Re-activating Windows XP after crash--what will happen?

[Guest]

Here’s my situation.

I bought a Gateway computer 3 years ago with XP Pro and Office XP Pro
installed. Of course, I also received the original CDs for these packages.
About a year ago, my hard drive crashed. I discovered to my dismay that the
original disks for XP Pro and Office Pro had been accidentally thrown away.
The only choice I had (that I knew of) was to purchase a new hard drive, a
new copy of XP Pro, and a new copy of Office Pro.

I installed the new hard drive and the software and all was fine. I was
actually able to recover my data from the original hard drive, reformat it,
and continue to use it as a data drive.

About 6 months ago, I discovered that my original Gateway disks had not been
thrown away, only stored in a location I had overlooked.

About a month ago, the video card and motherboard on the Gateway died.

Rather than purchase a replacement motherboard from Gateway for $215, I
found a nearly identical motherboard from MSI for about $30. Assuming it
would not fit in a Gateway case, I bought a replacement case and inexpensive
graphics card.

This revived “Gateway†computer will become my wife’s computer and I am
building a new one for myself from purchased parts. All of this leads to my
question.

I want to re-install the XP Pro (from the Gateway disk) on the original hard
drive that came in the Gateway. This will be the HD for my wife’s computer
(the revived “Gatewayâ€). I will also install Office XP Pro that came with
the Gateway onto her computer.

The second drive I had purchased still works, but I want to use this drive
as a data drive in the new computer I am building. I will install my
purchased copy of XP Pro and Office Pro on the new hard drive on the new
computer.

Can you tell me what issues I will face? Will I have trouble re-activating
my two copies of XP Pro and Office Pro? Do I need to "de-activate" XP and
Office from the hard drive that is still functional? Both XPs are OEM and
one of the Office Pro packages is the Academic version.

Any help or advice you can give will be greatly appreciated.

Thank you!

Bruce

 

[Frank]

The only restriction you have is that the OEM versions of XP Pro and MS
Office that came with the Gateway MUST be installed on the Gateway that they
came with. The versions you purchased can be installed on any computer of
your choice. Hope that Helps.
Frank L

 

[Carey Frisch [MVP]]

OEM licensed versions of Microsoft software are non-transferable
to a different computer. Only "Retail Versions" are transferable.
Your Gateway OEM versions cannot be installed on a different computer.
They will not install nor activate because Gateway has implemented System Locked
Pre-installation (SLP) on the Windows XP CDs. SLP automatically activates
by checking the Gateway BIOS for specific information. You no longer
have a Gateway BIOS since you installed a non-Gateway motherboard.
When your Gateway motherboard died, so did the Gateway OEM licenses.

Gateway FAQ
http://support.gateway.com/s/SOFTWARE/MICROSOF/7509595/FAQ/Activation.shtml

--
Carey Frisch
Microsoft MVP
Windows - Shell/User
Microsoft Community Newsgroups
news://msnews.microsoft.com/

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

:

| Here’s my situation.
|
| I bought a Gateway computer 3 years ago with XP Pro and Office XP Pro
| installed. Of course, I also received the original CDs for these packages.
| About a year ago, my hard drive crashed. I discovered to my dismay that the
| original disks for XP Pro and Office Pro had been accidentally thrown away.
| The only choice I had (that I knew of) was to purchase a new hard drive, a
| new copy of XP Pro, and a new copy of Office Pro.
|
| I installed the new hard drive and the software and all was fine. I was
| actually able to recover my data from the original hard drive, reformat it,
| and continue to use it as a data drive.
|
| About 6 months ago, I discovered that my original Gateway disks had not been
| thrown away, only stored in a location I had overlooked.
|
| About a month ago, the video card and motherboard on the Gateway died.
|
| Rather than purchase a replacement motherboard from Gateway for $215, I
| found a nearly identical motherboard from MSI for about $30. Assuming it
| would not fit in a Gateway case, I bought a replacement case and inexpensive
| graphics card.
|
| This revived “Gateway†computer will become my wife’s computer and I am
| building a new one for myself from purchased parts. All of this leads to my
| question.
|
| I want to re-install the XP Pro (from the Gateway disk) on the original hard
| drive that came in the Gateway. This will be the HD for my wife’s computer
| (the revived “Gatewayâ€). I will also install Office XP Pro that came with
| the Gateway onto her computer.
|
| The second drive I had purchased still works, but I want to use this drive
| as a data drive in the new computer I am building. I will install my
| purchased copy of XP Pro and Office Pro on the new hard drive on the new
| computer.
|
| Can you tell me what issues I will face? Will I have trouble re-activating
| my two copies of XP Pro and Office Pro? Do I need to "de-activate" XP and
| Office from the hard drive that is still functional? Both XPs are OEM and
| one of the Office Pro packages is the Academic version.
|
| Any help or advice you can give will be greatly appreciated.
|
| Thank you!
|
| Bruce