Product Activation with a new motherboard

[Guest]

I would like to upgrade the motherboard in my computer, but I am worried that
if I do this, Windows XP will not allow me to use the computer unless it is
re-activated.

Is this what would happen if I upgraded the board?

 

[Will Denny]

Hi

If you replace the motherboard, you will have to perform a 'Repair' install
of XP afterwards.

 

[Guest]

Thats not a problem, but would XP not have to be reactivated?

If this is the case then I will go ahead and buy the new board... I felt
sure someone had told me I would have a problem in the past.

 

[Will Denny]

Hi

You shouldn't have to reactivate if you are changing just that one item.
Have a look at the following article by the late Alex Nichol regarding
Activation:

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

 

[Guest]

Thanks, thats a very useful article.

Could you advise me on a few more things, such as:

1) Which part is the SCSI Adapter, would it be different on a new motherboard?
2) The current motherboard has onboard LAN - is that likely to count as the
NIC? (After reading further down the article, it seems it is)
3) The same processor would be used again on the new board -- it is an AMD
Athlon CPU. Is it true that these processors have no serial number, so if it
was changed to a different Athlon CPU it wouldn't show up?

I'm in the UK, is there a free-phone number here for activation problems
like there is the the US, or an online alternative? Microsoft seem pretty
fair about it considering that article.

Thanks for your help.

 

[Will Denny]

Hi

If the mobo includes a NIC, then you 'may' have to reactivate as that counts
as one of the higher 'scorers' in that article.

If you have a problem re-activating, then yes, there is a UK number to use.
I've had to use it at various times myself. The number will appear on the
screen as it does for the US.

 

[Bruce Chambers]

I would like to upgrade the motherboard in my computer, but I am worried that
if I do this, Windows XP will not allow me to use the computer unless it is
re-activated.

Is this what would happen if I upgraded the board?

Normally, and assuming a retail license (many OEM installations are
BIOS-locked to a specific chipset and therefore not transferable to a
new motherboard - check yours before starting), unless the new
motherboard is virtually identical (same chipset, same IDE controllers,
same BIOS version, etc.) to the one on which the WinXP installation was
originally performed, you'll need to perform a repair (a.k.a. in-place
upgrade) installation, at the very least:

How to Perform an In-Place Upgrade of Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/directory/article.asp?ID=KB;EN-US;Q315341

The "why" is quite simple, really, and has nothing to do with
licensing issues, per se; it's a purely technical matter, at this point.
You've pulled the proverbial hardware rug out from under the OS. (If
you don't like -- or get -- the rug analogy, think of it as picking up a
Cape Cod style home and then setting it down onto a Ranch style
foundation. It just isn't going to fit.) WinXP, like Win2K before it,
is not nearly as "promiscuous" as Win9x when it comes to accepting any
old hardware configuration you throw at it. On installation it
"tailors" itself to the specific hardware found. This is one of the
reasons that the entire WinNT/2K/XP OS family is so much more stable
than the Win9x group.

As always when undertaking such a significant change, back up any
important data before starting.

This will also probably require re-activation, unless you have a
Volume Licensed version of WinXP Pro installed. 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


--

Bruce Chambers

Help us help you:



You can have peace. Or you can have freedom. Don't ever count on having
both at once. - RAH

 

[Ron Martell]

I would like to upgrade the motherboard in my computer, but I am worried that
if I do this, Windows XP will not allow me to use the computer unless it is
re-activated.

Is this what would happen if I upgraded the board?

If your Windows XP is an OEM version that came bundled with the
computer when it was new, and if that OEM version is BIOS locked then
it is possible that your Windows XP will be unusable with the new
motherboard *unless* that motherboard is from the company that
manufactured/assembled the computer originally.

To check if your Windows XP is an OEM version open Control Panel -
System (you can also get there by right-clicking on "My Computer" and
selecting Properties or by pressing WindowsKey+Pause) and looking at
the 20 character Product I.D. value that is reported on the last line
of the "Registered to" section. If the second segment (3 characters)
of the Product I.D. reads OEM then your Windows XP is an OEM version.

If your Windows XP is an OEM version then you can check to see if it
is BIOS locked by looking on the Start menu under Accessories - System
Tools. If there is no entry for "Activate Windows" then your OEM
version is BIOS locked.

As of 1 March 2005 Microsoft changed the activation procedures so that
BIOS Locked versions, which are self-activating on a motherboard with
the correct BIOS version, cannot be activated over the Internet and
telephone activations will normally be declined.

Good luck

Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada
--
Microsoft MVP
On-Line Help Computer Service
http://onlinehelp.bc.ca

In memory of a dear friend Alex Nichol MVP
http://aumha.org/alex.htm

 

[Guest]

Thanks for all the information you've provided.

