Adherence to MS policy of single pc installation of WIN XP

[John C. Bennett]

I have 2 pc's,1 in FLA & 1 in NY. WIN XP is installed in
the NY pc. A MS rep has told me that if I uninstall WIN
XP from the NY pc & then install it in the FLA pc that I
would be in compliance with the subject policy.
This process seems inconvenient & complicated to me. I'm
wondering if removal of the hard drive from the NY pc &
installation in the FLA pc would meet the MS policy.In
this manner WIN XP is only installed in one pc.
An MS rep I spoke with today was somewhat non-committal.
He spoke of my proposal as being a hardware issue and not
one of software. What might be your thoughts in this
matter?

 

[Steve C. Ray]

If the two computers are identical this would work; if not, you would have
to reactivate each time you moved the drive. Bite the bullet and buy another
copy of XP.

 

[Peter]

Hi,

If it is a retail version of XP, you have the right to do
it this way.
Unless the config of the two PCs are exactly identical,
i.e., same mobo, same chipset, same amount and model of
rams, same sound card, same vedio card, same lan card,
etc., other wise, you need to perform a repair install of
XP after you have installed the HD to the FLA PC.
However, the HD may be easily get damaged for travelling
long distance unless it has been carefully wrapped to
avoid any shock /vibrations and should be hand carry
during the flight.
The HD is cheap but the data is invaluable.

Hope it helps.

Peter

 

[D.Currie]

I have 2 pc's,1 in FLA & 1 in NY. WIN XP is installed in
the NY pc. A MS rep has told me that if I uninstall WIN
XP from the NY pc & then install it in the FLA pc that I
would be in compliance with the subject policy.
This process seems inconvenient & complicated to me. I'm
wondering if removal of the hard drive from the NY pc &
installation in the FLA pc would meet the MS policy.In
this manner WIN XP is only installed in one pc.
An MS rep I spoke with today was somewhat non-committal.
He spoke of my proposal as being a hardware issue and not
one of software. What might be your thoughts in this
matter?

You'd likely have to do a repair install and re-activate each time you move
the drive from computer to computer. And then you might have to mess with
drivers as you go from one computer to another, unless they have identical
hardware. You'd have to spend time with each move just getting the computer
to work again. And if you're not very good with computers and
troubleshooting you could find yourself with a non-booting computer and no
clue if it's hardware or software as you install and uninstall on a regular
basis. Not to mention the possibility of being fumble-fingered with the
drive as it travels from one location to another. Drop it once, and it's all
for nothing.

Assuming you already have an OS on the non-XP computer, all you have to buy
is an upgrade. Compare that to the time you'll lose messing around with the
two computers, and the possible risk of breaking something that you can't
fix, and the upgrade doesn't sound like such a bad deal.

I was going to say something rude about how if you can afford 2 computers, 2
locations where those computers reside, and travel from one location to
another, then surely you can afford the operating systems for those
computers.

But hey, I won't say it. I don't know your financial situation, or your
ability or inability to pay for things.

If money is the issue, you could move a whole computer from one place to
another, and then you could sell the other one. Or if the issue is just that
you don't want to pay for a second license on some moral ground, you could
trash both computers and buy a nice laptop. At least that way you wouldn't
be spending all of your time trying to get one computer or the other running
again after a hard drive transfer.

 

[Alex Nichol]

I have 2 pc's,1 in FLA & 1 in NY. WIN XP is installed in
the NY pc. A MS rep has told me that if I uninstall WIN
XP from the NY pc & then install it in the FLA pc that I
would be in compliance with the subject policy.
This process seems inconvenient & complicated to me. I'm
wondering if removal of the hard drive from the NY pc &
installation in the FLA pc would meet the MS policy.In
this manner WIN XP is only installed in one pc.

It will, provided it is a retail rather than OEM system. But each time
you move it, it will find itself on different hardware and need
reactivation. Provided you have SP1 (which gives you three days grace)
*and* do it at intervals of more than 120 days, it will then go through
on the net each time in a few seconds - if not, you will have to do it
my phoning in to swap one long number for another - whether that hassle
is worth it is up to you

 

[Bruce Chambers]

Greetings --

If the two PCs are identical in every respect, your plan should
work.

Normally, unless the new motherboard is virtually identical to the
old one (same chipset, same IDE controllers, same BIOS version, etc.),
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

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

This may also require re-activation. 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

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