft”
7. Click the plus next to “Windows NT”
8. Click the plus next to “CurrentVersion”
9. Click “WPAEvents”
10. On the right panel, find “OOBETimer” and double click it.
11. Now, highlight all values, then delete them
12. Then type in the following value: FF D5 71 D6 8B 6A 8D 6F D5 33 93 FD
13. After that, click “OK”
14. Next, on the left panel, right-click “WPAEvents”
15. Then click on “permissions”
16. Click “SYSTEM”
17. Click the box “Deny Full Control”
18. Click “OK”
19. Click “YES” and exit out of Registry Editor. You can do this by clicking on the red X in the upper-right corner of the Title Bar or, while holding down the ALT key, press the F4 key.
20. To verify that it works, Click on “Start” and then “Activate Windows.” Or you can click on “Start,” then “All Programs,” then “Activate Windows”.  If these options don’t work, type this text in the space provided: %systemroot%\system32\oobe\msoobe.exe /a
21. Click on “ACTIVATE ON THE PHONE” and then “CHANGE Product Key”
22. Type: THMPV – 77D6F – 94376 – 8HGKG – VRDRQ
23. Click “UPDATE”
24. Click “REMIND ME LATER”
25. Restart Windows
26. Once your computer is back up, click “START” and “RUN” and “%system”
27. Click “OK”