Replacing a harddrive - registration re-activation

[Guest]

Hi,

I have a laptop whose primary and only harddrive is becoming unstable so I
bought a new harddrive.

I'm now wondering if it's sufficient to use the product-key sticked to the
bottom of the laptop, when I do a fresh/new installation of the same OS ?

Do I also have to re-activate ?

If I install Windows XP from the CD that came with my laptop (1.5 years
old), how many reboots do you guess I'll need to survive through ?

Regards
- Ingvaldur

 

[Ron Martell]

Hi,

I have a laptop whose primary and only harddrive is becoming unstable so I
bought a new harddrive.

I'm now wondering if it's sufficient to use the product-key sticked to the
bottom of the laptop, when I do a fresh/new installation of the same OS ?
Yes


Do I also have to re-activate ?

Yes


If I install Windows XP from the CD that came with my laptop (1.5 years
old), how many reboots do you guess I'll need to survive through ?

Several, in order to get all of the critical updates installed. If
your Windows XP is 1.5 years old it probably does not have Service
Pack 2 included so that will have to be downloaded plus all of those
that came out subsequent to Service Pack 2. I believe there are about
26 of these so far, and some of them require a separate installation
and reboot.

Good luck

Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada
--
Microsoft MVP (1997 - 2006)
On-Line Help Computer Service
http://onlinehelp.bc.ca

"Anyone who thinks that they are too small to make a difference
has never been in bed with a mosquito."

 

[Michael Stevens]

In

Hi,

I have a laptop whose primary and only harddrive is becoming unstable
so I bought a new harddrive.

I'm now wondering if it's sufficient to use the product-key sticked
to the bottom of the laptop, when I do a fresh/new installation of
the same OS ?

Do I also have to re-activate ?

If I install Windows XP from the CD that came with my laptop (1.5
years old), how many reboots do you guess I'll need to survive
through ?

Regards
- Ingvaldur

You could also use the software that comes with the hard drive to clone the
current drive to the new drive.

--
Michael Stevens MS-MVP XP
(e-mail address removed)
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com
For a better newsgroup experience. Setup a newsreader.
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/outlookexpressnewreader.htm

 

[Guest]

The least-painful approach would be to clone the disk, only you'll need a
desktop computer with two 2.5 IDE adaptors to do this as laptops generally
have only one IDE port. You might be able to achieve this witha USB disk
box, but I wouldn't vouch for it.

A reinstall with the original disk and sticker should work. You might have
to phone MS to reactivate, they're getting awkward about OEM activations.

As for service packs, you should reboot after doing SP2, but it isn't
essential to reboot after every small SP.