Moved HD now it needs activated.

[Dennis]

I have my nephew's pc here and he wants to up grade the hardware. I
have everything but the harddive here so I moved the hard drive from
the HP computer to the one I built. Windows started up just fine but
I can't log in. A message comes up saying, "This version of Windows
must be activated before you log in. Do you want to activate it now?"
It was activated several years ago in the HP case. I don't have a modem
installed yet because I don't have access to Windows. How can I get it
activated without a modem installed?? Can I just put the modem in and
Windows will find it and will connect on its own?

 

[Patrick Keenan]

I have my nephew's pc here and he wants to up grade the hardware. I
have everything but the harddive here so I moved the hard drive from
the HP computer to the one I built. Windows started up just fine but
I can't log in. A message comes up saying, "This version of Windows
must be activated before you log in. Do you want to activate it now?"
It was activated several years ago in the HP case. I don't have a modem
installed yet because I don't have access to Windows. How can I get it
activated without a modem installed?? Can I just put the modem in and
Windows will find it and will connect on its own?

Maybe, maybe not. You should be able to get to an "activate by phone"
screen. It's usually a quick a toll-free call.

However, if you've moved an OEM hard disk to a new system, there are two
things. First, the license probably is no longer valid, and two, you
likely need to do a repair install, install teh motherboard drivers, and
install other drivers. You will then need to reinstall all the Windows
updates.

HTH
-pk

 

[Dennis]

I was trying to keep from having to do a repair or reinstall so I
didn't have to redo the updates. It takes 6 1/2 hours at 54/mps
and all I have available is dial up. they didn't want to lose
anything, either. I was going to install the new mb drivers and
uninstall the old. The old pc is junk and won't even boot up so
there wasn't much choice in doing something with it.

 

[smlunatick]

I was trying to keep from having to do a repair or reinstall so I
didn't have to redo the updates. It takes 6 1/2 hours at 54/mps
and all I have available is dial up. they didn't want to lose
anything, either. I was going to install the new mb drivers and
uninstall the old. The old pc is junk and won't even boot up so
there wasn't much choice in doing something with it.








- Show quoted text -

The version of XP installed/used on the older HP PC is most likely an
OEM version that can / should only be used with that HP PC. You may
not even be able to get an activation key since this is a HP version
and HP may have this version "locked" to the older HP motherboard.

 

[Patrick Keenan]

I was trying to keep from having to do a repair or reinstall so I
didn't have to redo the updates. It takes 6 1/2 hours at 54/mps
and all I have available is dial up. they didn't want to lose
anything, either. I was going to install the new mb drivers and
uninstall the old. The old pc is junk and won't even boot up so
there wasn't much choice in doing something with it.

You can certainly try just booting - the key component that apparently is
the real determinant for a repair install is the drive controller chip on
the motherboard. If the old and new are close enough, it will boot
properly - if they aren't, it won't, and you then have to do the repair
install.

Would suggest that you find a location with highspeed, and download SP2 and
all relevant updates there, and burn them to CD. Then keep that on hand
with the system.

Or, take that system with you to another location where you can plug it into
hispeed, and get the updates.

Hope it works out for you!

-pk

 

[M.I.5¾]

I have my nephew's pc here and he wants to up grade the hardware. I
have everything but the harddive here so I moved the hard drive from
the HP computer to the one I built. Windows started up just fine but
I can't log in. A message comes up saying, "This version of Windows
must be activated before you log in. Do you want to activate it now?"
It was activated several years ago in the HP case. I don't have a modem
installed yet because I don't have access to Windows. How can I get it
activated without a modem installed?? Can I just put the modem in and
Windows will find it and will connect on its own?

A lot depends on the version of Windows XP. If it is an OEM version, it
cannot be transferred to a different PC and there is nothing you can do
(once reactivation is tripped it cannot be cancelled).

If it is a retail version then the change of hardware has again tripped
reactivation, but this can be reactivated to the new machine. It can be
activated by phone (the instructions should present themselves on the
screen).

Even if you do reactivate, you are more than likely going to have to install
drivers for the new PC's hardware including motherboard chipset support.
You would almost certainly have to do a repair install, and even then you
may still have to load motherboard drivers. There is no guarantee that even
this will be successful, and a full reinstall is often the easiest way to
proceed.