Re: Product Activation and Partition copies

Chris Bennett wrote:

I have just bought a copy of XP Pro SP2.

Currently I use Win98SE and have three "C" partitions on my machine.
All have Windows 98 on them.

The first partition is my production version of Win98SE.

When I want to test new software (or an upgrade), I copy my production
Windows into the second partition. Then I reboot to that partition and
run my test. The other "C" partitions are hidden so my "D" and "E"
hard drives never get remapped.

My question is:

Will this work OK with Windows XP Professional SP2 without triggering
product activation? (I will load XP into partition 1 and activate
before I do any partition copying)

Can I have 3 copies of Windows XP - one in each partition. I usually
boot into partition 3 to run Partition Magic Pro 7 since it does not
have to boot into DOS mode to copy partition 1 to partition 2?

Chris



It appears that you are used to ignoring MS's EULA, please correct me if I am wrong. But I won't say that is right or wrong until its brought before a judge and a ruling ensues.

You can install XP to different partitions on the same computer however clones may or may not work depending on your (or your boot manager's) expertise. Product activation will be a problem if you intend to activate multiple copies using the same XP key. MS has coded XP to prevent you from doing what I suspect you want to do. They want you to purchase each and every instance of their OS. Doesn't mean you can't do it but it won't be easy and you are probably in the wrong forum to ask for help.

John

.

Relevant Pages