new mother board, same hard drive

[Guest]

hello, i want to upgrade my mother board and reuse existing hard drive. Will
XP remain 'as is' ,or will i have to re install XP. I have my XP pro OEM ver.
2002 CD. but have misplaced the key. Any suggestions? Thank You.

 

[Leonard Grey]

You'll have to do a repair install and possibly re-validate your copy of
Windows.

You won't need the key for a repair install, but you should find it, in
case you ever need to do a clean install. The key is usually on a
sticker attached to your computer, or you can use this utility to find it:

Magic Jelly Bean
http://www.magicaljellybean.com/keyfinder.shtml

 

[Jupiter Jones [MVP]]

The key is usually needed for a Repair Installation.

 

[Jupiter Jones [MVP]]

What kind of OEM.
If it is from a major OEM such as Gateway, Dell, HP etc, Repair
Installation (or any kind of installation) with a motherboard from a
different manufacturer may not be possible.

If it is a generic OEM, you are upgrading and there should not be a
problem.

For generic OEM, you will need the Product Key so locate before you
start.
A Repair Installation will probably be required if the replacement
motherboard is not identical to the original:
http://www3.telus.net/dandemar/repaxp.htm

 

[Leonard Grey]

Well, that shows you how often I've done a repair installation (zero
times.) ;-)

I would have thought that when installing Windows over an
already-installed copy that the key would not be needed. Thanks for the
correction.

 

[Guest]

Thank You for your reply's. It is a generic OEM . The motherboard will be
different , running faster RAM. The thing is that I have misplaced my key,
but I have the original disc which installed XP on the hard drive that I want
to reuse.

 

[Daave]

Since it's a generic OEM, Leonard's link for Magical Jelly Bean
Keyfinder v1.51 will work just fine. Write down your key and tape it to
your PC case!!!