Product Key / Activation question

[Wonderman]

Is there any way ( short of a fresh install ) to confirm a product key and
its activation status ? I have an XP Pro I want to sell and I'd like to
give the buyer a very accurate appraisal of its status. It has been
uninstalled and dormant for at least 2 or more years.

 

[Jupiter Jones [MVP]]

No, not at all.
As long as you are certain that key has not been used, you can give
the buyer a reasonable assurance.

Extremely unlikely, but it is possible a key generator kicked out that
key and one or more have been using it.
So you can not absolutely guarantee no one else is using that key.

About the best you can do...
You already know it has been dormant for at least 2 years. (120 days
is sufficient)
Be sure you give the buyer the original CD, packaging and original
Product Key.
Copies of anything leaves room for doubt.
With that, the buyer should have no problems.
This applies to retail.
For OEM there may be restrictions.

All you really need to tell the buyer is that it has not been
installed or in use for 2 years.

 

[Wonderman]

Thank You.

Seems MS is concerned about concurrent copies more than sequentially
installed / active copies ? This is a retail version not OEM.

How does registration affect the transfer ? Will MS refer to the original
reg. ( if there was one ) and deny / deactivate the software ?

 

[Jupiter Jones [MVP]]

No.
Registration will have no effect on future activations.
AFAIK, registration is simply a marketing tool to collect demographic
information.