Janet, > Apparently a computer that doesnt have an activated O/S may > eventually stop working. I watched this programme a week or so back.
Exactly! > Activation is Microsoft's way of making sure you have a valid copy > of Windows XP; without it, XP only works for a month and then stops > working. It is possible to copy your own wpa.dbl file from Windows\system32 folder of an activated copy of XP to a floppy etc. then reinstall XP then copy the wpa file back to that folder. I have tried this a few times and it seems to have worked sometimes. > To activate, you type in the Product Key Actually you don't need the CD Key to activate unless possibly if you have activated too may times and you have to do so by phone. You activate by choosing that option from the activation icon on the notification area near the clock. Unless you have activated too many times. It is a painless process. > code which is on a sticker on the side of your computer or, That's where you get it from an OEM machine where XP is already installed. Even then if you use your restore disks you probably don't even have to enter the product code or activate. One thing that might be of interest re: repairing XP without affecting your settings. I have had computers that allowed me to just reinstall XP without disturbing my settings or installed applications. I checked today to see if that was an option with my older VAIO P4 and it was not. I'm not sure about my newer Sony. OTOH, on another machine, a VIA, I had installed Linux on the second HD of that machine, when I removed Linux I thought I would see whether the XP install disk would fix the master boot record. It did not, as I figured. I had to use a boot floppy. I ran fdisk /mbr which fixed that problem I learned about that long ago but couldn't remember whether it work on NTFS partitions. > if you bought a boxed copy of XP from a shop, in the box. Every one > of those numbers should be different, so it's easy to tell if > someone pirates a copy. You mean if you try to activate and it fails? What if the pirate included the correct product key. I don't know whether MS will know anything but whether the product key you enter matches the one on the disk. And you would know this long before you tried to activate XP. > If you do not have an internet connection handy you will be able to > phone up and someone on the phone will give you the activation code > there. I only had to 'phone home' once, after I had reinstalled my first XP copy many times on the same machine. They gave me a new, longer product code. But later I was able to reinstall that copy with the original code. I think that MS must have moderated their stance slightly and made the process a wee bit easier. > However, there are a couple of other scenarios I want to make you > aware of. > If you have bought a completely new computer, or if you have made > substantial upgrades to your old one, maybe you needed to replace > broken components, or upgrade the graphics card, you may have to > ring Microsoft to re-activate Windows XP. That is the standard assumption but I only once had to make the phone call, see above. And I have had those copies of XP on several machines. For one thing if I reinstall it I sometimes can't recall which copy I used previously. But I never have a problem when I activate after reinstalling with a different copy. Considering the size of the XP activation data base, I think that the process may not be quite as stringent as we've been made to believe. > There is one very important exception, which counts if you have > bought a computer with Windows already installed, and that is > probably most XP users. That copy is only valid for use on that > computer alone. That seems to be so. > According to Microsoft's rules, you are not allowed to transfer > that copy of Windows over to a new computer, even if you're not > using the old one anymore. One thought has come to mind related to this. What if you use drive copy and copy your HD to the one on another computer that doesn't have XP installed? I guess you could test that by moving the whole drive to another computer to see what happens. Jim ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Most low income households are not online. Help bridge the digital divide today! http://us.click.yahoo.com/cd_AJB/QnQLAA/TtwFAA/67folB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> If you have any questions or problems with any aspect of this site, please feel free to contact me directly [EMAIL PROTECTED] Please do not post personal issues directly to the group. To unsubscribe from this list, send an email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Thank you for using A-1 Computer Tech Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/A-1-Computer_Tech/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
