win XP and my hardware upgrade

[peetee]

i own a copy of windows XP home and have since it was released.
it sits there on a small removable drive and gets used sometimes but not that often.

It is activated and quite happy in its own little way, but I have been trying to avoid having to use it as my main system as the hardware is not really up to it.

however, the time has come to upgrade the hardware.

The question is, will my copy of XP install and activate on the new hardware or am I going to get skanked for another licence?

I seem to recall hearing somewhere that I was allowed 2 hardware changes a year? and since the only thing changed in the system is the DVD drive would that count?

By the way, my XP home copy is an OEM version.

any thoughts?

[David]

Ooh, Microsoft Licensing *rubs hands together*

From http://oem.microsoft.com/script/cont...ID=552846#faq1

\"Generally, you may upgrade or replace all of the hardware components on your customer's computer and the end user may maintain the license for the original Microsoft OEM operating system software, with the exception of an upgrade or replacement of the motherboard.\"

[Firerat]

[quote:05fe29eca5=\"M$\"]\"Generally, you may upgrade or replace all of the hardware components on your customer's computer and the end user may maintain the license for the original Microsoft OEM operating system software, with the exception of an upgrade or replacement of the motherboard.\"[/quote:05fe29eca5]

Bang out of order, what if the mainboard became faulty !!!

I'm glad I use Linux

[David]

[quote:8062cdc25d=\"Firerat\"]

Bang out of order, what if the mainboard became faulty !!!

I'm glad I use Linux[/quote:8062cdc25d]

I omitted that part in the interest of brevity, but here it is

\"If the motherboard is replaced because it is defective, you do NOT need to acquire a new operating system license for the PC as long as the replacement motherboard is the same make/model or the same manufacturer's replacement/equivalent, as defined by the manufacturer's warranty.\"

[peetee]

so that would mean that whenever I want to put a faster cpu in my machine then I would need to buy a new licence?

remember, most people only upgrade when needed and a new cpu meanns new memory and board. usually new everything....


surely if I only use XP on one machine then that is fine?
I can understand MS not wanting one copy on two machines but this seems a but of a rip off to me..

what about these people who upgrade constantly? new licence everytime?
I dont do pirated software but I am beginning to see the reasons for it...

[Belso]

Use the same windows key you have on the removable hard drive, once you install XP on your updated hardware.

Then if it doesn't activate, ring Microsoft (Number will be on the activation page) and say what has happened.

And they wll activate it for you. 8)

[peetee]

so if I keep my old hard drive and fit to the new machine that should be OK?

or do I need to let windows find the new board and sort it out from there?

incidentaly, my XP is on a 3.5gig hard drive and yesterday I put sp2 and did a windows update. not a problem you think but when I tried to install IE7 the system went nuts. 8 hours later IE7 failed to install due to not enough disk space...
nothing else on this drive of note not even office so what is goiing on in XP?

8 hours and 3.5gig?

makes you wonder doesnt it?

just a shame my new DVD-RAM isnt supported fully in Win2000

ho hum

[Anonymous]

[Removed at the request of the author]

[peetee]

wouldnt use anything but Firefox. IE7 was part of update and thought it might be worth a look.

Obviously Not....

[Anonymous]

[Removed at the request of the author]

[Belso]

[quote:799d4fee08=\"PrivatePyle@Work\"]simple solution to that mate is Firefox, everything that IE7 is trying to be :wink: :wink: :wink:

oh, and yes I AM deliberately trying to provoke Bels [/quote:799d4fee08]

:evil: :twisted: It's working!! I think i am on a one man machine to rid the world of the horros of firefox!!

Every PC we have come into the office has Firefox swiftly removed and replaced with IE7 :wink:

But seriously IE7 is Pukka!! 8)

[LJ]

[quote:9f3c852fb7=\"Belso\"]Then if it doesn't activate, ring Microsoft (Number will be on the activation page) and say what has happened.[/quote:9f3c852fb7]

Who says you need to tell them what happened? The bods on the other end of the phone are in a call centre in India. They're not interested - they'll ask if this is the first time you've activated the software...just say no, and they'll give you another activation code for it.

Incidentally, I love the way these operatives are trained to tell you their name's Dave or Bob or some such. It's not like they're fooling anyone, so I really don't get it.

[Anonymous]

[Removed at the request of the author]

[Belso]

[quote:7e2bb8ef54=\"LJ\"]

Who says you need to tell them what happened? The bods on the other end of the phone are in a call centre in India. They're not interested - they'll ask if this is the first time you've activated the software...just say no, and they'll give you another activation code for it.

Incidentally, I love the way these operatives are trained to tell you their name's Dave or Bob or some such. It's not like they're fooling anyone, so I really don't get it.[/quote:7e2bb8ef54]

I say you need to tell them what happened, also Microsoft want to know aswell.

Many a time i have had to explain to someone what the situation is. :roll:

[LJ]

[quote:28f8f47fd0=\"Belso\"]I say you need to tell them what happened, also Microsoft want to know aswell.

Many a time i have had to explain to someone what the situation is. :roll:[/quote:28f8f47fd0]

You've had a lot of bad luck, then. I must've rung Microsoft Activation at least 20 - 30 times in the last year, and I haven't once been asked why I was doing so beyond the is-this-the-first-time question and how-many-machines. \"no\" and \"1\" usually satisfy them that they can give you the code - it's actually in the Microsoft terms of service for the activation setup that the goal is *not* to treat the customer as though they're guilty....their call centre operators actually have to believe what you say unless they have concrete evidence to the contrary (which is virtually impossible with XP's activation codes, since the hardware hash cannot be reversed to find out what kit you're running).