widows xp professional licensing issue

I purchased a gamer PC towards the end of 2002 which is increasingly
dysfunctional. Either the mouse/kbd freezes or it reboots. I scanned
for
virus, including sasser fix from microsoft, but to no avail. I don't
think
itis a virus issue, because I then disconnected the windows drive and
connected
a freebsd scsi drive and booted. the system freezes or reboots the
same. i even went to bios and loaded defaults. no change. my only
choice is to get it diagnosed and repaired or get a new MB, which is
where my problem is. Getting it diagnosed and fix would probably not
much less than buying the same motherboard. I know it could be the
power supply too, but as far as I can tell it is ok.

I know the XP professional came bundled with the machine. Now if I
replace the motherboard, will the XP stop working because it will
think it is running on an unauthorized machine? Do I have to buy a new
windows XP professional as well? Don't I have the right to install the
XP on
another machine if the current one cannot be revived?
Someone told me XP was going to stop working after 2 years anyway and
I would have to buy an upgrade license. Is that true? I would not get
to find out because this machine is going south fast.

You'll have no problems with your preinstalled, OEM version
of Windows XP if you replace the motherboard with an identical
make and model.

Q. "Someone told me XP was going to stop working after 2 years anyway....."

A. Do not consult that "someone" for any additional advice. That is a false statement.


Changing a Motherboard or Moving a Hard Drive with XP Installed
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/moving_xp.html

How to Perform a Windows XP Repair Install
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm

[Courtesy of MS-MVP Michael Stevens]

Windows Product Activation (WPA) on Windows XP
http://aumha.org/win5/a/wpa.htm

[Courtesy of MS-MVP Alex Nichol]

--
Carey Frisch
Microsoft MVP
Windows XP - Shell/User

Be Smart! Protect your PC!
http://www.microsoft.com/security/protect/

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"private person" <of2net@yahoo.com> wrote in message:
news:7a2c4e95.0405200727.797e36ee@posting.google.com...

| I purchased a gamer PC towards the end of 2002 which is increasingly
| dysfunctional. Either the mouse/kbd freezes or it reboots. I scanned
| for
| virus, including sasser fix from microsoft, but to no avail. I don't
| think
| itis a virus issue, because I then disconnected the windows drive and
| connected
| a freebsd scsi drive and booted. the system freezes or reboots the
| same. i even went to bios and loaded defaults. no change. my only
| choice is to get it diagnosed and repaired or get a new MB, which is
| where my problem is. Getting it diagnosed and fix would probably not
| much less than buying the same motherboard. I know it could be the
| power supply too, but as far as I can tell it is ok.
|
| I know the XP professional came bundled with the machine. Now if I
| replace the motherboard, will the XP stop working because it will
| think it is running on an unauthorized machine? Do I have to buy a new
| windows XP professional as well? Don't I have the right to install the
| XP on
| another machine if the current one cannot be revived?
| Someone told me XP was going to stop working after 2 years anyway and
| I would have to buy an upgrade license. Is that true? I would not get
| to find out because this machine is going south fast.