XP Home OEM activate problem after hw replacement

Hello,

Shortly the problem is:
Broken motherboard --> replaleced with new one (not the samekind)
Windows XP Home OEM requires activation before You can log in to XP.
And how this can be done if You cannot get in to XP? Is there any way to fix
it if I don't want to rebuild the whole machine?

Thanks

Jutsuf wrote:
> Shortly the problem is:
> Broken motherboard --> replaleced with new one (not the samekind)
> Windows XP Home OEM requires activation before You can log in to XP.
> And how this can be done if You cannot get in to XP? Is there any
> way to fix it if I don't want to rebuild the whole machine?

Depending on who you talk to - you may be purchasing a new license for
Windows XP...

In any case - you need to performa a repair installation. If what you are
saying is that you do not have access to your installation media (a copy of
the actual installation media for Windows XP (OEM in this case)) - then you
might have a problem...

How to Perform a Windows XP Repair Install
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm

How to perform an in-place upgrade (reinstallation) of Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/315341

Followed by:

Updates are not installed successfully from Windows Update,
from Microsoft Update, or by using Automatic Updates after
you repair a Windows XP installation
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/943144

--
Shenan Stanley
MS-MVP
--
How To Ask Questions The Smart Way
http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html

Hi,

Original Media and code are available. I had this same situation once before
some time ago and repair installation didn't work. SO I had to reinstall the
whole thing (I saved files before that), but I'll try that again. Thanks

Fixing others machines - Never ending job




"Shenan Stanley" wrote:

> Jutsuf wrote:
> > Shortly the problem is:
> > Broken motherboard --> replaleced with new one (not the samekind)
> > Windows XP Home OEM requires activation before You can log in to XP.
> > And how this can be done if You cannot get in to XP? Is there any
> > way to fix it if I don't want to rebuild the whole machine?
>
> Depending on who you talk to - you may be purchasing a new license for
> Windows XP...
>
> In any case - you need to performa a repair installation. If what you are
> saying is that you do not have access to your installation media (a copy of
> the actual installation media for Windows XP (OEM in this case)) - then you
> might have a problem...
>
> How to Perform a Windows XP Repair Install
> http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm
>
> How to perform an in-place upgrade (reinstallation) of Windows XP
> http://support.microsoft.com/kb/315341
>
> Followed by:
>
> Updates are not installed successfully from Windows Update,
> from Microsoft Update, or by using Automatic Updates after
> you repair a Windows XP installation
> http://support.microsoft.com/kb/943144
>
> --
> Shenan Stanley
> MS-MVP
> --
> How To Ask Questions The Smart Way
> http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html
>
>
>

Jutsuf wrote:
> Hello,
>
> Shortly the problem is:
> Broken motherboard --> replaleced with new one (not the samekind)
> Windows XP Home OEM requires activation before You can log in to XP.
> And how this can be done if You cannot get in to XP? Is there any way to fix
> it if I don't want to rebuild the whole machine?
>
> Thanks
>


Normally, and assuming a retail license (many factory-installed OEM
installations are BIOS-locked to a specific motherboard chipset and
therefore are *not* transferable to a new motherboard - check yours
*before* starting), unless the new motherboard is virtually identical
(same chipset, same IDE controllers, same BIOS version, etc.) to the one
on which the 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/directo...;EN-US;Q315341

Changing a Motherboard or Moving a Hard Drive with WinXP Installed
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/moving_xp.html

The "why" is quite simple, really, and has nothing to do with
licensing issues, per se; it's a purely technical matter, at this point.
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
reasons that the entire WinNT/2K/XP OS family is so much more stable
than the Win9x group.

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

This will also probably require re-activation, unless you have a
Volume Licensed version of WinXP Pro installed. 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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