"Upgrade" from preinstalled?

[Scott Nichol]

The mb on my wife's eMachines computer died. The computer came with XP Home
preinstalled. I installed a new mb, but the product activation is coming up
but choking. This should be because the preinstalled license is only good
for the original hardware, but the new mb makes this different hardware. If
I buy XP Home, can I use it to "repair" the existing installation? I am
looking to avoid a complete reinstall of XP and the apps my wife has.

TIA

 

[Carey Frisch [MVP]]

Changing a Motherboard or Moving a Hard Drive with XP Installed
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/moving_xp.html

How to Perform a Windows XP Repair Install
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm

[Courtesy of MS-MVP Michael Stevens]

--
Carey Frisch
Microsoft MVP
Windows XP - Shell/User
Microsoft Newsgroups

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

:

| The mb on my wife's eMachines computer died. The computer came with XP Home
| preinstalled. I installed a new mb, but the product activation is coming up
| but choking. This should be because the preinstalled license is only good
| for the original hardware, but the new mb makes this different hardware. If
| I buy XP Home, can I use it to "repair" the existing installation? I am
| looking to avoid a complete reinstall of XP and the apps my wife has.
|
| TIA
| --
| Scott Nichol

 

[Scott Nichol]

The links are great, but I don't see an answer to my exact question. The
current license for XP Home installed on the disk is the "preinstalled" one,
which is not valid on any motherboard but one provided by eMachines. I want
to know whether I buy a copy of XP Home then run a repair with that CD and
key to lift the license from "preinstalled" to retail.

Thanks again.

 

[Carey Frisch [MVP]]

Yes.

--
Carey Frisch
Microsoft MVP
Windows XP - Shell/User
Microsoft Newsgroups

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

:

| The links are great, but I don't see an answer to my exact question. The
| current license for XP Home installed on the disk is the "preinstalled" one,
| which is not valid on any motherboard but one provided by eMachines. I want
| to know whether I buy a copy of XP Home then run a repair with that CD and
| key to lift the license from "preinstalled" to retail.
|
| Thanks again.
| --
| Scott Nichol