Windows XP Home Edition - Activation Question

[Martin Capehart]

Good Evening,

I built several PCs (for myself, family and to sell) a
couple of years ago and purchased Windows XP Home Edition
Builder Paks with the OEM Version of Windows XP Home
Edition. I built one of these PCs for my youngest
daughter. This daughter passed away in September and now
I would like to give the system to her older sister. My
oldest daughter uses different software than her younger
sister so I would like to do a clean install after
formatting the hard drive. Is there a way to activate and
register the system in my oldest daughter's name or will I
have to activate the system in my deceased daughter's name
and then change the information after activation?

I'm all for stopping software piracy but my question does
pose one of many dilemmas with Microsoft's Activation
policy. Thanks for any insight you can provide.

Martin Capehart

 

[Richard Urban]

Just do a clean install of Windows XP O.E.M. on the computer. Use the
desired name whenever necessary. Activate the computer as you would normally
do. If it has been over 6 months since the last activation, it will go
through without any problem.

--
Regards:

Richard Urban

aka Crusty (-: Old B@stard

 

[Steve C. Ray]

You should not have a problem since the OEM XP will be on the same machine.
When you reinstall you may have to activate by phone. Activation is not tied
to a name. Registration is optional.

You can change the username in the Registry at
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows
NT\CurrentVersion\RegisteredOrganization
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows
NT\CurrentVersion\RegisteredOwner

 

[Harry Ohrn]

Registration and Activation are 2 different things and are handled
differently by Microsoft when they are received. You can simply reinstall XP
as you are doing so legally. When prompted for a Username during the install
you can use whatever name you wish. When prompted to Active you can simply
click yes to do so and activation will progress without incident because you
are installing the same version on the same computer. You can do this
indefinitely if you wish. When asked to Register you can enter any name you
would like to.

Alex Nichol's has an excellent paper on Windows Product Activation here
http://aumha.org/win5/a/wpa.htm

 

[Bruce Chambers]

Greetings --

There's no limit to the number of times you can reinstall and
activate the same WinXP license on the same PC. If it's been more
than 120 days since you last activated that specific Product Key,
you'll most likely be able to activate via the Internet without
problem. If it's been less, you might have to make a 5 minute phone
call.

Here are the facts pertaining to activation:

Piracy Basics - Microsoft Product Activation
http://www.microsoft.com/piracy/basics/activation/

Windows Product Activation (WPA)
http://www.aumha.org/a/wpa.htm


Bruce Chambers

--
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having both at once. -- RAH

 

[Alex Nichol]

This daughter passed away in September and now
I would like to give the system to her older sister. My
oldest daughter uses different software than her younger
sister so I would like to do a clean install after
formatting the hard drive. Is there a way to activate and
register the system in my oldest daughter's name or will I
have to activate the system in my deceased daughter's name
and then change the information after activation?

Registration of the owner with Microsoft is voluntary - don't repeat it,
but during the install enter the new user name for registration within
the system. The activation side goes with the hardware, and as you are
reinstalling on the same hardware will go through on the net just like
the first time: owner is not involved in that

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

In

My
oldest daughter uses different software than her younger
sister so I would like to do a clean install after
formatting the hard drive. Is there a way to activate and
register the system in my oldest daughter's name or will I
have to activate the system in my deceased daughter's name
and then change the information after activation?

Don't mix up registration and activation. Registration is never
necessary.

Activation is necessary, but it's an anonymous procedure. You
can't activate in anybody's name. What activation does is tie the
copy of the operating system to the particular hardware, not to a
particular person.