Transferring Windows??

[747 jock]

I've currently got a PC, that has windows XP installed on it. I have the installation disks and licence code, and it has been registered with Microsoft.

I'm shortly going to be replacing the computer with a newer one (old one clockwork, and failing rapidly), and I've been offered a replacement at a very good price.
However, the "new" one doesn't have an operating system installed, and I wish to stick to XP, rather than going for Vista.

My question is, is it possible for me to use the installation disk I have for XP to install windows on the replacement computer, and also to register it with Microsoft?
I will be scrapping the old PC, and the hard disc will be getting destroyed, so I will still only be using the licence for one computer, which will be registered in my name.

If I can do this, do I have to inform MS of what I have done.

[Saab Dastard]

Yes, and Yes.

Here's chapter and verse from the XP EULA and "Frequently asked questions about Microsoft Product Activation".

1.2 Mandatory Activation. The license rights granted under this EULA are limited to the first thirty (30) days after you first install the Software unless you supply information required to activate your licensed copy in the manner described during the setup sequence of the Software. You can activate the Software through the use of the Internet or telephone; toll charges may apply. You may also need to reactivate the Software if you modify your computer hardware or alter the Software. There are technological measures in this Software that are designed to prevent unlicensed use of the Software. Microsoft will use those measures to confirm you have a legally licensed copy of the Software.

13. SOFTWARE TRANSFER. Internal. You may move the Software to a different Workstation Computer. After the transfer, you must completely remove the Software from the former Workstation Computer.

Can I transfer a license to another computer?

Consumers may use the terms of their license agreements to determine if transferring a license to another computer is allowed. If a transfer is permitted by the license agreement, the product has to be removed from the computer where it was first installed. Users may have to complete the activation on the new computer by phoning the Microsoft Activation Center.

SD

[747 jock]

Thanks SD.

That should save me a few quid, (and a lot of hassle trying to learn Vista)

[Bushfiva]

It's almost that simple, but not quite: if you bought XP and installed it on your computer, then you have a transferable license. If it's an OEM version (i.e. preinstalled on the computer, or bought with a floppy drive or similar), then it's a non-transferable license.

Incidentally, if the hard drive in the old machine is as good as the drive in the new machine, you could just bang it in and let XP work things out: it will want to reboot about a bazillion times, but you may end up with a very simple change of computers.

[Background Noise]

It will be fine - it will probably activate itself automatically over the net but you may have to phone the activation centre, but that too is a simple process. Don't know when your disc dates from but I should think you will have a (large) number of updates to install.

[Saab Dastard]

Bushfiva,

Thanks for that clarification, you are quite right about the OEM point.

I have to disagree about the second point, though! Although what would be possible is to put the hard disk into the new PC, boot off the Windows CD and do an INSTALL \ REPAIR.

However, this can be more of a pain than it's worth, particularly is the CD is an SP (or 2) behind the disk. Unless you slipstream it first.

But it might have merit, particularly if the original disk can be installed as C and the new disk as D in the new PC.

SD

[Bushfiva]

I have to disagree about the second point, though!

Well, I've done it several times with XP and it's always worked. The hard drive in my computers tends to be the youngest/biggest/fastest, so when I get new hardware, I simply move the drive across to the new machine. When I went from IDE to SATA, I simply cloned the drive and then installed it and let the system grind away forever. As long as the old installation can make sense of the drive controller, it gets there in the end.

Porbably not the best route for most people, of course. I keep my data on an encrypted partition anyway, it's reinstalling all the software that I don't look forward to.

Shouldn't you be printing?

[Parapunter]

I've done this a lot. In practice, my experience has been that Windows declines to activate because (quite rightly) it sees the copy on two machines. So, I then call the service guys - the number is given in the activation window, explain the situation & hey presto, they give me an activation number. They have never refused, but then again, I have never tried to run one copy on multiple systems - always a rebuild or an upgrade.

[Robear]

Here is some thing found on the net on How to save your activation Key


Users who reformat their hard drive and perform a clean installation of the operating system will find that they need to reactivate the product. But, as long as the new installation is on the same system and there won't be any hardware changes it is possible to transfer the existing product activation and skip having to go through the product activation process again. Follow the steps below to save the activation status information and restore it once your system is rebuilt:

1. Double-click My Computer
2. Double-click on the "C" drive
3. Go to the CWindows\System32 folder (you may have to click on the link that says "Show The contents of this folder")
4. Find the files "wpa.dbl" and "wpa.bak" and copy them to a safe location. You can copy them on a floppy drive or burn it onto a CD or DVD.
5. After you have reinstalled Windows XP on your reformatted hard drive, click "No" when asked if you want to go ahead and go through the activation process
6. Reboot your computer into SafeMode (you can either press F8 as Windows is booting up to see the Windows Advanced Options menu and select SAFEBOOT_OPTION=Minimal or follow the instructions in Starting Windows XP in SafeMode
7. Double-click My Computer
8. Double-click on the "C" drive
9. Go to the CWindows\System32 folder (you may have to click on the link that says "Show The contents of this folder")
10. Find the file "wpa.dbl" and "wpa.bak" (if it exists) and rename them to "wpadbl.new" and "wpabak.new"
11. Copy your original "wpa.dbl" and "wpa.bak" files from your floppy disk, CD or DVD into the CWindows\System32 folder
12. Restart your system (if you followed the directions in Starting Windows XP in SafeMode you may need to go back into MSCONFIG to turn off booting into SafeMode)

Voila! Your Windows XP operating system is now reinstalled on your reformatted hard drive and you are all activated without having to actually go through the product activation process!

Good luck
R