Transferring WinXP

  • Thread starter Thread starter Paul
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Paul

I have WinXP Home installed on my main computer. I am
building a second computer. Can I transfer my current
WinXP Home to the second computer under the current
registration and then upgrade the main computer to WinXP
Pro?
 
Paul said:
I have WinXP Home installed on my main computer. I am
building a second computer. Can I transfer my current
WinXP Home to the second computer under the current
registration and then upgrade the main computer to WinXP
Pro?
Click to expand...

Yes
As long as the WinXP home is retail and not OEM
If it is OEM technically you can't put it on another computer.
 
To be "legal", I think that you might need to buy the full license of XP Pro
for the main computer, since once you move the XP home to the new computer,
the main computer will no longer have any operating system from which to do
an upgrade. Another way to put it is that having one copy of XP home on 2
computers, even briefly, is really not allowed.

Also, to move the XP home license it must be a full retail license, not an
OEM license, which is a lot cheaper, but more limited.
 
Paul said:
I have WinXP Home installed on my main computer. I am
building a second computer. Can I transfer my current
WinXP Home to the second computer under the current
registration and then upgrade the main computer to WinXP
Pro?
Click to expand...

Not really, because you are in essence using the WinXP Home license
twice:

Once on the new second new computer, and also on the original computer
where it forms part of the license for using the Windows XP Pro
Upgrade.

When you install an upgrade version of an operating system or
application program then it requires the presence of a valid license
for a previous version of that operating system or application so as
to justify the use of the upgrade version. Those two licenses - the
one for the upgrade and the one for the version being upgraded from -
are effectively merged to provide the combined license for the new
version.

However if you are installing an OEM version of XP Pro or a Retail
Full Install (double the price of the Retail Upgrade) then you can use
the XP Home on another computer *unless* the XP Home is an OEM
version.

OEM versions are permanently locked to the first computer they are
installed on and cannot be legitimately transferred to another
computer under any circumstances.

Good luck


Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada
--
Microsoft MVP
On-Line Help Computer Service
http://onlinehelp.bc.ca

"The reason computer chips are so small is computers don't eat much."
 
Greetings --

Assuming a retail license (OEM licenses are not transferable to a
new computer), simply remove WinXP from the computer it is currently
on, and install it onto the new one. 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.

Here are the facts pertaining to activation:

Piracy Basics - Microsoft Product Activation
http://www.microsoft.com/piracy/basics/activation/

Windows Product Activation (WPA)
http://www.aumha.org/a/wpa.htm


Bruce Chambers

--
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