[crabsteen]

Long story, but end result is that I have two copies of XP Pro, one illegal and one OEM: C:\Windows (illegal) and C:\Windows2 (legal), running in the same partition. This is a home built computer so OEM is legit. I want to clear out the original illegal install but when I installed the OEM version it warned that I cannot reinstall using the OEM CD. Microsoft licensing web site does not address this specific issue. My assumption is that I can reformat C: and install clean, paste the WPA.dbl back into the correct folder to avoid reactivation as recommended by Microsoft's book "InsideOut," etc.

Does anyone know if there really is a one time limit on installing WinXP Pro from an OEM disk?

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I have never heard of a one-time install limitation on an OEM disc. What MS does limit (and this may have changed), is the number of days in between consecutive activations. I think it was around 120 days.

That said, if your last install was over 120 days, you should have no problem reactivating the software normally. In any case, you can also just call MS and activate over the phone and just tell them you had to reinstall the OS. Since you are "legal" this should be no problem

makai

[makai]

I have never heard of a one-time install limitation on an OEM disc. What MS does limit (and this may have changed), is the number of days in between consecutive activations. I think it was around 120 days.

That said, if your last install was over 120 days, you should have no problem reactivating the software normally. In any case, you can also just call MS and activate over the phone and just tell them you had to reinstall the OS. Since you are "legal" this should be no problem

makai

[woody1977]

Sorry but the use of illegal copies of anything is not permitted, you probaly won't get any help, won't be too long before this topic gets closed.

cheers woody

[makai]

[quote name='woody1977' date='Jul 4 2005, 09:45 PM']
Sorry but the use of illegal copies of anything is not permitted, you probaly won't get any help, won't be too long before this topic gets closed.

Now why would this topic get closed??? crabsteen is saying he wants to do away with the illegal copy and run his legit OEM copy only, and is only asking about registration processes.

makai

[crabsteen]

makai,
Thanks. I'll try a clean install. The activation is less than 120 days but I have the phone number from the previous - that also needed an explanation to Microsoft. We can close this topic.