Windows XP Product Key

[cdt1983]

If I want to move Windows XP to my new PC but it is preinstalled is it possible to borrow a WinXP disc and use my current Product Key sticker on my HP machine? Would this work?
Thanks

[caperjack]

not positive, but I think Not!! If that would work why do we all have different Numbers!!

[Thong_Ispector]

From an earlier conversation with our resident Dell reseller...

Even preinstalled Windows is a full license and is thereby transferable to a new machine.

It will probably require a phonecall to M$ and a brief explanation but it is supposed to be a FULL license even if preinstalled.

Of course M$ ants you to buy a new full copy...

Plus the old machine will fail to work as soon as it connects to the internet and the license for that system is revoked.

[dlh6213]

The way I understand it is:

XP Pro can only be reinstalled on another computer one time, after it has been removed from the original computer.

XP Home can only be installed on one computer, ever.

Using your old number won't matter because when you go to activate it, you will get a message to call Microsoft; in which case you will need to explain to them what you are doing and if you have Home, they won't allow you to activate, and if you have Pro, you will have to deactivate your original.

But you can use XP for 30 days at a time without activating it! So just reinstall everything every month! (just kidding, though it is possible :) )

[Thong_Ispector]

I have seen alot of different opinions about this subject.

Personally I will stick with 98se and Internet Explorer removed with 98lite and Firefox added. It is the MOST stable system I have run across.

I think Microsoft got MORE GREEDY with XP...

I dont mind paying for an OS but to make you buy a new OS every time you upgrade hardware is a joke... that isn't funny.

Do you have any references about Home not being able to upgrade and XP being able to upgrade once...?

I would love to see it in writing from them...

[alc6379]

The EULA for Windows XP Home states that you can install it on one single processor machine, at any one time. Basically, you can install it on another machine, activate it just as normal, and you'll never notice anything. However, if you ever load up your other machine running XP Home, it will want to reactivate, which will result in the other machine needing to reactivate next time... etc.

XP Pro's EULA is about the same, with the exception of Network installs, multiprocessor systems, and the number of network connections it can have. As far as I know, you can upgrade XP Home or Pro until the cows come home, too, provided the upgrade is a "Valid" upgrade path. Like, upgrading from XP Home to Server 2003 wouldn't be a valid upgrade-- you'd have to reformat and reinstall, and you'd likely need retail media.

So long as you're within the confines of the EULA with terms of how many copies you have running (one at a time for a single license), it doesn't matter how many times you've installed it in the past either. I've got an MSDN license (10 users per copy) of XP Pro, and I've at least done 20 reinstalls with it now, and I've had no problems.

[helloadam]

I have seen alot of different opinions about this subject.

Personally I will stick with 98se and Internet Explorer removed with 98lite and Firefox added. It is the MOST stable system I have run across.

I think Microsoft got MORE GREEDY with XP...

I dont mind paying for an OS but to make you buy a new OS every time you upgrade hardware is a joke... that isn't funny.

Do you have any references about Home not being able to upgrade and XP being able to upgrade once...?

I would love to see it in writing from them...

Windows 98 is the best Microsoft Windows OS version out there. To bad they made Windows XP :eek:
Also Microsoft said a few years ago that they will stop giving service to Windows 98. Well they still are......

[The DJ]

I've re-installed it 5 -6 times same disc, same machine. I have had to call to get the code reset, but it never costed me anything.

[dlh6213]

The EULA for Windows XP Home states that you can install it on one single processor machine, at any one time. Basically, you can install it on another machine, activate it just as normal, and you'll never notice anything. However, if you ever load up your other machine running XP Home, it will want to reactivate, which will result in the other machine needing to reactivate next time... etc.

XP Pro's EULA is about the same, with the exception of Network installs, multiprocessor systems, and the number of network connections it can have. As far as I know, you can upgrade XP Home or Pro until the cows come home, too, provided the upgrade is a "Valid" upgrade path. Like, upgrading from XP Home to Server 2003 wouldn't be a valid upgrade-- you'd have to reformat and reinstall, and you'd likely need retail media.

So long as you're within the confines of the EULA with terms of how many copies you have running (one at a time for a single license), it doesn't matter how many times you've installed it in the past either. I've got an MSDN license (10 users per copy) of XP Pro, and I've at least done 20 reinstalls with it now, and I've had no problems.

Okay, ALC is right and I was wr-wr-wro-incorrect (hey, it happens!). The one exception being if your XP is an OEM version, in which case Microsoft has this to say "OEM licenses are single-use licenses that cannot be transferred to another computer." (Found here:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;302878#4)

[sweet5172]

ive got windows xp professional and lost the code trying to reinstall it on my computer if anyone got a key can u help me thanks

[charliefromwash]

ive got windows xp professional and lost the code trying to reinstall it on my computer if anyone got a key can u help me thanks

sometimes you can use a product activation key from a different cd.i used my key from xp home/sp1 cd
with an xp home/sp2/oem cd and it worked!you know think for a miniute ...
a cd that is mass produced (like the xp home cd) is pressed from a master cd.that means all copys of that master must be absolutely identical and therefor must have activation keys that are the same for all cds pressed from that master.now if the cd has not just 1 key that works but a big list of keys that work then they can besold with any key from that list included with
the book.
this is done to fool the buyers into a belife that each copy has only 1 key that will work.not true.......any disk pressed from the same master must have the same product keys that work because pressing cd disks
from A master cannot be changed in any way posable.and in my case the disks were pressed from 2 differnt masters as 1 was a cd with winxp/sp1 and the other was cd with xp/sp2/ oem and both work with the product key from the xp/sp1 disk so apperently noone even bothered to change the lists of keys when the sp2 master was created
go figer.anyway heres my key that works with both my sp1 and sp2/oem cd (WM3PQKYYKJ436THB79XV82WJW) if this key dont work
just try a differnt 1 from a differnt cd im sure there aint that many differnt key lists or i was just lucky

[MidiMagic]

It shows how greedy Microsoft is.

