Registration

[Guest]

1 if I buy a couple of used pc's for the purpose of getting the XP disk, how
hard is it going to be for me to re-register the XP disk since it was
registered before by a previous owner. Also, If I install a new XP pro on my
computer and then want to change out my mother board will there be a problem
to re-register again with the same owner information?

 

[Harry Ohrn MS MVP]

Firstly what you are inquiring about is "activation" not "registration".
They arte 2 different things. Activation is mandatory but Registration is
not.

If the XP disk you are asking about is an OEM version then you can not
legally install it on any other system if it has already been installed on a
system. OEM versions are forever tied to the first system they are installed
on. And in some cases an OEM version is BIOS locked to the first system and
can not install on any other system. OEM version will state that they are
OEM versions on the CD.

If the XP Disk is not an OEM version then you can install it on another
system providing you remove it from any other computer it is installed on.
If it was install over 120 days ago then you can easily activate over the
internet as Microsoft's database is purged every 120 days. If not then you
will see a message stating that the Activation Center could not be reached.
In this case use the phone activation method and explain that you are the
new owner and you will be guided through the activation process. The phone
method takes about 5 minutes and only has to be done once.

If you do swap out the motherboard you may have to repeat the phone in
method but as you will see it is quite painless.

Please remember that the person at the activation center is simply an
employee and as such did not decide to implement Activation or the design
process. Getting angry or sarcastic with him/her will not serve any purpose.
Being polite on the other hand works very nicely.

 

[Guest]

Thank you Harry,
You answered everthing I needed! Will be sure to look out for OEM versions.
Thanks nagain

Zchuckz

Firstly what you are inquiring about is "activation" not "registration".
They arte 2 different things. Activation is mandatory but Registration is
not.

If the XP disk you are asking about is an OEM version then you can not
legally install it on any other system if it has already been installed on a
system. OEM versions are forever tied to the first system they are installed
on. And in some cases an OEM version is BIOS locked to the first system and
can not install on any other system. OEM version will state that they are
OEM versions on the CD.

If the XP Disk is not an OEM version then you can install it on another
system providing you remove it from any other computer it is installed on.
If it was install over 120 days ago then you can easily activate over the
internet as Microsoft's database is purged every 120 days. If not then you
will see a message stating that the Activation Center could not be reached.
In this case use the phone activation method and explain that you are the
new owner and you will be guided through the activation process. The phone
method takes about 5 minutes and only has to be done once.

If you do swap out the motherboard you may have to repeat the phone in
method but as you will see it is quite painless.

Please remember that the person at the activation center is simply an
employee and as such did not decide to implement Activation or the design
process. Getting angry or sarcastic with him/her will not serve any purpose.
Being polite on the other hand works very nicely.

--


Harry Ohrn MS MVP [Shell\User]

1 if I buy a couple of used pc's for the purpose of getting the XP disk,
how
hard is it going to be for me to re-register the XP disk since it was
registered before by a previous owner. Also, If I install a new XP pro on
my
computer and then want to change out my mother board will there be a
problem
to re-register again with the same owner information?

 

[mike]

Firstly what you are inquiring about is "activation" not "registration".
They arte 2 different things. Activation is mandatory but Registration is
not.

If the XP disk you are asking about is an OEM version then you can not
legally install it on any other system if it has already been installed on a
system. OEM versions are forever tied to the first system they are installed
on. And in some cases an OEM version is BIOS locked to the first system and
can not install on any other system. OEM version will state that they are
OEM versions on the CD.

If the XP Disk is not an OEM version then you can install it on another
system providing you remove it from any other computer it is installed on.
If it was install over 120 days ago then you can easily activate over the
internet as Microsoft's database is purged every 120 days. If not then you
will see a message stating that the Activation Center could not be reached.
In this case use the phone activation method and explain that you are the
new owner and you will be guided through the activation process. The phone
method takes about 5 minutes and only has to be done once.

If you do swap out the motherboard you may have to repeat the phone in
method but as you will see it is quite painless.

Please remember that the person at the activation center is simply an
employee and as such did not decide to implement Activation or the design
process. Getting angry or sarcastic with him/her will not serve any purpose.
Being polite on the other hand works very nicely.

Thanks for the explanation.
Help me understand the logic.
If the database is purged, there's no reason for XP to "call home"
to verify me, cause there ain't no database entry.
So, once activated, my instance of XP is good to go forever...if I don't
change anything.
So, Activation must do something to my system that tells it it's
activated...permanently. Seems like the hackers and crackers would have
neutered that scheme years ago?

Stated another way, shouldn't an effective activation scheme require
periodic database verification?

Call me paranoid, but I have trouble believing that MS doesn't know more
about me than I do.
mike

 

[Harry Ohrn MS MVP]

[snip]

Call me paranoid, but I have trouble believing that MS doesn't know more
about me than I do.
mike

If MS knows more about you than you know about yourself then you are in real
trouble ;-)