New Hard Drive........and ..windows XP activation

[Natka]

hi....
i will remove my 60gb h/d on which i had my windows xp... and install
new 200bg hard drive as a primary drive

do i have to call microsoft to let me activate my windows xp on new
hard drive..? if yes what is the phone # to call....?
or
is the other way to do this....?
or
i don't have to worry about this...?

thank you for your time
best regards
natka

 

[Rick \Nutcase\ Rogers]

Hi,

If you are just doing a new install to the 200GB drive, then yes you will
need to redo activation - same goes for any new or reinstall. If this is the
only hardware change, then you will likely be able to activate directly over
the 'net automatically. At worst, you will be prompted to phone in
activation, the phone # will be provided at that time.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP

Associate Expert - WindowsXP Expert Zone

Windows help - www.rickrogers.org

 

[Joe]

hi....
i will remove my 60gb h/d on which i had my windows xp... and install
new 200bg hard drive as a primary drive

do i have to call microsoft to let me activate my windows xp on new
hard drive..? if yes what is the phone # to call....?
or
is the other way to do this....?
or
i don't have to worry about this...?

thank you for your time
best regards
natka

According to Microsoft you can change any three of the 10 items used to
generate the hardware key except the network card which for some reason is
worth three. The 10 hardware characteristics used to determine the hardware
hash are:
Display Adapter, SCSI Adapter, IDE Adapter, Network Adapter MAC Address, RAM
Amount Range (i.e. 0-64mb, 64-128mb, etc), Processor Type, Processor Serial
Number, Hard Drive Device, Hard Drive Volume Serial Number,
CD-ROM/CD-RW/DVD-ROM
So changing a hard drive appears to count as two devices. "Hard Drive
Device, and Hard Drive Volume Serial Number". It appears that you may need
to reactivate your installation because activation status is stored on your
hard drive but, you won't have to call Microsoft. Apparently because of
this info on the hard drive if you do a reinstall without formatting you
usually don't have to reactivate your product.
You can read all about it here -->
http://www.microsoft.com/piracy/activation_faq.mspx

Joe

 

[Guest]

You will not be allowed to migrate your XP system to a new Hard Drive if you
have an OEM version of XP. Only retail versions allow changes to major
hardware components.

In order to 'move' your current installation to a new drive it is by way and
the best, to use disk cloning products such a Norton Ghost. This will take
1/2 hour as opposed to a complete reinstallation of Windows and every
application plus running Files and Settings Transfer WIzard twice [once on
the old drive / Windows to create a file and then on the new drive / Windows
to import all your documents and settings].

If you don't have Ghost, it is worthwhile spending a little extra and buy a
'retail' Hard drive frommaxtor or Seagate's range that also comes with their
installation and setup.

Their 'tools' CD will allow you to initialise, format and lable the new
drive and then 'clone' your existing Hard Drive. All this from within
Windows and following step by step prompts: in addition they have very well
written manuals.

It may not be necessary to 'reinstall XP' however in the majority of case,
you will need to perform a Repair Installation to set your XP registry
settings to the new system configuration.

Perform a Repair Install by following the step by step below.

Make sure the XP installation CD is in the drive and set BIOS to boot off CD.

When you see the "Welcome To Setup" screen, you will see the options below:

This portion of the Setup program prepares Microsoft
Windows XP to run on your computer:

To setup Windows XP now, press ENTER.

To repair a Windows XP installation using Recovery Console, press R.

To quit Setup without installing Windows XP, press F3.

Press Enter to start the Windows Setup.

Accept the License Agreement and Windows will search for existing Windows
installations.

Select the XP installation you want to repair from the list and press R to
start the repair.

Setup will copy the necessary files to the hard drive and reboot. Do not
press any key to boot from CD when the message appears. Setup will continue
as if it were doing a clean install, but your applications and settings will
remain intact.

Worm Warning: Do not immediately activate over the internet when asked,
enable the XP firewall before connecting to the internet. You can activate
after the firewall is enabled. Control Panel - Network Connections. Right
click the connection you use, Properties, and there is a check box on the
advanced page.

