XP Home Activation

[LeRoy Valley]

I currently own two copies of XP Home - they are installed
and activated and working fine.

I will be upgrading the motherboards and CPU's on both
units in the next couple of days. Will I need to call to
reactivate when the upgrade is complete? Also, what
initiates a reactivation? Is it just a CPU change, or will
swapping out a damaged hard drive require reactivation as
well?

I ask this because one of the PC's has a damaged HD, and I
will have to run on a backup unit until a replacement
arrives.

thanks in advance for the help!

 

[Will Denny]

Hi

The following article by MVP Alex Nichol will help you:

"Windows Product Activation (WPA) on Windows XP"
http://aumha.org/win5/a/wpa.php

Will

 

[Alex Nichol]

I currently own two copies of XP Home - they are installed
and activated and working fine.

I will be upgrading the motherboards and CPU's on both
units in the next couple of days. Will I need to call to
reactivate when the upgrade is complete? Also, what
initiates a reactivation? Is it just a CPU change, or will
swapping out a damaged hard drive require reactivation as
well?

See www.aumha.org/win5/a/wpa.htm. Changing a motherboard will lose one
'vote'; a CPU one or two (depending on whether a PIII with serial number
is involved) and a HD one or two (you can avoid losing one of the two).
You might just get away with that, especially if you have a NIC that has
always been present. But you may well also fit more RAM, and then be
over the top. Be prepared for it - phoning in is not *that* big a
hassle

 

[Bruce Chambers]

Greetings --

Unless the new motherboard is virtually identical to the old one
(same chipset, same IDE controllers, same BIOS version, etc.), you'll
need to perform a repair (a.k.a. in-place upgrade) installation, at
the very least:

How to Perform an In-Place Upgrade of Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/directory/article.asp?ID=KB;EN-US;Q315341

As always when undertaking such a significant change, back up any
important data before starting.

This will also require re-activation. 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.


Bruce Chambers

--
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