
- Changing serial number windows xp install#
- Changing serial number windows xp code#
- Changing serial number windows xp license#
- Changing serial number windows xp mac#
Changing serial number windows xp install#
So, for example, you can install a new video display card every month for as long as you like. If you change the device in any category, you have lost that Yes vote - but will not lose it any more thereafter if you make changes in that category again. If you keep the motherboard, with the same amount of RAM and processor, and an always present cheap NIC (available for $10 or less), you can change everything else as much as you like. What does ‘substantially the same’ mean? WPA asks for ‘votes’ from each of these ten categories: ‘Is the same device still around, or has there never been one?’ Seven Yes votes means all is well - and a NIC, present originally and not changed, counts for three yes votes! Minor cards, like sound cards, don’t come into the mix at all. If your hardware is substantially the same, this will be done by an automated call without your needing to talk to anyone. Also, if you subsequently perform a complete format and reinstall of Windows, Microsoft’s activation center will have to be contacted again because the information held on the machine itself (the number previously written to your hard drive) will have been wiped out by reformatting the hard drive. The hardware is checked each time Windows boots, to ensure that it is still on the same machine. If Service Pack 1 has been installed, the entire Product Key is also transmitted: This can then be checked against a list of known pirated keys Initially, this is sent to Microsoft in an automatic dial-up, together with the Product ID number derived from the 25-character unique Product Key used in setting up Windows. It then calculates and records a number based on the first device of each type that was found during setup, and stores this number on your hard drive.
Changing serial number windows xp mac#

More is said below about OEM copies provided preinstalled on a new computerĪt subsequent boots, Windows checks to see that it is still running on hardware that it can recognise as being the same.
Changing serial number windows xp code#
This involves the computer dialing in and giving some information about the hardware on which Windows is installed, receiving in return a release code which will be recorded on the system.

So, within the first 30 days after installing Windows XP, you must get the system ‘activated’ if you are to be able to go on using it. WPA is a means of ensuring that a single copy is not installed on more than a single machine. Microsoft believes that this has been subject to much casual abuse.
Changing serial number windows xp license#
The Microsoft License for use of Windows has always been limited to allowing installation on only a single machine (and that excludes having the same copy installed on a laptop as well as a desktop machine: only MS Office is licensed for the combination). This page tries to fill that gap by explaining WPA in a straightforward, detailed way - and to show that it will be a lot less trouble to most people than many have feared. But the rampant misinformation is understandable, because it is hard for the general consumer to find a simple yet comprehensive explanation of just what WPA is. WPA is a fairly easy-going check when Windows boots, confirming that it is still installed on the same computer as last time it checked.

There are a great many rumors, and much misinformation, from which you might be led to think that WPA is going to call Microsoft every day and say just what you are doing with your computer that, if you make any changes at all to your computer hardware, the machine will be instantly disabled and that WPA is a sneaky way for Microsoft to store personal information about you or your computer, or to begin charging you a monthly fee for your continued use of Windows XP. One new feature in Windows XP that has caused great concern is Windows Product Activation (WPA).
