oem XP Pro question

[Sammy Castagna]

I think I have a mother board going bad on an XP Pro machine. If I ordered a
bare bones pc without hard disks could I take my two out use what is
installed and just buy a new oem copy of Win XP Pro with the pc?

Sammy Castagna

 

[Sandman]

Probably not..

 

[Venger]

I think I have a mother board going bad on an XP Pro machine. If I ordered
a bare bones pc without hard disks could I take my two out use what is
installed and just buy a new oem copy of Win XP Pro with the pc?

The OEM license applies to various pieces of hardware - it's all very silly
really, but such is the world. If I understand your post, you are trying to
take your hard drives out of your old PC, and put them into a new PC, using
the new PC's XP Pro OEM license.

Well of course you could, just as you could add a second hard drive to that
new PC, or replace a defective hard drive in that new PC, or simply upgrade
the hard drive in that new PC.

I am worried though that I didn't quite understand your question, it was
somewhat awkwardly phrased...

Venger

 

[Sammy Castagna]

Yes that is what I want to do. Basically buy a new main board a cpu a case
and memory and use my hard disk video card audio LAN ect. I was under the
impression after you changed the main board and cpu that copy of XP Pro was
no good. But it would sure be nice if I could just use my old hard disk and
if necessary buy a new copy of Win XP oem or regular and not have to install
all the stuff over again.

Sammy

 

[Sleepless in Seattle]

No, if you have a Microsoft XP CD (not HP, Compaq etc. recovery CD) then you
just need to do a repair install http://www3.telus.net/dandemar/repaxp.htm.

 

[Sammy Castagna]

With the new cd or the old one?

Sammy

No, if you have a Microsoft XP CD (not HP, Compaq etc. recovery CD) then
you just need to do a repair install
http://www3.telus.net/dandemar/repaxp.htm.

 

[Sleepless in Seattle]

Any genuine Microsoft XP CD.

--
Jonah

With the new cd or the old one?

Sammy

 

[RRS]

Recently did the same thing, new motherboard, processor, memory, and DVD
drives. Reused 2 hard drives (with Win XP Pro installed), video, and modem.

Received a message to the sort " You have changed too many components and
must reactivate your copy of windows" called MS activation number, and
reactivated Windows XP on my new machine.

 

[Sammy Castagna]

Thanks everyone

Recently did the same thing, new motherboard, processor, memory, and DVD
drives. Reused 2 hard drives (with Win XP Pro installed), video, and
modem.

Received a message to the sort " You have changed too many components and
must reactivate your copy of windows" called MS activation number, and
reactivated Windows XP on my new machine.

 

[Bruce Chambers]

I think I have a mother board going bad on an XP Pro machine. If I ordered a
bare bones pc without hard disks could I take my two out use what is
installed and just buy a new oem copy of Win XP Pro with the pc?

Sammy Castagna

Normally, and assuming a retail license (many OEM installations and
licenses, especially those of the branded, BIOS-locked variety, are not
transferable to a new motherboard - check yours *before* starting),
unless the new motherboard is virtually identical (same chipset, same
IDE controllers, same BIOS version, etc.) to the one on which the WinXP
installation was originally performed, you'll need to perform a repair
(a.k.a. in-place upgrade) installation, at the very least.

How to Perform an In-Place Upgrade of Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/directory/article.asp?ID=KB;EN-US;Q315341

The "why" is quite simple, really, and has nothing to do with
licensing issues, per se; it's a purely technical matter, at this point.
You've pulled the proverbial hardware rug out from under the OS. (If
you don't like -- or get -- the rug analogy, think of it as picking up a
Cape Cod style home and then setting it down onto a Ranch style
foundation. It just isn't going to fit.) WinXP, like Win2K before it,
is not nearly as "promiscuous" as Win9x when it comes to accepting any
old hardware configuration you throw at it. On installation it
"tailors" itself to the specific hardware found. This is one of the
reasons that the entire WinNT/2K/XP OS family is so much more stable
than the Win9x group.

As always when undertaking such a significant change, back up any
important data before starting.

This will also probably require re-activation, unless you have a
Volume Licensed version of WinXP Pro installed. If it's been more than
120 days since you last activated that specific Product Key, 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.


