Hello Jeffrey,

The operating system can be legitimately transferred to new hardware. The
End-User License Agreement (EULA) defines hardware as a single computer
system, or the computer system with which the hardware operates if the
hardware is a system component. This is assuming you comply with the other
terms of the EULA, primarily that of having it installed on only one system
at any given time. This means that Windows XP Pro would need to be
uninstalled from the Compaq before installing it on the Acer. You could, in
turn, reinstall XP Home on the Compaq.

Microsoft Windows XP Professional END-USER LICENSE AGREEMENT:
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/eula.mspx

Then you have the problem of 'how' to do it. You cannot use the factory
recovery CD from the Compaq to install on the Acer, or vice-versa. You would
need a retail or OEM CD. If you know someone who has one, you can use it
(with your product key). If not, you would have to purchase it.

A retail or OEM install on the Acer shouldn't be a problem as Setup will see
it as an upgrade and give you the option of the type of install you want.
This will allow you to do an upgrade and retain all the Acer applications
from the factory install. Not so with the Compaq. Windows doesn't support
upgrading from Pro to Home and will only allow you to do a clean install, so
you would loose all the Compaq preinstalled software. Of course at this
point, if you strictly abide by the EULA, the Compaq would not have XP Pro
on it. Tough decisions to make.

You didn't mention how you use this notebook. In view of the above you may
want to consider leaving things as they are. Or other options such as the
use of an external hard drive or external optical drive (DVD-RW) with the
Compaq.

Sven Swanson, Sr.

----- Original Message -----
From: "Jeffrey W. Frazier" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Saturday, August 20, 2005 1:06 PM
Subject: [PCBUILD] Replacing Win XP Home on new computer with Win XP Pro
pre-installed on old computer


I bought a new notebook computer to replace my old notebook -- a
Compaq Evo N1000v -- that came with Win XP Pro pre-installed. Win
XP Home was pre-installed on my new notebook. I want to transfer
the OS from my old notebook to my new notebook, an Acer Aspire
3502WLCi. (Incidentally, the old laptop uses, of course, the NTFS
file system, while my new laptop, surprisingly -- at least to me
-- employs the FAT32 file system.)

I've heard from one source that the Windows XP Pro license, as it
applies to pre-installed systems, prohibits transferring it to
another computer, even though the original computer on which it
was installed is no longer in use. Is this true?

If so and if I am stuck with the Win XP Home edition on my new
laptop, would it be beneficial to convert its FAT32 file system
to NTFS using the Command Prompt and executing the command: C:\>
CONVERT C: /fs:ntfs, where C: is a name of the drive I want to
convert?

Thank you very, very much.

Jeffrey W. Frazier

        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