Old hd into newcomp windows help

[rastaangel]

i put toghether a new computer 2 days ago. i had a hewlett packard and what i tried to do was reuse my old hard drive so i didnt have to buya new copy of windows. when i start it up i log into windows like normal but the nextscreen says that windows isalready activated and if you hit ok it logs you out. do i have to buy a new copy of windows or can i reconfig my hd and reload windows?

 

[Gandalph]

If you want to keep all your installed programs, I suggest you do a repair install. Activation will be required at the end of the repair install, but it should go through OK.

 

[iss]

The H.P. recovery disk or recovery partition is not likely to install on a different motherboard. But you cant loose anything by trying. if you actually have a recovery disk rahter than a recovery partition you could crete your own XP disk from it.