AMD Motherboard Upgrade - How to Use Dell's Windows XP Professional CD (OEM) for it??

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I am about to do a major upgrade to my Dell Dimension 3000 computer. I plan to replace my motherboard, CPU, and graphics card to a non-Intel-based chipset and use an AMD 64 processor as well as a new case all together.

The only things I plan to keep from the old Dell are modem PCI card, DVD drive, and hopefully the OS considering how much I paid for the damn thing.

I've been reading that if you use the OEM's XP CD (that you can request from the manufacturer) in which I plan to do, you will have to reactivate XP. However, I am still under warranty for this thing and since it has no PCIe card slot on its motherboard, I cannot use my new gfx card. Thus the new computer parts.

However, I want to still use the OS CD that I rightfully paid for and be able to activate it on the new motherboard which is completely different from the Dell's native one. Will I still be able to activate this OS? If not, then what can I do to not have to reactivate?? Can I make a new XP CD from the one I have already or something?

I know I can probably do a repair install, but will I still have to reactivate? If so, what could be done about this? Essentially all I'm upgrading is my motherboard and would like to have a PCIe port. How can I keep my OS and still use my new motherboard? I have no money to go purchase a transferrable OS CD, but I own the OS as I rightfully paid for it! Is there a way?? I don't want to be stuck with this pos basic Dell for the rest of its existance!

Please, anyone! I would seriously appreciate your help...
 
If you have Recovery CDs then you are out of luck. They are keyed the the original motherboard and wont even run if you replace the mobo. If they do send you an XP CD you should be good. But, some Dells use a proprietary power supply that will ruin any non-Dell mobo and a different mobo probably wont fit in the case.
 
vegasgmc said:
If you have Recovery CDs then you are out of luck. They are keyed the the original motherboard and wont even run if you replace the mobo. If they do send you an XP CD you should be good. But, some Dells use a proprietary power supply that will ruin any non-Dell mobo and a different mobo probably wont fit in the case.
that's not true. dell xp oem cd will install, but will ask for re-activation. the wpa (windows product activation) information is kept in a file (wpa.dbl) and it has several items of information on it.
you can read about it here:http://www.licenturion.com/xp/
these are the items that are checked:
volume serial number string of system volume
network adapter MAC address string
CD-ROM drive hardware identification string
graphics adapter hardware
identification string
unused, set to 001
CPU serial number string
harddrive hardware identification string
SCSI host adapter hardware identification string
IDE controller hardware identification string
processor model string
RAM size
1 = dockable
0 = not dockable
all have one points. nic mac address is worth 3 points
you have to score 7 points to bypass activation
any less, you have to talk to a live human being.
your example here is like jacking up the ashtray and putting a new car under it.
get an oem cd from here:
www.softwareoutlet.com or
www.edirectsoftware.com
$79.00 or close
 
No, I have the OEM Windows XP Professional SP2 CD shipped from Dell. I just want to know how to get around the activation when I do a repair install so I can upgrade my mobo. I have a new case, too.
 
you have to call in, instead of online activation.

you have to call microsoft in person and talk to a person, instead of your pc going through activation process online. you may be able to convince them of your situation, like the mobo got fried, or the whole pc got trashed or something. but you can't get around activation. now, if the pc was dell, all the parameters in the wpa file would match, and no activation would be needed. even in that case, you would have had to copy the wpa.dbl file when you did a clean install on a dell. my advice: don't do it. it's not worth it. pay about $80.00 and get the oem cd with cd key and c.o.a. (certificate of authenticity) from one of those sites that i posted.
 
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