Change in Motherboard - reactivating OEM version?

I had to change a failed eMachines motherboard. I matched up the replacement
as close as possible - but the mobo is not identical. Now XP Home Edition
that came with the original mobo comes up and complains of not be activated,
and will not let me login to Windows. In safe mode I complains about all the
new hw and not having drivers. I tried to perform an in place repair - did
not work, never asks for lic key. I tried to install new on a new hard drive
and that rejects the lic key as invalid. How do I ge this resolved? I see a
lot of posts on this topic and I believe I tried all of these methods to no
success. I obviously am doing something wrong. Also, there seems to be some
"magic" phone number to get a hold of MS to discuss generating a new key -
but I never see the phone number - what is it? If I can just call MS and
discuss the situation that would be ideal. Appreciate the assist folks!

Malke
Thu May 15 08:38:40 PDT 2008

5J's wrote:

> I had to change a failed eMachines motherboard. I matched up the
> replacement
> as close as possible - but the mobo is not identical. Now XP Home Edition
> that came with the original mobo comes up and complains of not be
> activated,
> and will not let me login to Windows. In safe mode I complains about all
> the
> new hw and not having drivers. I tried to perform an in place repair -
> did
> not work, never asks for lic key. I tried to install new on a new hard
> drive
> and that rejects the lic key as invalid. How do I ge this resolved? I
> see a lot of posts on this topic and I believe I tried all of these
> methods to no
> success. I obviously am doing something wrong. Also, there seems to be
> some "magic" phone number to get a hold of MS to discuss generating a new
> key -
> but I never see the phone number - what is it? If I can just call MS and
> discuss the situation that would be ideal. Appreciate the assist folks!

I'm sorry to tell you this but there is no magic solution. In order to use
the XP Home OEM disk you received from eMachines, you would have needed to
replace the motherboard with the exact same one from eMachines. Since you
didn't, you don't have a legal copy of Windows that will work with the new
motherboard.

You will need to purchase a full retail copy of XP.

I need to change my XP Product KEY #18 on the FAQ list -
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/xpfaq.html#018

Then you'll need to install the correct drivers that came with the new
motherboard.

Malke
--
MS-MVP
Elephant Boy Computers
www.elephantboycomputers.com
Don't Panic!

Patrick
Thu May 15 08:43:47 PDT 2008

"5J's" <5J's@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:7E44A365-09AE-4452-A3C7-71CDFD103BE0@microsoft.com...
>I had to change a failed eMachines motherboard. I matched up the
>replacement
> as close as possible - but the mobo is not identical. Now XP Home Edition
> that came with the original mobo comes up and complains of not be
> activated,
> and will not let me login to Windows. In safe mode I complains about all
> the
> new hw and not having drivers. I tried to perform an in place repair -
> did
> not work, never asks for lic key. I tried to install new on a new hard
> drive
> and that rejects the lic key as invalid. How do I ge this resolved? I
> see a
> lot of posts on this topic and I believe I tried all of these methods to
> no
> success. I obviously am doing something wrong. Also, there seems to be
> some
> "magic" phone number to get a hold of MS to discuss generating a new key -
> but I never see the phone number - what is it? If I can just call MS and
> discuss the situation that would be ideal. Appreciate the assist folks!

There is a circumstance that can arise during this kind of replacement,
where the system wants to activate but will not provide the dialogs for
phone activation. It may be wanting to activate online, but can't do
this because the correct network adapter drivers aren't installed.

Unfortunately, as far as I can tell, you *have* to have that phone dialog to
enter the new key or activation number. I could not find any way around
this aside from a clean install with a correct key. You may need to
contact eMachines for the correct key.

Perhaps you will find a way around this; I could not.

HTH
-pk

5Js
Thu May 15 09:18:02 PDT 2008

I appreciate your time and reply. I know I am preaching to the choir here,
but that seems very unfiar to expect to purchase a second license simply
because there was a quality problem (you all know the eMachine bad caps
story) and replacing it with the next closest mobo replacement. For obvious
reasons we did not go with an exact match to only end up with the same
failure in a few months. I can not believe that MS has not thought of this
senerio before establishing the EULA rules. Crazy! But I may have to just
give up and make my $190 retail lic purchase.