--

Bruce Chambers

Help us help you:



You can have peace. Or you can have freedom. Don't ever count on having
both at once. - RAH

 

[R. C. White]

Hi, Sammy.

No need to buy a new copy of WinXP if you still have your old original.
Your license lets you install one copy of WinXP into the "same computer" as
many times as you like. Or into a different computer, so long as it is not
on two computers at the same time. Once that copy has been uninstalled from
your old computer, you can install it onto any other single computer.

So, when you get your new computer assembled, just use your original WinXP
CD-ROM and its product key; it should activate over the Internet painlessly.
No need to buy a new CD, not even an OEM version. It's the license (tied to
the product key) that counts, not the plastic CD itself. As MVP Bruce
Chambers said, you will need to do at least an "in-place upgrade", but that
is to let WinXP re-"tailor" itself to fit your new hardware environment, not
for licensing reasons.

For the official word on Windows Product Activation, see this page:
http://www.microsoft.com/piracy/activation.mspx

RC

 

[Alex Nichol]

No need to buy a new copy of WinXP if you still have your old original.
Your license lets you install one copy of WinXP into the "same computer" as
many times as you like. Or into a different computer, so long as it is not
on two computers at the same time. Once that copy has been uninstalled from
your old computer, you can install it onto any other single computer.

Not if it was an OEM installation, that came with the first machine
though.

 

[Donald McDaniel]

With the new cd or the old one?

Sammy

Sammy,
1) If you mean use the OEM XP cd you used to install XP on the machine
you currently have with the new barebones computer, you cannot, since
OEM licenses cannot be transferred to a new machine.
2) If your current OEM CD was provided by a large system builder, the
chances of using it with a new motherboard are nihil, since your OEM
CD was probably "BIOS-locked" to the original motherboard.

So, you cannot use the OEM CD for two reasons: 1) it would be illegal
to install XP using your old CD on a new motherboard, and 2) It would
not be practible because of hardware problems.

Now, with that said, if you want to purchase a new barebones PC, you
would be able to buy a NEW COPY OF XP OEM and install it on your old
hard drive, BUT you would have to do a clean install, since OEM copies
of XP cannot be used to do an upgrade install. This includes an
installation of XP over the old installation on your HD. You MUST
repartition and format your HD before installing XP OEM.

Also, I advise you to NOT purchase an OEM CD which was manufactured by
the company you purchase your bare-bones PC from, since it will
probably be just a "Restore" CD, and NOT a "FULL OEM" CD. A Full OEM
will be bit-for-bit the same as a Retail CD, with the addition of not
being able to do upgrade installs..

Just in case you follow the advice of others, and attempt to install
an OEM copy of XP over the top of your existing installation of XP, be
advised that this does NOT always work. While it may not delete the
file system, it WILL leave one or more programs which have lost their
Registry entries, and you will HAVE to reinstall those programs.
Personally, I always use FULL OEMs of XP, and ALWAYS reinstall my
software. Because I have backups of ALL my software's installer
files, it is no problem reinstalling them.


Donald L McDaniel
Please reply to the original thread
and keep the conversation in order.
=======================================================

 

[Bruce Chambers]

Hi, Sammy.

No need to buy a new copy of WinXP if you still have your old original.
Your license lets you install one copy of WinXP into the "same computer"
as many times as you like. Or into a different computer, so long as it
is not on two computers at the same time. Once that copy has been
uninstalled from your old computer, you can install it onto any other
single computer.

Not so. The OP stated that he has an OEM license. It's non-transferable.


--

Bruce Chambers

Help us help you:



You can have peace. Or you can have freedom. Don't ever count on having
both at once. - RAH

 

[R. C. White]

Hi, Bruce - and Alex.

The OP said clearly in his first post that he was thinking of getting an OEM
CD with his new mobo, but it was not clear to me that his ORIGINAL license
was OEM.

Sammy, if your original WinXP CD-ROM is "full retail", then my last previous
post is correct. If that original CD is OEM, then you probably can NOT use
it on your reassembled rig because that copy of WinXP will most likely NOT
recognize your new environment as "the same computer" on which it was
originally installed. To WinXP, whether you move your HD to "a new
computer", or you install "a new computer" (mobo/CPU/etc.) into the old case
with the original HD makes no difference. A retail license can be moved to
a new computer; an OEM license cannot.

Sorry if I didn't make that clear earlier.

RC