System Upgrade

[Guest]

Sorry if this is already answered or not, I am totaly CONFUSED with Factory
OEM,Non Factory OEM,HD OEM, and all.My problem is as follows PLEASE give me a
simple answer.
In 2004, I got a pc ASSEMBLED, and PURCHASED a WinXP(sp1). It states on the
sticker which I affixed on the EXTERIOR of the PC, that it is -Windows XP
Home Edition for INDIA- OEM Product, followed by a bar code and a product key.
I activated my XP, upgraded to sp2, and am still using it,!! WITHOUT any
complaints!!,
I want to upgrade my pc from AMD Athlon 2000+ XP, ASUS A7N266 VM motherboard
and Samsung 40GB HDD, To, AMD 3000+ 64 bit(939pin) CPU, on ASUS A8NVM
motherboard &samsung 80GB HDD.
Can I continue using my existing Win XP(sp2)? How can I copy it?(if possible!)
Or do I have to buy a new OS AGAIN!!??
THANK YOU!! in advance!!.

 

[Carey Frisch [MVP]]

Your current OEM license for Windows XP is directly
tied and bound to the first hardware configuration it was
installed and activated on. You can change every piece
of internal hardware, except for the motherboard. If you
upgrade to a different motherboard, then your current
OEM license becomes invalid and you'll need to purchase
a new Windows XP license for the new PC configuration.

--
Carey Frisch
Microsoft MVP
Windows Shell/User

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

:

| Sorry if this is already answered or not, I am totaly CONFUSED with Factory
| OEM,Non Factory OEM,HD OEM, and all.My problem is as follows PLEASE give me a
| simple answer.
| In 2004, I got a pc ASSEMBLED, and PURCHASED a WinXP(sp1). It states on the
| sticker which I affixed on the EXTERIOR of the PC, that it is -Windows XP
| Home Edition for INDIA- OEM Product, followed by a bar code and a product key.
| I activated my XP, upgraded to sp2, and am still using it,!! WITHOUT any
| complaints!!,
| I want to upgrade my pc from AMD Athlon 2000+ XP, ASUS A7N266 VM motherboard
| and Samsung 40GB HDD, To, AMD 3000+ 64 bit(939pin) CPU, on ASUS A8NVM
| motherboard &samsung 80GB HDD.
| Can I continue using my existing Win XP(sp2)? How can I copy it?(if possible!)
| Or do I have to buy a new OS AGAIN!!??
| THANK YOU!! in advance!!.
| --
| Satyameva Jayate

 

[Bob Knowlden]

I'm in the USA; things may be different in India.

I'm using the retail upgrade version of XP, but mine has a file eula.txt in
c:\windows\system32. If you have a similar file, I suggest reading it.

I believe that OEM licenses are not supposed to be transferable, which is
one of the reasons they cost less than retail licenses.

However, I wouldn't be surprised if people managed to activate XP with a new
mainboard that was installed to "repair" the system. If Microsoft didn't
permit this, then it replacing a dead motherboard would always require a new
copy of an OEM OS, even if the new board was nominally identical to the old.
(Most boards now have an onboard NIC, and that would have a different
identifier, which I presume would affect the Windows activation.) If you
need to activate by telephone, I imagine that the story you'd have to supply
MS to get a new activation code might not be true in every particular. I
have never tried it myself, though.

The most legitimate course would be to buy a new OEM copy (perhaps with your
new mainboard), a full retail license, or a retail upgrade license if you
can produce "qualifying media" (a retail install or upgrade CD for a
qualifying OS, like Win98).I've been using a single retail XP Home upgrade
copy for years, on several systems, all per the EULA. (That is, I've only
had it installed and running on one system at any moment.)


Address scrambled. Replace nkbob with bobkn.