xp on multiple 'puters?

Well, the mother-in-law was kind enough to pass on her 'puter to us. The thing runs fine, but I gotta couple of questions. First of all, can I run my copy of XP on it? I allready have it on another pc in the house. She has ME installed now. ew. Also, since I have dsl, can I just plug it in the back of my dsl box, and be good to go?

You can only have the same copy of XP, using the same serial code, installed on 1 computer legally. You could install it on both and use the same serial, but if itll still pass the Microsoft Genuine Advantage crap, I dont know. It might, it might not. It most likely will not work on the 2nd computer.

[edit on 11-26-2005 by dreamlandmafia]

Regarding your DSL connection. If the 'box' is USB then all you should need to do is install the drivers on the computer, connect the device (plug it in) and then you need to setup the connection. You can find the settings on your current computer (probably under Network and Dial-Up Connections). If you have problems with this then by all means ask us but it may be eaier to contact your ISP regarding these settings.

If your 'box' is an ethernet router (you have a network and connect over that) then all you should need to do is set up the network settings (usually with home routers you can leave the settings alone and it will all automatically sort itself out then you should be able to connect as normal.

Hope this helps. Oh and sometimes you do not need drivers with Windows XP, it can be hit and miss sometimes. Have the driver disk handy anyway!

Buying an additional license (just the serial number) is cheaper than buying the whole XP for a different computer. You can do that from the official windows site.

I did this, a friend let me use his XP Home disk, and it lets you install and enter the activation code successfully. BUT! What I didn't know was that XP had already identified that it was on another computer, but let me use it until about yesterday, when it wouldn't let me log in and asked me to re-activate it. So I did, and it shut down and wouldn't let me start up from XP again.

So I'm stuck on 2000, which I set myself to as a "backup operator" because I wanted to try accessing the XP files but didn't work and now I can't reset myself to Administrator because I don't know the official Admin password to the computer, and when I try to start up in safe mode to reset the password it says I need to reinstall from the 2000 CD but I don't have it because I got 2000 from another friend! [/RANT]

I liked the good ol' days when we controlled computers.

right on guys...appreciate it.

Heres what I got so far. I think I got the wife talked into switching to cable. So that would cover that problem, and I think Im gonna just leave ME on there. I mean, whats the big deal? I can still play all my games and poo, right? I mean, the platform has nothing to do with that, right?

As long as the memory is good, all should be well. Im not heavy into gaming, just like the sims, sim city4 and stuff like that.

Mod Edit: Profanity/Circumvention Of Censors – Please Review This Link.

[edit on 28/11/2005 by Mirthful Me]

Originally posted by spliff4020
So that would cover that problem, and I think Im gonna just leave ME on there. I mean, whats the big deal? I can still play all my games and #, right? I mean, the platform has nothing to do with that, right?

As long as the memory is good, all should be well. Im not heavy into gaming, just like the sims, sim city4 and stuff like that.

It's again just a case of preference. If you're comfortable if ME and everything is running the way you like it, then there's no reason to give it up. Personally I think XP is better, and to spare you all the boring reasons why I think so, it comes down to XP having more support, being an overall better performer and being more stable.
Again this could spark a whole debate, so for the record this is my opinion.

Originally posted by Gemwolf

It's again just a case of preference. If you're comfortable if ME and everything is running the way you like it, then there's no reason to give it up. Personally I think XP is better, and to spare you all the boring reasons why I think so, it comes down to XP having more support, being an overall better performer and being more stable.
Again this could spark a whole debate, so for the record this is my opinion.

Well, I prefer xp, but Im on a budget. I dont want to pay twice for it. You think theyd just let ya install it on whatever comp you got. But this one is gonna be signed on the net, and I dont want any problems, so Ill stick with ME.

It does blow though. ctrl/alt/delete..wow... oh well.

You can install XP on it no problem..

XP runs of 3 - 4 factors when the activiation process comes up.
Motherboard
HDD
Video
RAM

If two of these serial numbers, or something of the kind changes in your setup, when the activiaton happens it doesnt allow it.

So when the activiation process happens, call the line, enter the numbers, and maybe 40% of the time you'll be able to directly get given the code to remove activiation, if you have to talk to someone, simply say the motherboard blew, and it has been replaced.