Rebuilding.

[kRze]

Rebuilding so to say. New mobo/cpu/memory/gpu/psu/case etc.. I think the only things I will be keeping are my old hard-drive which is a 74G WD Raptor, which only has windows xp pro on it and hopefully windows xp. My question is after rebuilding everything in my new case I wanted to reformat my Raptor and put a fresh install in windows into... but would I have to buy a new license since its like a new computer? Or what do you pro's tell the microsoft people when you do major upgrades to keep the same windows activated instead of buying a new license?

[Alathald]

Depends on if it's an OEM or a Retail version of Windows. If it's OEM I believe the activation code is tied to the motherboard but with Retail you should be able to reinstall the OS to a new system without much trouble.

[kRze]

Yes, it was an OEM version - Shoot... So if I called them with my activation code, they would probably know its a new mobo huh.

[martini161]

was it an OEM you bought or an OEM from some place like dell or HP?

[smack323]

i had an gateway with OEm windows XP on it. When I built my new computer I used the recovery disks that came with my gateway to install XP on my new system. I needed to call Microsoft to get my new authorization code but thats about it. They really didnt ask to many questions.

[bubba]

Technically yes you need a new OEM license for each machine you build.

BUT if your not keeping the old box, just building a new one, you can install it with your XP disk and when it come up for activation it should go right on through with no issues unless you have done it more than 3-4 times with the same SN. My test box for work has been install so many times its not funny. The auto validation doesn't work for it anymore, so you choose the by phone option and 15-20 min later your done. When it asks you why you are reinstalling it say replaced the hard drive.

[kRze]

Thanks for the input, I just decided to grab Vista Prem. x64 since Im basically rebuilding everything might as well get DX10. I could just leave XP on this old rig.

Cheers.