I've decided on a new PC build, and I will buy a new motherboard, new HDD,
and a new copy of XP. I'll re-use the memory, processor, CD-RW, etc.

My current copy of XP *is* an OEM version - it came preinstalled on the PC,
however it doesn't seem to be BIOS locked, as 'Activate Windows' still
appears in the system tools start menu folder.

I was hoping to keep the old motherboard and HDD together with XP still
installed, and possibly at a later date throw a system together, as I thought
the BIOS lock would still be intact, as it's the same motherboard, but I am
starting to wonder of this would be possible as maybe the BIOS lock doesn't
actually exist, and it's just a standard hardware check that takes place,
like in the retail versions? (I've been reading the article at
"http://aumha.org/win5/a/wpa.htm") In which case, I couldn't build a system
as the hardware would differ...

Any suggestions?

 

[Guest]

I would like to upgrade the motherboard in my computer, but I am worried that
if I do this, Windows XP will not allow me to use the computer unless it is
re-activated.

Is this what would happen if I upgraded the board?

It has happened to me. I have an HP computer and had to replace the
motherboard and processor, and also installed new faster memeory and a SATA
hard drive, and now I get the screen that requests my product code, but it
will not accept it since the version of XP supplied by HP is an inferior
version that doesn't allow these kind of repairs to be made. Right now, I
want to get a new EULA so that I can get my computer up and running. It is in
a computer repair facility at the moment, and they cannot seem to get it past
the window where they ask for the product code.

 

[D.Currie]

It has happened to me. I have an HP computer and had to replace the
motherboard and processor, and also installed new faster memeory and a
SATA
hard drive, and now I get the screen that requests my product code, but it
will not accept it since the version of XP supplied by HP is an inferior
version that doesn't allow these kind of repairs to be made. Right now, I
want to get a new EULA so that I can get my computer up and running. It is
in
a computer repair facility at the moment, and they cannot seem to get it
past
the window where they ask for the product code.

The "repair facility" should have been bright enough to know that the HP
code wouldn't work on a non-HP motherboard, and they should have told you
that up-front so you could have considered the cost of a replacement OS as
part of the cost of the repair.

Looks like this is going to be more expensive than you imagined.

 

[Guest]

The "repair facility" should have been bright enough to know that the HP
code wouldn't work on a non-HP motherboard, and they should have told you
that up-front so you could have considered the cost of a replacement OS as
part of the cost of the repair.

Looks like this is going to be more expensive than you imagined.


AMEN on that brother!!!!! I wish that I had gotten to this site earlier, and I would have know what to do. Unfortunately Microsoft has not been forthright in providing information to customers about the limitation of the OEM version of Windows XP. I have learned a valuable lesson and will never buy another computer from an OEM supplier. I paid over $1000 for my HP764n in February of 2003, and had no idea that trying to add a new hard drive would bring on all the problems that I have had. I am also disappointed that the repair facility did not know what was required to return my computer to operation. Their name, and they are in Phoenix, Arizona is "Data Doctors". With a name like that, you would tend to trust that they would have this solution well in hand.

Ron Geiken

Additionally you cannot get any useful information from Microsoft. They
should just come out and say if you run into the problem, you need to
purchase a new copy of Windows XP Home. They just beat around the Bush on
this information.

 

[D.Currie]

Ron Geiken

Additionally you cannot get any useful information from Microsoft. They
should just come out and say if you run into the problem, you need to
purchase a new copy of Windows XP Home. They just beat around the Bush on
this information.

This isn't something new. OEMs have been making locked CDs dating back to
Win95. Not all of them, of course, but the issue has existed for a long,
long time. If your repair facility didn't know about this, I have to wonder
how much experience they have.

 

[Guest]

This isn't something new. OEMs have been making locked CDs dating back to
Win95. Not all of them, of course, but the issue has existed for a long,
long time. If your repair facility didn't know about this, I have to wonder
how much experience they have.

This is common for all PC venders, no matter where you are going to buy one,
unless you plan to have one built for you. Most people only see the Dollar
amount for the PC and the issue that you have now they do not wish to listen
to. It is harder to sell a PC will Full Retail Package software as to OEM
even of a Small vender, as it is going to cost too much.

It may help if MS made an offer to us users to upgrade our OEM licenses to
Full Retail so we can move the OS to a new box when this one dies, like in
this case. I have had several and in case they are all running a Non-MS OS
due to this very issue.

Not one of the major Venders Dell, HP/ Compaq, IBM and so on even info the
user prior to buying that the OS if crippled in this manor, nor do they offer
you to install full retail, or sell it to you naked so you can put the OS and
Office programs on.

I do not agree with the rules but we have to live within the rules until
they are changed, which I do not see this coming about soon.

If your system needs a new KEY you might just want to try one of the Open
Source OS. I know that MS does not want us to us this, but this is one item
that is helping drive some users to this "other" OS.

Steve