I have three Windows XP machines here at my house. All three of which,
obviously, came with their own set of copies of the preinstalled software.
All three sets were promptly thrown in a desk drawer without marking which
computer they came with.

Here's my question: If I format the HD on one of my computers and use the
"wrong" Windows disk (despite having a correct, good, and legal serial)
will I have any problems?

I heard a rumor somewhere that the disk now has to match the serial number.

TIA


--
Karl Groves
http://www.8pistons.com
http://www.thehotrodclassifieds.com
http://www.grayscalecms.com
http://www.karlcore.com

On Wed, 05 Sep 2007 17:54:25 GMT, Karl Groves
<karl@NOSPAMkarlcore.com> wrote:

>I have three Windows XP machines here at my house. All three of which,
>obviously, came with their own set of copies of the preinstalled software.
>All three sets were promptly thrown in a desk drawer without marking which
>computer they came with.
>
>Here's my question: If I format the HD on one of my computers and use the
>"wrong" Windows disk (despite having a correct, good, and legal serial)
>will I have any problems?
>
>I heard a rumor somewhere that the disk now has to match the serial number.
>
Why not download Jellybean KeyFinder and let it tell you which serial
is installed on it now, so you can be sure to put the same one back?

On Wed, 05 Sep 2007 17:54:25 GMT, Karl Groves
<karl@NOSPAMkarlcore.com> wrote:

>I have three Windows XP machines here at my house. All three of which,
>obviously, came with their own set of copies of the preinstalled software.
>All three sets were promptly thrown in a desk drawer without marking which
>computer they came with.
>
>Here's my question: If I format the HD on one of my computers and use the
>"wrong" Windows disk (despite having a correct, good, and legal serial)
>will I have any problems?
>
>I heard a rumor somewhere that the disk now has to match the serial number.
>
Why not download Jellybean KeyFinder and let it tell you which serial
is installed on it now, so you can be sure to put the same one back?

On Wed, 05 Sep 2007 17:54:25 GMT, Karl Groves put finger to keyboard
and typed:

>I have three Windows XP machines here at my house. All three of which,
>obviously, came with their own set of copies of the preinstalled software.
>All three sets were promptly thrown in a desk drawer without marking which
>computer they came with.
>
>Here's my question: If I format the HD on one of my computers and use the
>"wrong" Windows disk (despite having a correct, good, and legal serial)
>will I have any problems?

Yes, probably. But you can find out the serial number by
right-clicking on the "my computer" icon and selecting "properties" -
it's under the "general" tab - so you can then match that up with the
disks. Even if you've already formatted one of the machines, you can
work out which one it is by checking the others and using a process of
elimination :-)

>I heard a rumor somewhere that the disk now has to match the serial number.

Not specifically the disk, but an OEM version of Windows won't
re-activate when re-installed if the hardware has changed too much
from the first time it was activated. If it's in an entirely different
machine then the chances of it considering the hardware to be
significantly different are obviously fairly high!

Mark
--
http://www.BritishSurnames.co.uk - What does your surname say about you?
"All this talk of getting old, it's getting me down my love"

Mark Goodge <usenet@listmail.good-stuff.co.uk> wrote in
news:2hutd3p63np4e36q1qbbkvb08df0lme1v9@news.marks house.net:

> On Wed, 05 Sep 2007 17:54:25 GMT, Karl Groves put finger to keyboard
> and typed:
>
>>I have three Windows XP machines here at my house. All three of
>>which, obviously, came with their own set of copies of the
>>preinstalled software. All three sets were promptly thrown in a desk
>>drawer without marking which computer they came with.
>>
>>Here's my question: If I format the HD on one of my computers and use
>>the "wrong" Windows disk (despite having a correct, good, and legal
>>serial) will I have any problems?
>
> Yes, probably. But you can find out the serial number by
> right-clicking on the "my computer" icon and selecting "properties" -
> it's under the "general" tab - so you can then match that up with the
> disks. Even if you've already formatted one of the machines, you can
> work out which one it is by checking the others and using a process of
> elimination :-)
>

Well, my problem is, none of the disks have the serial number on them/ near
them. The serial number tag is on the computers themselves. :-(


--
Karl Groves
http://www.8pistons.com
http://www.thehotrodclassifieds.com
http://www.grayscalecms.com
http://www.karlcore.com

On Wed, 05 Sep 2007 19:01:17 GMT, Karl Groves put finger to keyboard
and typed:

