activation

[John Pearson]

Hello. I bought a Dell Dimension 4100 about three years
ago, which came installed with Windows 98SE. I
subsquently upgraded to Windows ME and the Windows XP
Home. Recently I started having problems with the system
board, which Dell replaced for me. That didn't work, so
I want to take the working components and put them in a
new case with a new motherboard. This would mean the
hard drive, the two optical drives, the PIII CPU
(possibly!), and the memory modules.

So I have two questions: 1. Would I still be able to
activate Windows XP with these hardware changes? 2.
Once I have reactivated, can I make other changes to the
hardware configuration and be able to reactivate again if
needed? Thanks.

 

[Bob Knowlden]

Yes, assuming that you have a retail upgrade (or full) version of XP. (The
rules are different for OEM versions, including the generic OEM ones that
can be bought with minimal hardware. That's why they are sold at lower
prices.)

If it has been more than 120 days since your last activation, you can
re-activate via the net, like a new installation. If it has been less,
you'll probably have to activate by telephone, and explain that you're doing
an upgrade, and that the OS will be installed on one machine (only). It's an
annoyance, but it only takes about five minutes. (The call is toll-free in
the US, and I believe that MS supports it 24 hours a day, every day.)

My copy of XP Home has been in four different systems since I acquired XP.
(This was time serial; it was never running on more than one machine at a
time.)

By the way, unless the new mainboard is nearly identical to the old one, the
system may not boot if you simply transplant the hard drive. The simplest
solution is a repair installation:

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;315341

(In brief: change the BIOS settings to boot from the CD. Start up from the
CD, and then choose to install rather than going to the repair console.
Under install, choose repair rather than new.)

The main downside to this is it will eliminate everything installed from
Windows Update. There are supposed to be ways of avoiding this by deleting
some drivers before moving the boot drive, but I've never used them.

HTH.

Bob Knowlden

Spam dodger may be in use. Replace nkbob with bobkn.

 

[Alex Nichol]

Hello. I bought a Dell Dimension 4100 about three years
ago, which came installed with Windows 98SE. I
subsquently upgraded to Windows ME and the Windows XP
Home. Recently I started having problems with the system
board, which Dell replaced for me. That didn't work, so
I want to take the working components and put them in a
new case with a new motherboard. This would mean the
hard drive, the two optical drives, the PIII CPU
(possibly!), and the memory modules.

So I have two questions: 1. Would I still be able to
activate Windows XP with these hardware changes?

Once you cease to use the Dell board, the 'BIOS lock' that is used
rather than activation no longer applies. The technical position is
that the system then seeks out an activation by regular means. The
licensing position is that such an OEM copy may not be moved to a
different machine - just what then constitutes a different machine is a
grey area. I would think it probable that the activation would go
through, and be OK as long as you did not then make so many changes that
you have to activate by phone, but I have no direct report to go on, and
the reaction on a phone call can't be certain