No Beep on Boot Up

Hi!

It's not as easy as it was a decade ago, but, hey, this ain't DOS we're
running anymore.

I know I'd feel uneasy about repairing an XP installation in that way. It
might work fine, but I have a "thing" about keeping a clean and well
maintained software setup on my computers.

OEM licenses for Windows are supposed to be tied forevermore to the machine
that their matching COA is stuck to. If it dies, so does the license.

The reality is a bit different, not that I'd know anything about it at all.
g I once rebuilt an eMachine with a cleanly installed OEM copy of Windows
XP only to find that the motherboard was dead. So I trashed that board and
popped an Intel D945GCLF Atom board in there. I fully expected that the
Activation Police would tell me that I'd been bad and would have to make
that five minute call to M$.

I let the machine sit for a few months before replacing the board.

Activation passed without incident. Still surprises me to this day.

William

"William R. Walsh" m
wrote in message news:jrf9l.459921$TT4.280651@attbi_s22...
Hi!

It's not as easy as it was a decade ago, but, hey, this ain't DOS we're
running anymore.

I know I'd feel uneasy about repairing an XP installation in that way. It
might work fine, but I have a "thing" about keeping a clean and well
maintained software setup on my computers.

OEM licenses for Windows are supposed to be tied forevermore to the
machine
that their matching COA is stuck to. If it dies, so does the license.

The PC's still run just fine, and after all the security patches, SP's,
etc., have been applied, old files are cleaned up, if not automatically,
then manually using something like CCleaner. And there is nothing shady or
illegal about it. If there was, M$ wouldn't re-issue a key. I know software
can be hacked and keygens found, but I'd rather stay above board. Some of
the PC's I've repaired was because of the aftereffect of such practices.

The reality is a bit different, not that I'd know anything about it at
all.
g I once rebuilt an eMachine with a cleanly installed OEM copy of
Windows
XP only to find that the motherboard was dead. So I trashed that board and
popped an Intel D945GCLF Atom board in there. I fully expected that the
Activation Police would tell me that I'd been bad and would have to make
that five minute call to M$.

I let the machine sit for a few months before replacing the board.

Activation passed without incident. Still surprises me to this day.

William


That IS surprising. But, as Ben was saying, if the chipset is close enough
to the original, there shouldn't be a problem. I replaced a video card and
sound card in the same day once and had to reactivate XP. Strange that it
happened, but was no big deal

SC Tom

"William R. Walsh" m
wrote in message news:jrf9l.459921$TT4.280651@attbi_s22...
Hi!

It's not as easy as it was a decade ago, but, hey, this ain't DOS we're
running anymore.

I know I'd feel uneasy about repairing an XP installation in that way. It
might work fine, but I have a "thing" about keeping a clean and well
maintained software setup on my computers.

OEM licenses for Windows are supposed to be tied forevermore to the
machine
that their matching COA is stuck to. If it dies, so does the license.

The reality is a bit different, not that I'd know anything about it at
all.
g I once rebuilt an eMachine with a cleanly installed OEM copy of
Windows
XP only to find that the motherboard was dead. So I trashed that board and
popped an Intel D945GCLF Atom board in there. I fully expected that the
Activation Police would tell me that I'd been bad and would have to make
that five minute call to M$.

I let the machine sit for a few months before replacing the board.

Activation passed without incident. Still surprises me to this day.

William



I bought my son a Gateway 2000 Athlon computer and it didn't last long. I
believe it came with Windows Me and I upgraded to XP. I then built my first
computer and I used that copy of XP with no activation problems. I
eventually replaced the motherboard and drives in that computer. During the
activation I was told to call MS. I called and a lady with an Indian accent
asked me for my license number. I gave it to her and told her what I was
doing. She didn't care what I was doing and cut me off. She told me it's
fine. During my problems with the Gateway computer I reinstalled and
reformatted several times.

I have 3 computers and each one has a legal copy of XP.


Mark