hello, i am upgrading the cpu on one of my computers from an amd sempron 2500+, to an AMD Athlon XP 2600+, and was wondering wether i windows xp will need to be reactivated because of my cpu upgrade. I would rater it not because windows is running great at the moment and i have lots of games and data i would be reluctant to loose! any help most welcome!
even if you need to re-activate, which you likely will, you will not loose your data. It is still good to have a back up but regardless there should not be any problem. You will probably have to call the activation phone number, but it is easy. I have had to do it several times and have never had any trouble. I have included a link to microsoft rearding re-activating: http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/evaluation/features/activation.mspx and: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb457054.aspx Microsoft defines "substantially different" hardware differently for PCs that are configured to be dockable. Additionally, the network adapter is given a superior "weighting." If the PC is not dockable and a network adapter exists and is not changed, 6 or more of the other above values would have to change before reactivation was required. If a network adapter existed but is changed or never existed at all, 4 or more changes (including the changed network adapter if it previously existed) will result in a requirement to reactivate. Scenario A: PC One has the full assortment of hardware components listed in Table 1 above. User swaps the motherboard and CPU chip for an upgraded one, swaps the video adapter, adds a second hard drive for additional storage, doubles the amount of RAM, and swaps the CD ROM drive for a faster one. Result: Reactivation is NOT required.
