Hello all. I have a big question regarding windows xp pro. I have a very old copy of windows xp pro upgrade thant doesn't even have sp1 on the disc :( that used to be installed on a pc i had. that pc was thrown away about 3 years ago, but the copy of xp is still with me. would i be able to install it on top of my xp home machine and have it activate properly, or will i have to contact m$ and tell them that i am transferring a copy of xp from one machine to another. i would hate to have to do that. please let me know. thanks for your help

if its retail its fine(if its OEM its illegal to use it on anything other than the harware it shipped with)

if it fails activation , ring the MS telephone activation line and they will help you. I change my motherbiard a lot so have to do this (ms usually allow you to activate it ~3 times if its a retail copy)

to put the newwindows installer, sp2, ie7, wmp11 etc... on the disk , use a program called WUD (windows updates downloader) to get the files, and then a program called Nlite to extract the files from the cd to your disk, integrate your updates/drivers, and burn a new windows cd.

>>>if its retail its fine(if its OEM its illegal to use it on anything other than the hardware it shipped with)<<< does this mean i cant update the mother or CPU in an OEM pc.

>>>if its retail its fine(if its OEM its illegal to use it on anything other than the hardware it shipped with)<<< does this mean i cant update the mother or CPU in an OEM pc.

no ,i have oem and have changed the cpu ,video ,ram and hdd ,a few time for cpu and hdd,have had to re-register a few time now ,las time because i was testing 2 x1 gig sticks of ram and it made me register winxp home oem, im always swapping the ram chips for ones i buy and sell ,to test them before i sell them .

it's upgrade retail version.

no ,i have oem and have changed the cpu ,video ,ram and hdd ,a few time for cpu and hdd,have had to re-register a few time now

its illegal to change the motherboard/cpu on an OEM copy. just because it suceedfs doesnt mean its legal

from the MS system builder site

Generally, you may upgrade or replace all of the hardware components on your customer's computer and the customer may maintain the license for the original Microsoft OEM operating system software, with the exception of an upgrade or replacement of the motherboard. Unless upgraded or replaced under warranty, if the motherboard is upgraded, then a new computer has been created and the license of new operating system software is required. The original Microsoft OEM operating system software cannot be transferred to another computer. There is no difference between pre installed OEM operating system software and OEM operating system software acquired after the purchase of a PC

anyway

it's upgrade retail version

yes, that will be fine.

its illegal to change the motherboard/cpu on an OEM copy. just because it suceedfs doesnt mean its legal

from the MS system builder site

anyway

yes, that will be fine.

well if its not legal then why do they allow it to happen ,i have yet to change my motherboard ,but have changed boards in Compaq's and just had to call MS to say thats what i did and they would give me a number to activate it .only in Canada maybe ! not in Britain i guess
Having said that I never reinstall with the oem disk always use a full version disk i have and just use the key form the oem sticker .

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