>Mark Goodge <usenet@listmail.good-stuff.co.uk> wrote in
>news:2hutd3p63np4e36q1qbbkvb08df0lme1v9@news.mark shouse.net:
>
>> On Wed, 05 Sep 2007 17:54:25 GMT, Karl Groves put finger to keyboard
>> and typed:
>>
>>>I have three Windows XP machines here at my house. All three of
>>>which, obviously, came with their own set of copies of the
>>>preinstalled software. All three sets were promptly thrown in a desk
>>>drawer without marking which computer they came with.
>>>
>>>Here's my question: If I format the HD on one of my computers and use
>>>the "wrong" Windows disk (despite having a correct, good, and legal
>>>serial) will I have any problems?
>>
>> Yes, probably. But you can find out the serial number by
>> right-clicking on the "my computer" icon and selecting "properties" -
>> it's under the "general" tab - so you can then match that up with the
>> disks. Even if you've already formatted one of the machines, you can
>> work out which one it is by checking the others and using a process of
>> elimination :-)
>>
>
>Well, my problem is, none of the disks have the serial number on them/ near
>them. The serial number tag is on the computers themselves. :-(

Ah. That rather complicates things.

However, all is still not lost. All you need to do is pick a disk at
random. There's a 1/3 chance it will work. If it doesn't, start again
with another one. At most, you'll need three attempts before it
activates. And that's one disk you can then label, to minimise the
problem next time :-)

Mark
--
http://www.BritishSurnames.co.uk - What does your surname say about you?
"I feel dangerous 'cos I hunger for the truth"

On Wed, 05 Sep 2007 19:01:17 GMT, Karl Groves put finger to keyboard
and typed:

>Mark Goodge <usenet@listmail.good-stuff.co.uk> wrote in
>news:2hutd3p63np4e36q1qbbkvb08df0lme1v9@news.mark shouse.net:
>
>> On Wed, 05 Sep 2007 17:54:25 GMT, Karl Groves put finger to keyboard
>> and typed:
>>
>>>I have three Windows XP machines here at my house. All three of
>>>which, obviously, came with their own set of copies of the
>>>preinstalled software. All three sets were promptly thrown in a desk
>>>drawer without marking which computer they came with.
>>>
>>>Here's my question: If I format the HD on one of my computers and use
>>>the "wrong" Windows disk (despite having a correct, good, and legal
>>>serial) will I have any problems?
>>
>> Yes, probably. But you can find out the serial number by
>> right-clicking on the "my computer" icon and selecting "properties" -
>> it's under the "general" tab - so you can then match that up with the
>> disks. Even if you've already formatted one of the machines, you can
>> work out which one it is by checking the others and using a process of
>> elimination :-)
>>
>
>Well, my problem is, none of the disks have the serial number on them/ near
>them. The serial number tag is on the computers themselves. :-(

Ah. That rather complicates things.

However, all is still not lost. All you need to do is pick a disk at
random. There's a 1/3 chance it will work. If it doesn't, start again
with another one. At most, you'll need three attempts before it
activates. And that's one disk you can then label, to minimise the
problem next time :-)

Mark
--
http://www.BritishSurnames.co.uk - What does your surname say about you?
"I feel dangerous 'cos I hunger for the truth"

"nullified" <null@null.null> wrote in message
news:s4utd3lrk85e7jpjhrnf7d2g90jebrfp9s@4ax.com...
> On Wed, 05 Sep 2007 17:54:25 GMT, Karl Groves
> <karl@NOSPAMkarlcore.com> wrote:
>
>>I have three Windows XP machines here at my house. All three of which,
>>obviously, came with their own set of copies of the preinstalled software.
>>All three sets were promptly thrown in a desk drawer without marking which
>>computer they came with.
>>
>>Here's my question: If I format the HD on one of my computers and use the
>>"wrong" Windows disk (despite having a correct, good, and legal serial)
>>will I have any problems?
>>
>>I heard a rumor somewhere that the disk now has to match the serial
>>number.

Its actually disk plus other bits of hardware. When you activated Windows
Microsoft got to keep a record of your key plus signatures of other bits of
hardware. So you can reactivate it on the same pc with no problems
(probably), but do it on the wrong pc and it won't work. However, if you use
the wrong key I think (not entirely sure) that it will give you the
opportunity to enter a different key.

>>
> Why not download Jellybean KeyFinder and let it tell you which serial
> is installed on it now, so you can be sure to put the same one back?

I'm posting this reply for two reasons:
1. Karl, you may not have seen it because most people now have nullified
kill-filed.
2. Its the right answer.
Link is first one on google:
http://www.magicaljellybean.com/keyfinder.shtml.
--
Brian Cryer
www.cryer.co.uk/brian