They want another sale, even if the old computer is being taken out of service permanently.

[jbennet]

silly ms. thats why i use win2k

[chas521]

A friend of mine who works in a computer store gave me a bonfide copy of xp pro [OEM] that comes with a new computer. Unfortunately, the product key was missing. Can I go to any computer store and copy the product key for xp pro from one of their computers on display and also activate it? Thanks.

[jbennet]

um no, it only works the other way around

return it and get an new one

[MidiMagic]

The product key is tied to the disk you have. It should be on the pagkage, or on some documentation that came with it.

My question: What if you bought a computer and got no disks with it?

[jbennet]

A computer with no fisks with it = most pcs like dells (recovery partition instead)

[chas521]

Thanks for the replies. My friend requested a replacment copy of XP Pro from the salesman [he gave it to him] but the COA part with the Product Key was cut off. Thus, I can't use it unless I have a Product Key to complete installation. So I went to a computer store that had XP Pro installed and copied the Product Key number from the sticker. Can I use that number and activate my computer? Thanks again.

[arb76]

If I want to move Windows XP to my new PC but it is preinstalled is it possible to borrow a WinXP disc and use my current Product Key sticker on my HP machine? Would this work?
Thanks

The activation process is Microsoft’s way of keeping track of all Windows product keys.

As others have mentioned, all copies are made from a master copy, all being identical to that master copy.
Let’s say a master copy is made to make 10,000 XP Pro copies thus requiring 10,000 unique XP Pro product keys. Anyone of these 10,000 product keys will work with anyone of the 10,000 copies but not with any other copy.

So now Microsoft can see which Windows product keys have been activated, when and how many times. If Microsoft believes something fishy is going on with a particular product key they can refuse activation. (e.g. activated several times in a short space of time or cross reference information (Home edition, Pro etc) doesn’t match.

[jbennet]

yeah lol they made my XP fail activation because I changed the motherbiard 4 times. WTF is up with that!

[arb76]

Yes mate, w*%kers. Billy Boy is betraying his own people with this little scam. What i mean by that is all the so called geeks (genuine patrons though!) who spend thier time experimenting with different hardware & software are being penalised for doing so. Wasn't this how computing & particularly Microsoft got to where it is today!

However, there is a work around (legal) to bypass activation the next-time-around if you currently have Windows activated, apparently! I've got the procedure but i've not tried it so let me know if you want to give it a go? (I think it's on the web on various sites - uses the wpa files)
Regards, arb76

I have a similar problem. I have a new-ish Dell server grade tower. My WinXP got here from another machine, then got reinstalled, and all told a new C: was probably set up four times. Now I'm not sure I can even locate the CD or Product Key (I know, it can be extracted with a utility). Point is, the PC contains a disk I don't use, with preinstalled XP Pro, and the COA sticker has the Product Key for that new one I don't use. What I'd most like to do is get this much-moved, much-upgraded, much-resintalled copy in order, and the WGA stuff tells me it has an invalid Product Key. Well, I have a valid Product Key for the same PC, right on the sticker. I tried using a utility to set that Key into my old XP Pro but the utility says it gets an error and can't do it.

The silly part is that all of this was brought on by purchasing an iPod Shuffle to listen to audiobooks from audible.com. I got tired of my El Cheapo player that was included in my starting package with them. But, ah, the iPod is incompatible with Audible Manager even though it supports the Audible DRM. I have to install iTunes. OK, I start to, but it won't install without XP Pro SP2. I have successfully avoided SP2 since it was released, but now decided to throw in the towel. OK, off to Windows Update. Lots of Trusted Site stuff. Woops, can't get SP2 without jumping through WGA hoops. Never mind that that is bait and switch since WGA never existed when I bought any copies of XP Pro. OK, I go down the WGA road.

Finally it complains that it can't load an ActiveX component. It takes me to a Resolve This page that... da-daaaa... uses ActiveX to resolve a problem of ActiveX items not loading. Brilliant. I won't even go into the brain dead window it opens not being large enough and not being sizable, or the feedback acknowledgement with a Close button on it that doesn't close that window. A diagnostic link downloaded a program that fetched diagnostic info, and there for the first time I became aware that MS doesn't like my Product Key.0

So, in summary, I'd like to put a known valid Product Code into my XP Pro SP1, but the recommended utility I found says it gets an error doing it.

I suppose I can reconnect the internal HD that came in this PC and make my present disks all secondary and reinstall a bunch of stuff... not looking forward to that.

[jbennet]

BLud, what the hell. Why was my post deleted for piracy when i said "no that would be illegal "