New to XP and have some activation questions

My wife and I run an online business so major upgrade's are difficult as I just don't get alot of time with the box.

I'm in the process of going from 98 to XP. I bought a new mainboard just so I could have an extra rig to install XP and all of our software on so I could do a swap - new rig for old.

If I install XP on the new board with some older parts off my shelf and then slowly swap in all my top-of-the-line components from the old rig, isn't XP going to give me trouble related to activation or whatever? Too many parts have changed? Can I avoid this by activating XP after all the new parts have been swapped in?

And if I don't activate XP doesn't it stop working after a period of time? I just started with XP so I don't know much about it.

 

Hi Chiles,

You have 30 days until activation. Within that 30 days, change all you want.

After that, depending on what the changes are, if you trip WPA (windows product activation) because you've changed the "profile" of the system, you will have to call the WPA clearinghouse for a new activation code.

The list in that "profile" is: video card - primary HD - disk controller - CD-rom drive - network adapter - CPU - Ram.

I'm not clear how many changes to the above list will trigger the need for a new code.

A CD-rom change all by itself, for example, would not.

If you replace or upgrade 4 or more componenents in a period of 120 days or less, that will definately require a new code.

Equipment such as Zip drives, digital cameras, or the like are exempt.

You can reload the OS as many times as you wish on the same "profile" as discussed above.

Regards - Charles

 

If you were to reinstall Windows XP, you normally must re-activate it as well, even if your hardware is unchanged... luckily, there's a way around this.

First, your hardware between reinstalls must NOT change..

XP keeps the activation information in a file named "wpa.dbl ", which can be found in _:\WINDOWS\System32\

After your activating Windows XP, back this file up to a floppy or some other type of media.

Now, if you ever need (or want) to reinstall Windows XP, go through the whole procedure as you normally would. Once you get into Windows itself, copy the file from your media back into _:\WINDOWS\System32\... You may need to be in safe mode to do this, however.

 

Hello dtvso,

Your right, have to go thru the activation. But the process is rather painless and fast, and may be faster than going thru this:

"Now, if you ever need (or want) to reinstall Windows XP, go through the whole procedure as you normally would. Once you get into Windows itself, copy the file from your media back into _:\WINDOWS\System32\... You may need to be in safe mode to do this, however. "

So my question is: what's the point?

Regards - Charles

 

Thanks for the replies. Bummed to hear about video card and CD-ROM drives being on the list. I change those like I change underwear...well sort of.

I just installed XP and went through about 15-20 pages of tweaks that took about 1-1.5 hours and I haven't even performed the registry tweaks or the enable/disable services junk. But the time invested was worth it, you learn alot about XP - mostly where to find stuff and it does eliminate alot of the cr@p you don't want or need.

 

Hi, Chiles ~

You have nothing to worry about. Even if you change major hardware after activation, Microsoft has been surprisingly compliant in providing a new key - I've done it over 15 times w/o hassle.