Installing Windows XP
pca_bmxermark - 7 September 2008 - 12:22pm
I've recently upgraded my motherboard, processor, ram, powersupply and harddrive. Where do i stand with installing my old version of Windows XP? It's a legit installation CD that came with my old PC. Will changing the insides of my PC void me installing my copy of WIndows XP and activating it?
I really don't want to have to splash out on a new OS, when i have a perfectly legal copy of XP, which i'm happy to use!
Log in to PCAnswers
How to...
Speed up Windows XP
TanyaC - 4 September 2008 - 9:47am
Get the full potential from Windows XP with Tanya Combrinck’s assortment of handy Windows XP tips and tweaks. In minutes you’ll be running a faster and leaner PC. ... read more »
Latest PC news from TechRadar
- Exclusive: Virgin & ITV: Internet details not yet finalised
- Ballmer's CES keynote - all the details
- Virgin Media seals on-demand deal with ITV
- AMD rolls out much improved Phenom II CPU
- In Depth: Is 45nm silicon enough to save AMD?
- Windows 7 Beta available worldwide Friday
- Sony launches world's lightest 8-inch netbook
- Skype officially launches standalone videophone
Copyright 2006 - 2008 Future Publishing Limited(company registered number 2008885), a company registered in England and Wales
whose registered office is at Beauford Court, 30 Monmouth Street, Bath, BA1 2BW, UK
The only possible issue
pca_Burn-IT - 7 September 2008 - 12:32pmThe only possible issue would be if the original, and your version of XP is OEM.
Dave Burnett Microsoft MVP Shell/User (see http//mvp.support.microsoft.com/ )
God doesn't play dice Does that mean I was supposed to be like this??
Is there a way i could find
pca_bmxermark - 7 September 2008 - 1:49pmIs there a way i could find that out?
I can't see anything that states it's OEM on the CD hologram.
Incase it helps, i've installed it onto the new PC without problem, using the original CD key, i have just not activated it yet, just incase there may be a problem.
Go for it. At the worst you
pca_Burn-IT - 8 September 2008 - 8:44amGo for it.
At the worst you may have to ring them. I have never been refused yet. (I do it on behalf of customer machines I've updated)
Dave Burnett Microsoft MVP Shell/User (see http//mvp.support.microsoft.com/ )
God doesn't play dice Does that mean I was supposed to be like this??
OEM XP
Isitme - 9 September 2008 - 12:05pmLegally and officially you are only allow to use an OEM on the machine it was originally installed on, but there are exceptions. When you phone tell them that your machine was hit by a powersurge which fried everything and you can't locate original component replacements. I have heard that it can often depend on the agent you get when you phone. If the first one turns you down, phone back and you may get a more understanding one.
TomD
I tried just going through
pca_bmxermark - 9 September 2008 - 4:39pmI tried just going through with the windows activation thing, and it went through successfully. I'm guessing if it was OEM, activation wouldn't have worked?
OEM XP
Isitme - 10 September 2008 - 2:11pmI don't have an OEM XP running at the moment but I seem to remember that it is shown on the first page of the System Properties. An application like Belerac will also show it.
Some years back there was some speculation on how long MS kept the activation details. There was a suggestion that they were kept for only a few months but I never discovered if this was the case. I am beginning to think that this was true. When you think about it, even if you have a Retail copy, it will only register to one PC (corp excepted) so if you install it on another you should have to confirm that it was taken of the original one before activation is allowed. If you did not have to do that, then it looks like the details of the first activation are 'lost'.
TomD