This is more of a warning than a request for help.

I was under the impression, (after reading various publications on the web) that it was OK to clone XP onto a new disc as long as it remained in the same machine.

Problem....

Although nothing has been changed other than fitting a larger capacity HD (which is a must these days) Windows now requires reactivation.

I don't have the original disc, the machine is quite old, and the reactivation process has been reduced to only three days.
Norton also needs to be reactivated despite the cloned disc being an exact copy of the original.

I have no choice now but to continue with the original HD which is only 20G (and is full) or purchase a new copy of XP.
Or I suppose I could use my new HD as a slave drive which, luckily, I'm able to do as I have a spare bay in my machine.
But should I have to do this?

While I appreciate that Microsoft had to find a way to combat the piracy issue surely minor changes should be permitted without the need for reactivation.It seems that this used to be the case but Microsoft have now gone to extreme lengths, and in the process alienating their previously happy customers.
PC's and their components are constantly evolving and upgrades are an essential part of that process.

Clearly the HD in question is in the original machine and Microsoft could quite easily devise a process to check this.
How many people have wives like mine who don't realise the importance of certain CD's and use them to put their coffee cup on?
At least that's how my XP disc looked before I tossed it in the bin.

In hindsight I should have held on to the product key but I was a little naive and had no idea I would run into this problem.

So be warned, a lot of the information provided online is false.

have you the original COA?
does windows give you a phone number to call to activate?

Did the machine come with XP pre-installed on it? or is this something that you purchased?

If it came pre-installed, usually there is a sticker on the back/side/top of machine which has your product key. If not, there are programs out there that allow you to view your CD key which is currently installed on the machine...

Right now I am on my laptop in my work truck, cant remember how to see CD KEY in use, and this machine is Vista, I know where to go on XP but cant remember, will get back to you when i get home and get on my XP machine.

If you really want to get started, I usually use a program called Aida32 which is freeware and a decent system info program. Hope this link takes you there

http://www.majorgeeks.com/download181.html

If you download it, Unzip it, and i run the aida32.exe file right out of the zip and it loads, and then go to the operating system tab and then click on the operating system. You should see a title about halfway down that says Product Key: XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX which is your windows product key installed on that machine.

Belarc will also have your software license keys. XP; Norton; et al.

Any substantial upgrade of hardware requires re-activation. Nothing has changed here.

The Operating System hard drive would be considered substantial.


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