I read here in one of these threads to backup two WPA.* files in case of emergency...

I found the one (WPA.DBL), but don't have (or WinXP won't show me) WPA.BAK...

How can I get it to back it up??? (I have NTFS, so DOS is no good)

Just copy it and rename WPA.BAK??? :blink:



Last edited by FrogBait4 at Today at 10:09 am

*.BAK files are just backups so yes, just copy and rename. You should still be able to use the command prompt to get "into" DOS even if you use NTFS.

No, I meant if XP was hiding file in Windows, maybe I could boot to DOS and extract the file...But even if I boot to DOS w/boot floppy, I couldn't get into NTFS partition...

(Explorer *says* all files are unhidden, including system files, but I have doubts)...

Why would some have WPA.BAK as well as WPA.DBL, and I don't???

If you are booting to DOS via a bootdisk, you will not be able to view NTFS partitions without a special program. The name of that program eludes me right now, but I do know that you have to have a "special" boot disk to view NTFS partitions. Simply creating a boot disk from within Windows will not do the job.

Are you talking about backing up those two files so that you don't have to re-activate?

If so, you don't need to back those up, just go ahead and activate over the internet. I've done this about 3 times already.

Yes; so I don't have to contact M$ to re-activate...

Ummm, I would prefer to not have to activate over the Internet...Or by telephone...

Since it is the same system, there should be no problem...I just like to have idea of what to do if it goes wrong...

Its your call, but nothing goes to them except a hash of a few pieces of hardware. I do it all the time

Zo

Just a few comments:

I am pretty certain that WPA.DBL/.BAK are not locked or hidden, so you can just copy them to a floppy diskette. These files should be located in the C:\WINNT\SYSTEM32 subdirectory (mine are). You may have to reconfigure windows explorer to let you see system files before they will show up.

The program you need to see a NTFS partition from DOS is NTFSDOS Pro. The read only (free) version should allow you to see and copy files from the NTFS partition to a floppy diskette.

Finally, as adams_73533 said, if your hardware has not changed reactivation over the web should work fine as many times as you want. Microsoft doesn't start getting picky or concerned until significant new hardware shows up in the hashes that your system sends to them.

I hope this helps,

Tomboy