Activation Question

[Guest]

I have an older Toshiba laptop with an OEM version of XP pro. I ghosted the
image of my old laptop to my new Acer Laptop (it came with OEM XP pro as
well.) When I start the Acer while its logging in it asks if I would like to
activate xp. When I say yes, it says copy is already activated and then logs
out and asks me the question again and again. I realized it must be a bios
locked version. How can I fix this? I have two licenses for XP pro can't I
just use the activation that came with the new Acer? There is no where even
to put in any information it just says it is already activated.

 

[Carey Frisch [MVP]]

Only thing you can do is purchase a conventional "Full Version"
of Windows XP Professional and perform a "Repair Install".
Your Toshiba OEM Windows XP license is not valid when
transferred to a different computer and you cannot change the
Product Key using the Acer OEM Product key because you
used the Toshiba installation.

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

--
Carey Frisch
Microsoft MVP
Windows - Shell/User
Microsoft Community Newsgroups
news://msnews.microsoft.com/

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:

| I have an older Toshiba laptop with an OEM version of XP pro. I ghosted the
| image of my old laptop to my new Acer Laptop (it came with OEM XP pro as
| well.) When I start the Acer while its logging in it asks if I would like to
| activate xp. When I say yes, it says copy is already activated and then logs
| out and asks me the question again and again. I realized it must be a bios
| locked version. How can I fix this? I have two licenses for XP pro can't I
| just use the activation that came with the new Acer? There is no where even
| to put in any information it just says it is already activated.

 

[Guest]

That is absolutely asinine. I have two licensed copies of xp pro and I have
to purchase another. There has got to be another way of doing this?

 

[Carey Frisch [MVP]]

Sorry, but the Toshiba OEM version of Windows XP
is BIOS-locked to the original Toshiba PC it shipped
with. If the Toshiba BIOS is not available, it will not
activate.

--
Carey Frisch
Microsoft MVP
Windows - Shell/User
Microsoft Community Newsgroups
news://msnews.microsoft.com/

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:

| That is absolutely asinine. I have two licensed copies of xp pro and I have
| to purchase another. There has got to be another way of doing this?

 

[NoNoBadDog!]

You were provided a means of restoring the Toshiba, either in the form of a
Restore CD Set, or a partition on the drive.

You cannot use an ACER restore CD to restore a Toshiba, even if you have a
valid key for the Toshiba.

If your Toshiba did not come with a Restore CD set, then you most likely
destroyed the restore partition when you installed the Acer disc.

Live and learn. Your predicament was caused by your own actions.

Your choices now are limited to contacting Toshiba and purchasing a new
Restore CD for your model, or purchasing a retail version of Windows.

Perhaps in the future you will take the time to research how to restore a
particular computer before you take action.

Bobby

 

[Guest]

So if XP is locked to the Toshiba bios how would installing a full version of
xp on the Acer fix this? IF ithe full version of xp does fix it like you
said, then there should be a way to to accomplish this through software
without switching the bios. What is it that the full XP version install does
to make it work? I have two licensed copies of XP pro I shouldn't have to
buy another.

 

[Guest]

What are you talking about? I am not using the toshiba or the acer restore
disk. All I wanted to do is ghost image my windows from my old computer to
the new one. So I don't have to reinstall 400 programs and 60gigs of info.
Why the hell is this such a huge task with windows? Mac is looking better
and better everyday.

Perhaps in the future you will take the time to read the threads first.

 

[Nepatsfan]

(e-mail address removed),

I have an older Toshiba laptop with an OEM version of XP
pro. I ghosted the image of my old laptop to my new Acer
Laptop (it came with OEM XP pro as well.) When I start the
Acer while its logging in it asks if I would like to
activate xp. When I say yes, it says copy is already
activated and then logs out and asks me the question again
and again. I realized it must be a bios locked version.
How can I fix this? I have two licenses for XP pro can't I
just use the activation that came with the new Acer? There
is no where even to put in any information it just says it
is already activated.

Did the Acer come with an actual XP installation CD, as opposed
to a Recovery CD or partition. If it did, you might want to try
running a repair installation.

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

How to perform an in-place upgrade (reinstallation) of Windows
XP
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=KB;EN-US;Q315341&ID=KB;EN-US;Q315341

Consider what you're trying to do. You want an XP installation
that was on one laptop to operate on a laptop with a totally
different set of hardware components. This issue you're having
with activation is just the tip of the iceberg. How is the Acer
supposed to run without the proper drivers?

Unless you have an actual XP Pro OEM installation CD,
preferably one that came with the Acer, what you're trying to
do won't work. You may just have to use the XP restoration
method provided by Acer and accept the fact that you're going
to have to reinstall applications and transfer data the hard
way.

