Ok- basically I had an old computer that had windows ME on it, and it wasnt working at all.  so i took my copy of windows XP that i had from my new computer and put it on the one that used to have ME.  Now the old one works, but it keeps telling me that I must activate XP.  what should I do?Hi, Sam.

Unlike Windows Me, Windows XP requires activation.  After 30 days you will only be able to use the operating system in Safe Mode until you activate it.  It's Bill Gates way of fighting pirates.  

If your system is connected to the Internet, all you have to do is click the button to register over the Internet.  If it is not, call the phone number to register that way.  Have your Windows XP Product Code number ready when you call.  

Regards,
Doc Quote

Ok- basically I had an old computer that had windows ME on it, and it wasnt working at all.  so i took my copy of windows XP that i had from my new computer and put it on the one that used to have ME.  Now the old one works, but it keeps telling me that I must activate XP.  what should I do?

If i activate it, will i be able to use it on my other comp still?

What’s the idea of WPA?

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). Microsoft believes that this has been subject to much casual abuse. WPA is a MEANS of ensuring that a single copy is not installed on more than a single machine.

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. 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. More is said below about OEM copies provided preinstalled on a new computer

At subsequent boots, Windows checks to see that it is still running on hardware that it can recognise as being the same. If it does not match well enough, you will be unable to do more than backup files until you call Microsoft to explain — for example, that the old machine broke down and had to be rebuilt — and get a new release code.

What hardware gets checked?

The WPA system checks ten categories of hardware:

   1. Display Adapter
   2. SCSI Adapter
   3. IDE Adapter (effectively the motherboard)
   4. Network Adapter (NIC) and its MAC Address
   5. RAM Amount Range (i.e., 0-64mb, 64-128mb, etc.)
   6. Processor Type
   7. Processor Serial Number
   8. Hard Drive Device
   9. Hard Drive Volume Serial Number (VSN)
  10. CD-ROM / CD-RW / DVD-ROM

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. 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.

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

The hardware is checked each time Windows boots, to ensure that it is still on the same machine. 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. If your hardware is substantially the same, this will be done by an automated call without your needing to talk to anyone.

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 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.

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. So, for example, you can install a new video display card every month for as long as you like.

Note that it appears that if you boot with a device disabled (disabled — not removed), the device is not found in the enumeration — so if, say, you disable a network connection which uses the NIC and then reboot, you may be missing its three votes and find that a new activation is needed. If you are doing such things, take the HINT 3 in What about formatting a hard disk? below, and restore the files concerned once the NIC is back in service.

What if I make too many changes?

If, on Windows startup, there are not the required seven Yes votes, the system will, in the original version of Windows XP, only boot to Safe Mode. You will be required to reactivate by a phone call to Microsoft. You will have to write down a 50-digit number, call into the activation center on a toll-free number that will be given to you, read and check back the number you recorded — and explain the circumstances. In exchange, you will be given a 42-digit number to type in. This will reactivate your copy of Windows.

This is made easier if Windows XP Service Pack 1 has been installed: The system will continue to boot normally for three days, during which time you will be able to contact the activation center via the net. If the extra changes have been removed, or if 120 days have passed since the original activation, you will be able to use the automatic process once more