OEM key on same PC help

paul3200 wrote:

my Acer Aspire One completely screwed up and i had to do a clean
install will i be able to use the Windows XP Home key with the
clean install or do i have to buy a new key?

Your original product key will work fine - as long as your haven't had
to re-validate your system during the past 120 days.

even if that happens you can call Microsoft on the phone and activate it
over the phone .

"XP Guy" wrote in message news:

paul3200 wrote:

my Acer Aspire One completely screwed up and i had to do a clean
install will i be able to use the Windows XP Home key with the
clean install or do i have to buy a new key?

Your original product key will work fine - as long as your haven't had
to re-validate your system during the past 120 days.

"XP Guy" wrote in message
news:

paul3200 wrote:

my Acer Aspire One completely screwed up and i had to do a clean
install will i be able to use the Windows XP Home key with the
clean install or do i have to buy a new key?

Your original product key will work fine - as long as your haven't
had
to re-validate your system during the past 120 days.

As long as the hardware hasn't changed, it shouldn't matter how
recently the system was last re-validated. The hardware hash Windows
uses to decide if it is the same machine will be the same, so
shouldn't be a problem.

Zaphod

Arthur: All my life I've had this strange feeling that there's
something big and sinister going on in the world.
Slartibartfast: No, that's perfectly normal paranoia. Everyone in the
universe gets that.

Zaphod Beeblebrox wrote:

> Your original product key will work fine - as long as your
> haven't had to re-validate your system during the past 120 days.

As long as the hardware hasn't changed, it shouldn't matter how
recently the system was last re-validated. The hardware hash
Windows uses to decide if it is the same machine will be the
same, so shouldn't be a problem.

Not true.

When XP is installed on a system for the first time, using a given
product key, it would have no memory or awareness if the user had to
re-validate a previous installation which used the same product key.

But Microsoft and their validation server will know when the last time
that any given product key was used to perform a validation (or
re-validation), and they set the rules such that a system validation
with the same product key can't happen any sooner than every 120 days.

Sure can but you have to let it fail and bring up the 1-800 number for
Microsoft
over the phone you can reactivate it as often as you like and this was told
to me by the phone rep when i was having a problem with my old system asking
to be reactivated daily

AL'S COMPUTERS
"XP Guy" wrote in message news:

Zaphod Beeblebrox wrote:

> Your original product key will work fine - as long as your
> haven't had to re-validate your system during the past 120 days.

As long as the hardware hasn't changed, it shouldn't matter how
recently the system was last re-validated. The hardware hash
Windows uses to decide if it is the same machine will be the
same, so shouldn't be a problem.

Not true.

When XP is installed on a system for the first time, using a given
product key, it would have no memory or awareness if the user had to
re-validate a previous installation which used the same product key.

But Microsoft and their validation server will know when the last time
that any given product key was used to perform a validation (or
re-validation), and they set the rules such that a system validation
with the same product key can't happen any sooner than every 120 days.