Broken to New HD > Activation

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Guest

My harddrive recently broke and I have the same OS CD used on two systems.
But when I tried to activate XP on my new HD, it said its been done too many
times.. I don't really see this as fair seeing as its not my fault the HD
broke... Help is greatly appreciated. :)

And yes you're allowed up to two installations with XP. Says so on the shiny
sticker :P
 
h4x said:
My harddrive recently broke and I have the same OS CD used on two
systems. But when I tried to activate XP on my new HD, it said its
been done too many times.. I don't really see this as fair seeing
as its not my fault the HD broke... Help is greatly appreciated. :)

And yes you're allowed up to two installations with XP. Says so on
the shiny sticker :P
Click to expand...

First - choose to activate by phone. All that message means is that you
cannot do it over the Internet because it hasn't been a reasonable amount of
time (120 days - although that is a long time in my mind) since you last
activated that number over the internet.

Second..
What do you mean you "...have the same OS CD used on two systems.."?

That could be your problem right there.
 
h4x said:
My harddrive recently broke and I have the same OS CD used on two systems.
But when I tried to activate XP on my new HD, it said its been done too many
times.. I don't really see this as fair seeing as its not my fault the HD
broke... Help is greatly appreciated. :)
Click to expand...

You can use the same installation CD but not the same Product Key. The
product keys for retail and OEM versions of Windows XP are valid for
installation on one computer only.


And yes you're allowed up to two installations with XP. Says so on the shiny
sticker :P
Click to expand...

No it doesn't, at least not on any sticker that relates to Microsoft
Windows XP.

It might say so on a label regarding Microsoft Office, as retail
licenses for Microsoft Office do include a provision for installing on
two computers *provided* both computers are used exclusively by the
same person.

Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada
 
No, on my sticker that came with my CD and computer it says "For 1-2 PCs".

So I installed it on one, then one more. And before I have been able to
reinstall XP and activate just fine. But today it didnt work.
 
No it doesn't. It says "For 1-2 CPU". You XP Pro. It is licensed for use on
one computer with up to 2 CPUs in it.

Kerry
 
h4x said:
No, on my sticker that came with my CD and computer it says "For
1-2 PCs".

So I installed it on one, then one more. And before I have been
able to reinstall XP and activate just fine. But today it didnt
work.
Click to expand...

Actually - your sticker more likely states "For 1-2 CPUs".. Which means you
can install one copy of the Operating System on one computer that has up to
two processors in it.. A dual processor computer system.

The ways around the activation issues are numerous - just because it works
doesn't mean you are "allowed" to do it. =)
 
You just think that a CPU is the computer. It's NOT. It is a component
within the computer and you may use a computer that has one or two CPU's
installed on the motherboard. But, you can not install the operating system
on two "computers".

--


Regards,

Richard Urban
Microsoft MVP Windows Shell/User

Quote from George Ankner:
If you knew as much as you think you know,
You would realize that you don't know what you thought you knew!
 
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