System Upgrade - Do I need to buy new XP license?

[Tom H]

I've read the info on XP licensing and am confused about whether the
magnitude of a system upgrade I am contemplating will require a new O/S.

Basically, it looks like the best way for me to upgrade is to use a new
motherboard with new cpu and memory but keep my video adaptor and drives. I
suspect this is considered a "new" system but I wonder if anybody has any
thoughts about this.

TIA

Tom

 

[Jerry]

After you buy and install all that new hardware you will have to boot from
the XP CD and do a repair install of the existing install of XP. This will
allow XP to update drivers, etc for the new motherboard.

You may have to call the 800 number if online activation is unsuccessful.

 

[Rick \Nutcase\ Rogers]

Hi Tom,

Yes, to WinXP it will be a "new" system. However, if you have a retail
version of WinXP (not an OEM or preinstalled version), then you should be
able to do the upgrade and reactivate without incidence. At worst, you will
need to phone in activation instead of having it done automatically.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP

Associate Expert - WindowsXP Expert Zone

Windows help - www.rickrogers.org

 

[Ken Blake]

In

I've read the info on XP licensing and am confused about whether the
magnitude of a system upgrade I am contemplating will require a new
O/S.

Basically, it looks like the best way for me to upgrade is to use a
new motherboard with new cpu and memory but keep my video adaptor and
drives. I suspect this is considered a "new" system but I wonder if
anybody has any thoughts about this.

If yours is a retail version of XP, it doesn't matter whether
it's a new system or not. You can move it as desired as many
times as you want, as long as it's not installed on two systems
or not. You do *not* need to buy a new copy.

But if yours is an OEM copy, then it may *not* be moved to a new
system. What changes constitute a new system is a gray area, and
has never been officially defined by Microsoft.

 

[Alex Nichol]

I've read the info on XP licensing and am confused about whether the
magnitude of a system upgrade I am contemplating will require a new O/S.

Basically, it looks like the best way for me to upgrade is to use a new
motherboard with new cpu and memory but keep my video adaptor and drives. I
suspect this is considered a "new" system but I wonder if anybody has any
thoughts about this.

See my page www.aumha.org/win5/a/wpa.htm

You may find it is seen as different to the extent that it will need to
be activated again - and if it was a 'retail copy' you can do that over
and over as long as it is on only one machine at any time. If you
format and start clean you have 30 days for that and it will go through
on the net again if then over 120 days since you did it first.

If it is an OEM copy, sold with hardware and licensed solely to the
machine where first installed, you are getting into a grey area as to
what makes it a different one. As an opinion, but no more, I think the
criteria might be the same approach, by the number of categories
changed, or might be seen as residing in the motherboard. Certainly if
you change to a new motherboard and entirely different class of
processor, it gets difficult to see it as the same machine. That whole
OEM type sale is ill thought through, and I think they should drop it,
to have either a system sold with a complete new computer, licensed as
long as the motherboard lasts or is replaced by the maker; and retail
and transferable ones.