Good luck

Nepatsfan

 

[Carey Frisch [MVP]]

Because you imaged the Toshiba OEM Windows XP,
you also imaged the Toshiba OEM Windows XP license.
Performing a "Repair Install" with a conventional
"Full Version" of Windows XP will replace the Toshiba
OEM license with the new conventional Windows XP
license, thus permitting you to activate normally.

--
Carey Frisch
Microsoft MVP
Windows - Shell/User
Microsoft Community Newsgroups
news://msnews.microsoft.com/

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:

| So if XP is locked to the Toshiba bios how would installing a full version of
| xp on the Acer fix this? IF ithe full version of xp does fix it like you
| said, then there should be a way to to accomplish this through software
| without switching the bios. What is it that the full XP version install does
| to make it work? I have two licensed copies of XP pro I shouldn't have to
| buy another.

 

[Guest]

No, the acer uses something called ezrecovery it is similar to Norton Ghost.
It allows you to make an image of your machine when you first boot up or
anytime after.

That is just b.s having to manually copy and install of the information.
What year is this? We have had a man on the moon but I can't do an image
transfer to a new computer.

I already fixed the driver problem not a big deal. BTW, I can boot into
safemode in safemode I installed all of the proper Acer drivers even deleted
most of the old toshiba drivers and software runs great.

 

[Guest]

Heres a question: Can I borrow a friends xp pro full version disk do a repair
install and then just enter in the serial of XP pro that came with the Acer?

 

[Carey Frisch [MVP]]

No. The OEM Product Key affixed to a computer
will only be valid with the computer manufacturer's
own restore or reinstallation CD.

--
Carey Frisch
Microsoft MVP
Windows - Shell/User
Microsoft Community Newsgroups
news://msnews.microsoft.com/

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

:

| Heres a question: Can I borrow a friends xp pro full version disk do a repair
| install and then just enter in the serial of XP pro that came with the Acer?

 

[Nepatsfan]

If your friend has a generic OEM XP installation CD it might be
worth a shot. Odds are you'll have to make a phone call in
order to activate Windows.

What you've experienced is one of the reasons I tell anyone who
asks to pass on a computer that doesn't include an actual XP
installation CD. Even if you have to pay extra to get one, it
will pay for itself in reduced aggravation.

Good luck

Nepatsfan


(e-mail address removed),

 

[DL]

No you dont have two 'universal' licensed copies of xp, other than on the
sys they were origonally installed on.
You purchased a sys with xp that was licensed only for that specific sys -
at a discounted price.

 

[TheMachineRNC]

Bottom line:

OEM Media and OS need to stay on Manufacturer's PC. You didn't pay the
$300+ dollars for the off the shelf XP Pro. You paid for a bundled version
that requires it be run on the manufacturer's PC. That's the way it goes -
it's MS and take it or leave it.

It's not pretty, but that's the deal and it helps MS protect against piracy.

 

[Guest]

I see your point about it not being a full version but now try to understand
where I am coming from. I have two machines with the same OS (xp
professional) on each one. What is the difference if I use the copy of xp
that came with the Acer or the one that came with the Toshiba? They are both
xp pro and I have a license for both. Ethically there is no difference so
why is this so difficult for this to be done? It boils down to MS's greed
and the fact they are treating everyone like thieves.

It really doesn't matter now anyway I fixed the problem.

 

[Nepatsfan]

Just out of curiosity, how did you finally fix the problem?

Nepatsfan

(e-mail address removed),

 

[Guest]

Before I ghosted the Acer I backed up the hard drive to dvds. I went into
safe mode and copied over the i386 folder and the windows folder from the
acer to the toshiba image. I overwrote all files during copy. I borrowed a
friends xp pro disk and installed it and activated it with the Acers numbers.

 

[Roman]

Sorry to tell you ... but you cannot transfer OEM version to another system.
It is against MS licensing. OEM license of your Windows XP from Toshiba
cannot be transfered to Acer and vica versa. If your Toshiba is out of
business the OEM Windows XP is gone and died as well.

Recommended reading on licensing OEM:
http://www.microsoft.com/piracy/YourPC_do.mspx

It does not matter if you created a GHOST image or not ... the setting and
OEM OS is for Toshiba and is locked for Toshiba. You can trasnfer your user
profiles and setup with MS tool USMT.exe but not the programs ...In meantime
it is good opportunity to build your ACER from scratch - do GHOST image with
OS and patches,drivers only ... Load your software and create another clean
image with everything and you are set.

There is no help for your problem ...

Roman