Q: Ya see, I was stuck with WinMe on the two boxes at home for a long time, absolutely hate it. Well, the woman did not mind that they are just surfing and e-mail does, but I game, and hated that thing. Of course, the domestic tranquility that makes it difficult to sort of spend money to replace something that is not her broken.
Anyway, IT guy I know had a copy of XP Pro, what he said was not activated and had never used because the work he did on NT and 2000, said it was just dust.
Well collection, next time I had to share together to do a rebuild / upgrade, I used the copy and went to XP Pro on my machine, which So I would very much much.
Turns that one was activated in the past, so the key is not working. Now I like to have six days to clock.
I been transformed into an adult and a while ago, so Im looking to get and stay legal in this course, as cheap as possible. Eventually the woman I upgrade system, probably XP Home and Im planning to build third box to tinker with, perhaps the parents box also upgrade to XP on a point.
What s the most economical way to to do all this without running afoul? I have only my own system to rebuild approximately every 18 months, but when I do I usually start with a new hard drive, the system to build, and slave the old drive to the new, which sounds like you to cause problems with the way XP changes.
Thanks tracks in advance
KF
Re:If your 30 days run up, it's my understanding that you'll end up 'locked out' of XP, with only the option to put in your Activation key… never seen it happen, personally, so I can't tell you much else. At that point you'd have to activate or reinstall, one or the other.
About your previous post – it seems to be a pretty blurry line as far as which hardware an OEM copy of XP is tied to. In reality, let's say you replace the motherboard, cpu, hard drive, etc once a year… not sure how often you do, but we'll just use that as an example. Odds are that you'll be able to activate over the internet just fine. If for some reason you have to call up MS to activate, and they need a reason, you could just tell them that your old motherboard died and you had to replace it… yeah, it's a lie, but in my opinion it's a pretty harmless one. I guess it all depends on your morals and how concerned your really are about whether your copy is 100% properly liscensed.
But anyway, yes, if your computer locks you out tomorrow, you'll pretty much be looking at a reinstallation. Hopefully your copy of XP comes in soon so that you only have to reinstall once, with your new copy.
Re:Ok, couldn't be sure if the other install still exists, so purchased a copy.
Of course, every other Newegg purchase I've ever done has shipped instantly, this time when I'm running out of days it's a hair slow.
So the 30 day clock is going to run out before my OEM full install gets here.
What happens then, or how do I get my comp going again, since it'll lock down on me in the next day or so?
Just put in the disk and boot from it and reinstall from that?
Will it give me the window to punch in an activation code and just use that?
Oy vey I could strangle the guy from work 
KF
Re:I've looked at OEM copies, the only concern I have with them is if I do a total rebuild it sounds like I have to get a new OEM copy.
Whenever I move to a new mobo, I always totally wipe the HD, and often install a brand new one (slaving the existing one). An OEM copy would not migrate properly (or perhaps legally) to a new setup like that would it?
What are the circumstances that allow an OEM license like that to migrate? If I retire the old mobo and slave the old HD to the new mobo/HD, is that contiguous enough to satisfy the MS guys on the phone?
I know, I'll take a course at a local university for my work and buy 3 dozen copies at the student rate while I'm a student..
*frown*
At least I do have some old Me and 98 full install disks around so I can use an XP upgrade disk.
KF
Re:If you're looking at putting XP on some other machines, the cheapest way to go is usually to get an OEM copy… to have it be truely legal, it has to be purchased (and permanently tied to) a piece of hardware that is essential for your computer to run… such as a hard drive, cpu, motherboard, etc. That's my understanding of it, at least.
Re:If it has been removed from the other machine, call them. If not, just buy a license.
Re:Just because it has been activated in the past does not mean it is still on that other box. Just call microsoft and tell them that you reformatted your computer and that as far as you know this is the only box it is on and they will give you the activation code. As for your other boxes, you will have to buy an XP upgrade cd for them (you can do a full install with an XP upgrade disk, as long as you have a full ME disk somewhere).
Re:You can get XP Pro full edition on ebay (unopened) for about $145 which is a good deal.
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