Hey all, I'm soon to be buying an entriely new system, and was originally intending to use the xp cd that came with my current pc, which was purchased 4 years ago. I just read some pages about windows activation and it seemed that I would more than likely have to buy an entirely new copy of windows, since activation records the details of my current hardware. I dunno about you lot, but I reckon thats a bit of a rip off. I mean, you don't buy a second copy of a dvd if you want to watch it in a second dvd player (i know its a pretty biased comparison). It seems unfair that I should have to pay twice for the exact same product that I bought (to own for life) years ago. I was just wondering if I'm worried about something non-existant, like if the length of time that I've been running the same hardware would cancel the original activation so I can use it on my new compy. I can't even recall ever formatting this current pc. BTW, I know you aren't supposed to promote any illegal actions, so I'm wondering what are my legal options.
Thats MS for you. The license agreement states thato you can only run one computer with a single license of XP. When you activate the wizard sends your hardware config details to the MS database, and so if you try to install the same copy then it won't let you activate it. Once you activate it, you can't legally run it on another computer. The amount of time you've had it won't affect it. I suppose you can try to install it, but I don't guarantee it will work.
Are you planning on still using the system you purchased 4 years ago? If your just wanting to transfer the license over to another PC usually it's not that much of an issue. If your wanting to use XP on both machines you can call MS and purchase just a license for another PC without having to buy the retail package again although there isn't much of a cost savings.
:swear: argh, well I guess I'll try it out anyway and hope things work out alright. (lol, reminds me of the simpsons when homer is at college, and plans to hide under a pile of coats at his exam in the hope that everything will turn out ok) I'm not gonna ring up microsoft, since the savings won't be that great. I'm intending to keep xp on my current computer (which may or may continue to be connected to the internet, probably not initially). I believe I'd atleast get a few days, if not a month to get myself a new version of windows if I install and xp doesn't activate. I really wont be happy if I have to pay for it, but fortunately I have a friend who can provide me with some :swear: :swear: :swear: You all know what I'm talking about
