30 day register period is over for XP install

[Guest]

I need help! I thought that XP Pro could be installed on up to 4 PC's. I purchased, installed and registered XP Pro on one PC at home and installed it on a second computer that same day, but the second computer wasn't online (due to being in the middle of a move.... we put off registering until the PC's were networked). Anyway, the 30 day register period is up (been very busy) and now I see that I need to purchase an additional license agreement for the second PC (which I currently can not afford). I want to just uninstall XP from the second PC, until I CAN afford it in the near future and continue using MS 2000 (my previous operating system). How do I do that? The register wizard won't go away (understandably so).... so I don't see how to do either a system restore or whatever it is that I need to do.
Thank you for whatever help anyone can give me!

 

[Rifleman]

I need help! I thought that XP Pro could be installed on up to 4 PC's. I

purchased, installed and registered XP Pro on one PC at home and installed
it on a second computer that same day, but the second computer wasn't online
(due to being in the middle of a move.... we put off registering until the
PC's were networked). Anyway, the 30 day register period is up (been very
busy) and now I see that I need to purchase an additional license agreement
for the second PC (which I currently can not afford). I want to just
uninstall XP from the second PC, until I CAN afford it in the near future
and continue using MS 2000 (my previous operating system). How do I do
that?

Just boot from the W2K CD, re-format the drive and install.

 

[Epona]

I need help! I thought that XP Pro could be installed on up to 4
PC's.

You're correct - it can be /installed/ on as many systems as you like;
however it can be /activated/ on only one. Each subsequent activation
requires the purchase of another licence.

I purchased, installed and registered XP Pro on one PC at home

Slight correction, you /activated/ it - registration is purely voluntary.

and installed it on a second computer that same day, but the second
computer wasn't online (due to being in the middle of a move.... we
put off registering until the PC's were networked). Anyway, the 30
day register period is up (been very busy) and now I see that I need
to purchase an additional license agreement for the second PC

As this has been the same for every version of Windows since at least 3.1 -
you've had 15 years to realise this.

(which

I currently can not afford). I want to just uninstall XP from the
second PC, until I CAN afford it in the near future and continue
using MS 2000 (my previous operating system). How do I do that? The
register wizard won't go away (understandably so).... so I don't see
how to do either a system restore or whatever it is that I need to
do. Thank you for whatever help anyone can give me!

You will need to boot from the 2000 CD, format and reinstall it clean. You
cannot install an older OS over a newer one.

And read the EULA before installation in future!

 

[Michael Solomon \(MS-MVP Windows Shell/User\)]

To be clear, you are never required to register. In order for XP to
continue to function past 30 days, it must be activated and XP can only be
activated on one system at a time. NOTE, if a user misses the 30 days,
while the user won't be able to boot into XP, it can still be activated from
safe mode. However, that won't work here because XP is already activated on
a different computer. One license, one computer and "registration" has
nothing to do with it. Other's have explained what you need to do with
regard to returning to Windows 2000.

 

[Bruce Chambers]

Greetings --

There is no "rollback" to Win2K.

To replace WinXP with an earlier OS, you'll have to boot from the
appropriate boot disk, format the hard drive, and install. There is
no supported downgrade path or technique.

Simply boot from the Win2K installation CD. You'll be offered the
opportunity to delete, create, and/or format the system partition as
part of the installation process. (You may need to re-arrange the
order of boot devices in the PC's BIOS to boot from the CD.)


Bruce Chambers

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I need help! I thought that XP Pro could be installed on up to 4

PC's. I purchased, installed and registered XP Pro on one PC at home
and installed it on a second computer that same day, but the second
computer wasn't online (due to being in the middle of a move.... we
put off registering until the PC's were networked). Anyway, the 30
day register period is up (been very busy) and now I see that I need
to purchase an additional license agreement for the second PC (which I
currently can not afford). I want to just uninstall XP from the
second PC, until I CAN afford it in the near future and continue using
MS 2000 (my previous operating system). How do I do that? The
register wizard won't go away (understandably so).... so I don't see
how to do either a system restore or whatever it is that I need to do.