De/Re-activate XP Pro

[Guest]

I had purchased a copy of XP Pro to rebuild a laptop due to hard-disk crash.
The laptop is about to go dead again. Can the XP on the laptop be deactivated
and reinstalled and activated on a brand new hardware? Thanks in advance.

 

[peter]

Yes it can
The EULA says that you can use XP on ONE machine...by uninstalling from the
old/broken machine and reinstalling onto the new machine you are doing
that.You will have to reactivate on the new machine.If it will not let you
do this over the net use the phone option.It is painless albeit a bit
slow....I have had to do it 4 times.
peter

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

I had purchased a copy of XP Pro to rebuild a laptop due to hard-disk
crash. The laptop is about to go dead again. Can the XP on the laptop
be deactivated and reinstalled and activated on a brand new hardware?

First, there's no such thing as deactivation, nor is it necessary.

If yours is a retail copy, yes, it can be used on another computer as long
as it isn't running on the first one.

But if yours is an OEM copy, then no, you can't do this without violating
the EULA. The OEM EULA permanently ties it to the first computer it's
installed on.

 

[Dweebs]

When my old computer died, I just reinstalled my old XP in my new computer
(blank HD) and activated it no problems.

Paul

 

[Bruce Chambers]

I had purchased a copy of XP Pro to rebuild a laptop due to hard-disk crash.
The laptop is about to go dead again. Can the XP on the laptop be deactivated
and reinstalled and activated on a brand new hardware? Thanks in advance.

There is no "de-activation" process, as such.

Assuming a retail license (OEM licenses are not legitimately
transferable), simply remove WinXP from the computer it is currently on
and then install it on the new computer. If it's been more than 120
days since you last activated that specific Product Key, the you'll most
likely be able to activate via the Internet without problem. If it's
been less, you might have to make a 5 minute phone call.

Here are the facts pertaining to activation:

Piracy Basics - Microsoft Product Activation
http://www.microsoft.com/piracy/basics/activation/

Windows Product Activation (WPA)
http://www.aumha.org/a/wpa.htm



--

Bruce Chambers

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