installation of registered XP on a new PC

[Guest]

I installed and registered XP Home on a Media Center PC and will change to
MCE now. I want to install my already registered XP Home on a new
(self-assembled) PC. Will that work without any problems (concerning license
) ? Or do I have to contact MS for any keys or whatsoever ?

Thanks

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

I installed and registered XP Home on a Media Center PC and will
change to MCE now. I want to install my already registered XP Home on
a new (self-assembled) PC. Will that work without any problems
(concerning license ) ?

It depends. If your copy is a retail copy, yes, no problem. But if it is an
OEM copy,. its license restricts it permanently to the first computer it's
installed on. It can never legally be moved to another computer, sold, or
given away by itself. This is perhaps the biggest disadvantage of OEM
copies.and is one of the main reasons they are cheaper than retail ones.

Or do I have to contact MS for any keys or
whatsoever ?

You will have to activate it on the new computer. If it's been over 120
days, it should activate over the internet just as it did before. If fewer
than 120 days, you'll have to activate via a quick, easy voice call to
Microsoft.

 

[Rock]

I installed and registered XP Home on a Media Center PC and will change to
MCE now. I want to install my already registered XP Home on a new
(self-assembled) PC. Will that work without any problems (concerning license
) ? Or do I have to contact MS for any keys or whatsoever ?

Thanks

You are mixing up registration and activation. Registration is
voluntary and of no real significance. Activation is needed whenever
the OS is installed.

Windows Product Activation (WPA) on Windows XP
http://aumha.org/win5/a/wpa.htm

If it's a retail copy of XP Home it can be moved to another computer as
long as it's removed from the first one. Install, and it should
activate fine through the internet. If there is a problem do the phone
activation.

If it's an OEM version it is tied to the first computer on which it's
installed and can't be moved to a new system.

 

[Bruce Chambers]

I installed and registered XP Home on a Media Center PC and will change to
MCE now. I want to install my already registered XP Home on a new
(self-assembled) PC. Will that work without any problems (concerning license
) ? Or do I have to contact MS for any keys or whatsoever ?

Thanks

Assuming a retail license (OEM licenses are not legitimately
transferable), simply remove WinXP from the computer it is currently on
and then install it on the new computer. If it's been more than 120
days since you last activated that specific Product Key, the 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



--

Bruce Chambers

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They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary
safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. -Benjamin Franklin

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chains and slavery? .... I know not what course others may take, but as
for me, give me liberty, or give me death! -Patrick Henry

 

[Guest]

Quick follow on question. I tried to build my own machine from scratch. I
purchased a MS XP MCE (OEM edition) at the local computer store with my
mother board, drive etc. After a string of bad mother boards I could not
wait any longer and I bought a Gateway. The computer store obviously will
not take the OS back. Is their a way that I can “un-register†the OS so I
can sell it on EBay?

Thanks,

Chris

 

[Yves Leclerc]

Quick follow on question. I tried to build my own machine from scratch. I
purchased a MS XP MCE (OEM edition) at the local computer store with my
mother board, drive etc. After a string of bad mother boards I could not
wait any longer and I bought a Gateway. The computer store obviously will
not take the OS back. Is their a way that I can âun-registerâ the OS so I
can sell it on EBay?

Thanks,

Chris

Sorry, but as stated on the OEM End User License Agreement (aka EULA), the OEM
version is tied to the original PC that the software was installed on and
registered from. This would then mean that this OEM MCE version can not be
re-sold or re-used on a different PC, officially.

 

[Ken Blake]

Sorry, but as stated on the OEM End User License Agreement (aka EULA), the
OEM
version is tied to the original PC that the software was installed on and
registered from. This would then mean that this OEM MCE version can not be
re-sold or re-used on a different PC, officially.


Did you read the question? Did you read my answer? He asked "I want to
install my already registered XP Home on a new (self-assembled) PC?" Since
he didn't say whether his XP Home was retail or OEM, I replied "It depends.
If your copy is a retail copy, yes, no problem. But if it is an OEM copy,.
its license restricts it permanently to the first computer it's installed
on."

 

[Bruce Chambers]

Quick follow on question. I tried to build my own machine from scratch. I
purchased a MS XP MCE (OEM edition) at the local computer store with my
mother board, drive etc. After a string of bad mother boards I could not
wait any longer and I bought a Gateway. The computer store obviously will
not take the OS back. Is their a way that I can “un-register†the OS so I
can sell it on EBay?

Not if you ever completed the installation and activated it. The only
way to legitimate transfer the ownership of an OEM license, once it's
been installed, is to transfer the ownership of the entire computer of
which it has become an integral component.


--

Bruce Chambers

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They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary
safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. -Benjamin Franklin

 

[Guest]

Not if you ever completed the installation and activated it. The only
way to legitimate transfer the ownership of an OEM license, once it's
been installed, is to transfer the ownership of the entire computer of
which it has become an integral component.


--

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

Thanks for everyone’s responses.

Sounds like I’m just out the price of XP MCE. Kind of a steep entry price
to see if you can get a machine to work…

The rub is, and maybe I didn’t make this clear, I returned all of the
components except for the HD to the PC store. So the computer doesn’t exist
any more. I dropped the HD in my new gateway, which came pre-installed with
XP MCE.

So what get’s tied to the license? If I wipe all of my personal data from
the drive I installed it on could I sell the drive with XP since that’s all
that is left of the computer? I don’t want to sell something that’s not
going to be legitimate for the guy whose buying it…

Thanks,

Chris

 

[lurkswithin]

If you activated the operating system when you installed it then yo
are stuck with it. If you stuck the COA on the new computer then yo
are stuck with it

The OEM version is suppose to stay "attached' to a piece o
hardware that it was to be built into a computer system an
installed. Trying to sell it anyother way may bring down the wrath o
Microsoft...

I really don't think anyone will purchase an opened operating syste
on Ebay anyway. I know that I wouldn't. You might try to sell it t
one of your friends

But whomever you sell it to they will not be able to activate i
without a lot of hassle from M$ if even then

Read this article

http://aumha.org/win5/a/wpa.ph

 

[Bruce Chambers]

Sounds like I’m just out the price of XP MCE. Kind of a steep entry price
to see if you can get a machine to work…

The price may be steep, but none of the limitations (especially the
non-transferability) of an OEM license are new. It's been like this for
several years, and for at least 4 earlier incarnations of the Windows
operating systems. The only significant difference is that Microsoft
has finally added an enforcement feature to WinXP.





--

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