Re-activating a rebuilt computer

  • Thread starter Thread starter Thomas Blair
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Thomas Blair

I have a Compaq PIII 550 Win98 that I upgraded to WinXP
about a year ago. I am about to do a complete rebuild of
this computer (P4 2.8G) perserving the CD drives and 2 of
the three hard drives (but not the C: drive). Can I use
the same WinXP upgrade and activate it on the rebuilt
computer?
 
-----Original Message-----
I have a Compaq PIII 550 Win98 that I upgraded to WinXP
about a year ago. I am about to do a complete rebuild of
this computer (P4 2.8G) perserving the CD drives and 2 of
the three hard drives (but not the C: drive). Can I use
the same WinXP upgrade and activate it on the rebuilt
computer?
.
assuming you have a legal upgrade disk and havent been
Click to expand...
reactivating many times already the answer is yes,but you
will have to use the phone activation so you can get new
numbers.
 
Hi,

Yes, though the upgrade version will want to see proof of the qualifying OS.
This may mean you need to run the Compaq recovery disks and reinstall Win98
first (the recovery disks are in a proprietary image format, and will not
work as a qualifier, you need to actually install the system).

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers aka "Nutcase" MS-MVP - Win9x

Associate Expert - WinXP - Expert Zone
 
I would make sure you have a big enough power supply to start with.
Compaq's usually put the smallest they can in. Their cases make installing
a clone MB difficult. For my money I would invest in a new case. Probably
get lucky and have it installed with CPU if you buy from the same place.
 
Thomas said:
I have a Compaq PIII 550 Win98 that I upgraded to WinXP
about a year ago. I am about to do a complete rebuild of
this computer (P4 2.8G) perserving the CD drives and 2 of
the three hard drives (but not the C: drive). Can I use
the same WinXP upgrade and activate it on the rebuilt
computer?
Click to expand...

Provided it has been removed from the old machine, and it is not an OEM
copy (but an Upgrade one won't be) then you can install it on a
different machine. You will need evidence of the qualifying system to
upgrade as well, which you show setup when it asks where Windows is.
That might be your difficulty - any restore disk that came with the
Compaq will not serve. But you should be able to buy say a cheap 98 or
ME Upgrade CD at a computer fair or on eBay. Just make sure it is again
not an OEM restore one

When it comes to activation, you may find it will go through on the net
anyway - if more than 120 days since you last did it certainly will. If
not, you will have to phone a toll-free number that will be given, to
explain and swap one long number for another to check back as you type
it in
 
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