Re: Retail version of XP-Pro with new computer

From: Bruce Chambers (bchambers_at_nospamcableone.net)
Date: 03/28/04 

Date: Sat, 27 Mar 2004 18:15:44 -0700

Greetings --

    WinXP isn't "broken," in this respect.

    This happens because you've pulled the proverbial hardware rug
out from under the OS. (If you don't like -- or get -- the rug
analogy, think of it as picking up a Cape Cod style home and then
setting it down onto a Ranch style foundation. It just isn't going to
fit.) WinXP, like Win2K before it, is not nearly as "promiscuous" as
Win9x when it comes to accepting any old hardware configuration you
throw at it. On installation it "tailors" itself to the specific
hardware found. This is one of the primary reasons WinXP, again like
Win2K before it, is so much more stable than is Win9x. FYI, for
future reference, comparing WinXP to Win98 is a lot like comparing a
Lexus to a Yugo -- the only similarities are entirely superficial.

   Normally, and assuming a retail license (many OEM licenses are not
transferable to a new motherboard), unless your motherboard is
virtually identical (same chipset, same IDE controllers, same BIOS
version, etc.) to the one on which the other WinXP installation was
originally performed, you'll need to perform a repair (a.k.a. in-place
upgrade) installation, at the very least:

How to Perform an In-Place Upgrade of Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/directory/article.asp?ID=KB;EN-US;Q315341

    As always when undertaking such a significant change, back up any
important data before starting.

    This will also require re-activation. If it's been more than 120
days since you last activated that specific Product Key, you'll most
likely be able to activate via the internet without problem. If it's
been less, you might have to make a 5 minute phone call.

Bruce Chambers 

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"Jim Carlock" <anonymous@127.0.0.1> wrote in message 
news:e$3zFAGFEHA.2404@TK2MSFTNGP11.phx.gbl...
> Repairs seems to mean something to you. All I'm seeing at
> the moment is the literal sense of the word repair. Which
> seems to indicate that something is broken. And why
> would an operating system break itself? I just don't under-
> stand what's going on. Microsoft is making a product that
> breaks itself when a new motherboard is put into a
> computer system?
>
> -- 
> Jim Carlock
> http://www.microcosmotalk.com/
> Post replies to the newsgroup.
>
>
> "Jim Macklin" <p51mustang[threeX12]@xxxhotmail.calm> wrote in 
> message
> news:%237y7lxFFEHA.3336@TK2MSFTNGP12.phx.gbl...
> Repair is allowed with OEM.
>
>
> "Jim Carlock" <anonymous@127.0.0.1> wrote in message
> news:u9GDeLFFEHA.3040@TK2MSFTNGP12.phx.gbl...
> | "Ken Blake, MVP" proposed:
> | > In my view, the most significant of the disadvantages is
> that
> | > its license ties it permanently to the first computer
> it's
> | > installed on.
> |
> | What if the motherboard goes bad on the system and you
> | replace the motherboard?
> |
> | -- 
> | Jim Carlock
> | http://www.microcosmotalk.com/
> | Post replies to the newsgroup.
> |
> |
> |
>
>
>