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[bearrfoot]

Hello,
I am building up a new computer and want to load the same Win XP OS from my old computer to the new one. After the new one is set up and running reliably, I'll shut down the old one, so I should not need to buy another copy of the OS. But i want to keep using the old computer until the new one is up and running, which will likely take a couple weeks at least.

I've started to load up the new one from the Win CD, and got ready to start downloading Windows updates. Then the message pops up that sez I MUST validate the program before I can get the updates. BUT... if I validate the new computer at this point, is the great God of Redmond going to disable my old computer immediately...?

This would be a disaster as I need one computer online at all times for business purposes.

How does one do this validation so no down time occurs...?
Thanks...!

[keith sketchley]

Back up your data thoroughly, including data squirreled away in program or settings folders (like Outlook does).

I am not an expert, but I doubt validating the new installation will disable the old, I don’t think Microsoft was that clever with XP.

But XP is clunky – try to change the product key to what it should be (from the single one that IBM/Lenovo recovery CDs use), you’ll have “too much fun”. Apparently easier in Windows 7.

[bearrfoot]

Thanks keith,
I don't use Outlook, so won't go there. I've decided to stick with XP as long as MS supports it - sometime in 2014 I think. Now that I've seen Win 8, I'm guessing W7 will be my next update. I have zero interest in booting up any kind of computer except from a comfy chair with a BIG screen in front of me....!

Anyhow I've got the new machine pretty much loaded up the hard way, just by installing the old HD as a non-boot drive and manually copying directories over. I've never been able to get good results with MS tools for backup/restore or for moving to a new machine. It's interesting that when I did boot up the old HD in the new box one time, MS put up a message telling me they detected "significant new hardware" and gave me 3 days to re-validate. I'm guessing they detected a different s/n on the motherboard.

For some unknown reason, the new install (from the same CD as the old - a Dell "reinstall CD") set up the administrator's username as "Owner" rather than "Administrator" like it did in the old machine. No problem there, but I sure don't know why or how it would set up differently than the first time... Weird...! I changed it to my old username (still administrator account) and don't expect to set up any other accounts. All seems to be working OK now. Still have stuff to load...

The Dell CD came with a long-gone Dell computer from which I have the label with product key on it. I'm expecting it to work just fine when I validate the new machine just like I did on the old one. But I'm hoping that I can switch the new HD between the two hardware machines and MS will simply demand a "re-validation" each time... so I have a standby machine ready to go that I can just slap the HD into.