Reapply updates or service packs applied since your initial Windows XP
installation. Please note that a Repair Install from the Original install XP
CD will remove SP1 and/or they will need to be reapplied after activation is
complete.

You may need to speak with a Microsoft service representative to get an
activation code, advise them of your reason for this and they will be happy
to assist.

 

[Joe]

If you don't have Ghost, it is worthwhile spending a little extra and buy a
'retail' Hard drive frommaxtor or Seagate's range that also comes with their
installation and setup.

Their 'tools' CD will allow you to initialise, format and lable the new
drive and then 'clone' your existing Hard Drive. All this from within
Windows and following step by step prompts: in addition they have very well
written manuals.

I didn't know about this one. I've bought a few Seagate hard drives in the
last month and have never received any of that software. How would one go
about getting that?

It may not be necessary to 'reinstall XP' however in the majority of case,
you will need to perform a Repair Installation to set your XP registry
settings to the new system configuration.

Perform a Repair Install by following the step by step below.

Make sure the XP installation CD is in the drive and set BIOS to boot off CD.

When you see the "Welcome To Setup" screen, you will see the options below:

This portion of the Setup program prepares Microsoft
Windows XP to run on your computer:

To setup Windows XP now, press ENTER.

To repair a Windows XP installation using Recovery Console, press R.

To quit Setup without installing Windows XP, press F3.

Press Enter to start the Windows Setup.

Accept the License Agreement and Windows will search for existing Windows
installations.

Select the XP installation you want to repair from the list and press R to
start the repair.

Setup will copy the necessary files to the hard drive and reboot. Do not
press any key to boot from CD when the message appears. Setup will continue
as if it were doing a clean install, but your applications and settings will
remain intact.

Worm Warning: Do not immediately activate over the internet when asked,
enable the XP firewall before connecting to the internet. You can activate
after the firewall is enabled. Control Panel - Network Connections. Right
click the connection you use, Properties, and there is a check box on the
advanced page.

Reapply updates or service packs applied since your initial Windows XP
installation. Please note that a Repair Install from the Original install XP
CD will remove SP1 and/or they will need to be reapplied after activation is
complete.

You may need to speak with a Microsoft service representative to get an
activation code, advise them of your reason for this and they will be happy
to assist.

Let us know if you have to call them. If you have internet access I'm
betting that all you need to do is reactivate your copy. Let us know what
happens Natka, I'm curious.

 

[Natka]

ok..i will keep you posted in this tread...i may know some more at the
end of next week..
thank you all for quick responds
regards
natka

 

[Michael Stevens]

You will not be allowed to migrate your XP system to a new Hard Drive
if you have an OEM version of XP. Only retail versions allow changes
to major hardware components.

Not true, you can upgrade any hardware except the MB with OEM versions of
XP.
Click on or copy and paste the link below into your web browser address box.
OEM clarification.
http://michaelstevenstech.com/oemeula.htm

In order to 'move' your current installation to a new drive it is by
way and the best, to use disk cloning products such a Norton Ghost.
This will take 1/2 hour as opposed to a complete reinstallation of
Windows and every application plus running Files and Settings
Transfer WIzard twice [once on the old drive / Windows to create a
file and then on the new drive / Windows to import all your documents
and settings].

If you don't have Ghost, it is worthwhile spending a little extra and
buy a 'retail' Hard drive frommaxtor or Seagate's range that also
comes with their installation and setup.

Even if you don't purchase a retail hard drive, you can still download the
software [often newer versions than included on the retail CD] from the
manufacturers web site.

Their 'tools' CD will allow you to initialise, format and lable the
new drive and then 'clone' your existing Hard Drive. All this from
within Windows and following step by step prompts: in addition they
have very well written manuals.

It may not be necessary to 'reinstall XP' however in the majority of
case, you will need to perform a Repair Installation to set your XP
registry settings to the new system configuration.

Only if the Motherboard and chipset is changed is it necessary to do a
repair install. Changing the hard drive does not require a repair install.
The rest of your advice is valid if a repair install is actually needed.

--
Michael Stevens MS-MVP XP
(e-mail address removed)
http://michaelstevenstech.com
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