mgm said:
My old hard drive needs replacing..What type of activation problems am I
going to face with the Activation on a new hard drive?
Without much more detail than you've provided, it's hard to say what
problems you'll encounter, activation being on the less likely side of
the scale. What kind of installation or recovery media to you have?
If you have a full OEM installation CD, you should have no problems
reinstalling and re-activating WinXP. There's no limit to the number of
times you can reinstall and activate the same WinXP license on the same
PC. Nor is there ever a charge. Nor does a Product Key (so long as
it's not an evaluation license) ever expire. 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.
Here are the facts pertaining to activation:
Piracy Basics - Microsoft Product Activation
http://www.microsoft.com/piracy/basics/activation/
Windows Product Activation (WPA)
http://www.aumha.org/a/wpa.htm
If, however, all you have is an OEM Recovery CD, there is a chance,
albeit a small one, that you may not even be able to install the OS on
the new hard drive, much less activiate it. This depends upon the
specific, and often proprietary, image restoration method selected by
the computer manufacturer, so it's hard to give a definitive answer.
While most Recovery CDs are bound to a specific motherboard BIOS or
chipset, I've seen reports of some Recovery CDs that won't work if any
of the computer's hardware (Even a simple RAM upgrade had to be removed
to allow the installation to work, in one case.) has been changed from
the original factory configuration. If you do have an OEM Recovery CD,
consult the computer manufacturer's tech support _before_ purchasing a
new hard drive.
--
Bruce Chambers
Help us help you:
They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary
safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. -Benjamin Franklin
