AndrewC Posted February 10, 2006 Report Share Posted February 10, 2006 So, back in 2001 I bought a new Dell box. I was supposed to get Win2000 with it, but they shipped it with Win98. Luckily they gave me a Windows 2000 reinstallation disk when I complained, so I got windows 2000 Pro on my computer.Last year my hard drive started wearing out so I got a new one, transfered everything over, got rid of Win2000 on the old disk and installed it on the new one.Now I've decided to build my own system. This means a new motherboard and processor, but I want to keep my nice new hard drive with all my nice files on it. I've heard that I can buy an upgrade copy of Win XP, upgrade my current machine, move the HD into the new machine and then register Windows XP for that hardware before the 30 day registration deadline.Is this possible? And is this legal? Will upgrading my OS from an OEM license mean that my license is no longer OEM, or is it now an OEM license on my new machine, or what? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scarecrow Man Posted February 10, 2006 Report Share Posted February 10, 2006 That is a good question. OEM versions are versions that have been licenced to a manufacturer for resale. They are FULL versions of an operating system.I do not see any reason why this cannot be done, but I have also not tried it.You mention having a Windows 98 disk, the XP Upgrade will also work with Windows 98, ME or 2000. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-pops- Posted February 10, 2006 Report Share Posted February 10, 2006 A problem you may have is from installing XP on one machine and then moving to another. WXP looks for installed hardware during installation and if that is suddenly changed by moving to another machine, XP may object.I would do as Scarecrow Man suggests and load an older version of Windows and then your XP upgrade. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndrewC Posted February 10, 2006 Author Report Share Posted February 10, 2006 I guess I could have been more clear. When Dell shipped the system, there was Win 98 on the hard drive but I didn't actually get any CDs. They later mailed me a CD with "Reinstallation CD W2K Dell" on it, which I used to install Windows 2000. Switching to Windows 98 would also involve switching back to the old file formatting and rasining added complications with keeping the 30 or 40 Gigs or so of hard to replace music, movies, and pictures I have on my Hard Drive.I understand that WXP may complain or object when moved to new hardware. The question is, though, would giving it the update CD and telling it to do a repair install be enough to placate it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-pops- Posted February 10, 2006 Report Share Posted February 10, 2006 Another problem is the fact it is a Dell machine.Dell use all sorts of both software and hardware modified to their own specifications.Personally, I would forget about the old Dell system. If you are building a new machine, get an OEM version of XP (which will most likely be cheaper than an upgrade) and do a straight install from that.If you want to retain files from your old machine, XP has the Files and Settings Transfer Wizard which will help in the transfer process.BTW, do you have these files backed up? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rong Posted February 10, 2006 Report Share Posted February 10, 2006 Why not get the full oem windows XP home/pro with the new bits, as it's not much more than the upgrade. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scarecrow Man Posted February 10, 2006 Report Share Posted February 10, 2006 If it is a "recovery" disk, you cannot use it to upgrade to Windows XP.As -pops- has suggested, an OEM version of Windows is quite cheep. If you purchase Windows XP while purchasing hardware, the seller can give you what is know as an OEM version.Other than that, You will need a full version of another Windows to do an upgrade. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
r4may Posted February 10, 2006 Report Share Posted February 10, 2006 The best way is as 'pops' suggested purchase an OEM Windows XP pro when you buy some of your hardwareand do a Clean Install on your hard drive.You should copy/backup all your 'nice files' to either a separate partition on your Hard disk or to a CD, so you can put them back on the new XP. but if any of them are application programs you will have to re install them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluecow Posted February 10, 2006 Report Share Posted February 10, 2006 I bought this from ebuyer win xpsp2 for under £60 No hardware is required; check the link!!!!It will also install on a bare drive without asking for win 98 or anything else. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndrewC Posted February 16, 2006 Author Report Share Posted February 16, 2006 What actually happened:So, in the end I did what I was thinking of doing and it all worked out just fine. I got the upgrade disc and upgraded my old box to WinXP, and as I was doing so noted that the liscence agreement definitly said that what I was planning on doing was legal. It was basically, "here is this new copy of Windows. You can transfer it, but only have one working copy at a time." So that worked out well.I took my drive out of the old box and put it into the new one. I booted from the CD and did a repair install, and when it was done I had a normal windows desktop. I then installed all the remaining drivers, got back on the net, and now I'm typeing this to tell you all what happened before going off to update everything. Thanks for the input (even if I didn't take your advice). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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