Getting legal...

[Mike]

I have a laptop that the pevious owner had installed a pirated version of XP
on it.
They did this to get away from vista that came loaded on the laptop.
My questions are:
1) I have a boxed copy of XP Pro. How can I install the product key &
activate it without trashing & starting over from scratch?
2) Since it had vista (home premium, I believe), are there any 'down grade
rights) that would come into play when trying to move back to XP Pro?

 

[R. McCarty]

Microsoft offers a Key Changer utility. You neglected to mention what
XP version was installed on the notebook. Either way your Professional
could be used to do an in-place or upgrade install.

The tool information/download page found here:
http://www.microsoft.com/genuine/se...en&sGuid=2d6f7b84-d301-4581-b939-9c2df009711c

Downgrade rights are only conferred on Vista Business and Ultimate.

 

[Mike]

Thanks, that did the trick.

Microsoft offers a Key Changer utility. You neglected to mention what
XP version was installed on the notebook. Either way your Professional
could be used to do an in-place or upgrade install.

The tool information/download page found here:
http://www.microsoft.com/genuine/se...en&sGuid=2d6f7b84-d301-4581-b939-9c2df009711c

Downgrade rights are only conferred on Vista Business and Ultimate.