One XP disc on multiple comuters

A

A2TheRizzo

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jan 18, 2006
Messages
282
I've heard of people doing this. I have an Inspiron E1505 coming tomorrow, with XP home, and I have an OEM disc of XP Pro. Since Dell loads their systems with tons of bloatware, I just figured I could upgrade to a better OS and get rid of it all. I'm just wondering if I use the same cd-key would I be able to have them both activated?

Mods, if this is against the rules please let me know and I will delete this thread. :)
 
So the XP Pro you have is already installed on another machine? If so, you legitimately can't do it, since OEM discs are tied to the machine they were installed on.

Dell will probably give you a disc that you can reinstall Windows XP Home with though, so you can use that to format and reinstall.
 
No, you cannot use the same key on multiple computers.

(this is the entire reason the activation system exists in the first place)
 
Ok, someone told me that I could just call microsoft and tell them I replaced my mobo.
 
The Dell laptop should come with a seperate WinXP Home CD you can use to reinstall XP Home nice and clean on that same laptop; Dell doesn't include "restore CDs" like they and other companies did in years past with simple hard drive images on them.

But no, you can't use the OEM key on the sticker on the laptop for anything else since the Dell version of XP Home you're getting is tied specifically to that Dell machine. OEM versions and such...

The Dell version is pre-activated for that laptop too, if Dell still maintains that particular habit.

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