I have done hardware upgrades a couple of times and reactivation for XP was required after starting up with the new hardware. You are given a few days in which to reactivate. You call a toll free number at MS and, after a few questions, you will be given a new activation code. I had no problems and was treated nicely. Have fun with your upgrade.

Tom Mayer

-----Original Message-----
From: "Paul A. Shippert" <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Feb 19, 2005 4:37 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [PCBUILD] Mboard & processor change and activation

Greetings list--

I will (in the not too distant future) be replacing a motherboard, processor
and RAM in a Windows XP Pro Service Pack 2 computer. The change will be from
a Pentium III 1GB to a Pentium 4 3+ GB processor, a higher end ABIT
motherboard, and 1GB of DDR400 (DDR2) RAM from 256 MB of SDRAM (PC2700). I
know this will necessitate running setup again, as there will be major
changes to the HAL and so forth. My questions are as follows: Will setup run
properly from my original OEM installation disk, now that SP2 is installed?
When it comes to the point in the setup routine where activation occurs,
will there be a problem (with MS) due to the new hardware?

Thanks for whatever wisdom you folks can provide.

Paul A. Shippert
Library Media Specialist
Margaret Brent Middle School
----------------------------------------------------------------------
"Far more creativity, today, goes into the
marketing of products than into the products
themselves, athletic shoes or feature films."
William Gibson
----------------------------------------------------------------------

               The NOSPIN Group Promotions is now offering
              Mandrake Linux or Red Hat Linux CD sets along
             with the OpenOffice CD...  at a great price!!!
             http://freepctech.com/goodies/promotions.shtml

        The NOSPIN Group has added a new feature on our website,
           web based bulletinboard for questions and answers:
              Visit our sister website at http://nospin.com