"Malke" wrote:

> 5J's wrote:
>
> > I had to change a failed eMachines motherboard. I matched up the
> > replacement
> > as close as possible - but the mobo is not identical. Now XP Home Edition
> > that came with the original mobo comes up and complains of not be
> > activated,
> > and will not let me login to Windows. In safe mode I complains about all
> > the
> > new hw and not having drivers. I tried to perform an in place repair -
> > did
> > not work, never asks for lic key. I tried to install new on a new hard
> > drive
> > and that rejects the lic key as invalid. How do I ge this resolved? I
> > see a lot of posts on this topic and I believe I tried all of these
> > methods to no
> > success. I obviously am doing something wrong. Also, there seems to be
> > some "magic" phone number to get a hold of MS to discuss generating a new
> > key -
> > but I never see the phone number - what is it? If I can just call MS and
> > discuss the situation that would be ideal. Appreciate the assist folks!
>
> I'm sorry to tell you this but there is no magic solution. In order to use
> the XP Home OEM disk you received from eMachines, you would have needed to
> replace the motherboard with the exact same one from eMachines. Since you
> didn't, you don't have a legal copy of Windows that will work with the new
> motherboard.
>
> You will need to purchase a full retail copy of XP.
>
> I need to change my XP Product KEY #18 on the FAQ list -
> http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/xpfaq.html#018
>
> Then you'll need to install the correct drivers that came with the new
> motherboard.
>
> Malke
> --
> MS-MVP
> Elephant Boy Computers
> www.elephantboycomputers.com
> Don't Panic!
>

Malke
Thu May 15 10:11:17 PDT 2008

5J''s wrote:

> I appreciate your time and reply. I know I am preaching to the choir
> here, but that seems very unfiar to expect to purchase a second license
> simply because there was a quality problem (you all know the eMachine bad
> caps
> story) and replacing it with the next closest mobo replacement. For
> obvious reasons we did not go with an exact match to only end up with the
> same
> failure in a few months. I can not believe that MS has not thought of
> this
> senerio before establishing the EULA rules. Crazy! But I may have to
> just give up and make my $190 retail lic purchase.

I understand how you feel about this, but you have a basic misunderstanding
of OEM vs. retail licensing. When you purchase an OEM (Original Equipment
Manufacturer) license, it is tied to the original hardware on which it is
installed. A retail version has no such limitation.

OEMs like eMachines, Dell, Sony etc. have licensing agreements with
Microsoft. When you purchase an OEM machine with a Microsoft operating
system preinstalled, your support and licensing lies with the OEM and not
with Microsoft. The OEM must give the buyer a way to return the computer to
factory condition. This can be with a restore image on a special partition
on the hard drive, a CD/DVD with the restore image(s), a real operating
system disk, or any combination of these. In addition to all of this, when
the OEM provides an operating system restore disk, in many cases it is
BIOS-locked to the OEM-branded motherboard that came with the system.

I am sympathetic, but you should have purchased the identical motherboard
from eMachines. You need to either purchase XP Home or put a different
operating system on the computer that doesn't have a licensing problem such
as one of the many Linux distros. Only you know whether this last option is
viable for you.


Malke
--
MS-MVP
Elephant Boy Computers
www.elephantboycomputers.com
Don't Panic!

Ghostrider
Thu May 15 12:51:44 PDT 2008


5J''s wrote:

> I appreciate your time and reply. I know I am preaching to the choir here,
> but that seems very unfiar to expect to purchase a second license simply
> because there was a quality problem (you all know the eMachine bad caps
> story) and replacing it with the next closest mobo replacement. For obvious
> reasons we did not go with an exact match to only end up with the same
> failure in a few months. I can not believe that MS has not thought of this
> senerio before establishing the EULA rules. Crazy! But I may have to just
> give up and make my $190 retail lic purchase.
>
>

There is really nothing unfair about this situation. Overall, the cost
of Windows XP installed by an OEM on its machines is quite minimal. To
buy the same, but unbranded/unlocked, OEM version costs between $150 to
$200, for which the buyer of an OEM system might have nominally paid $15.
For all things being equal, that is for the home-builder who bought an
off-the-shelf motherboard and Windows XP, re-using the OS by repairing
or replacing the motherboard is, therefore, reasonable and justified. The
party to seek, recourse, and to blame, for having a failed computer system
in this case is eMachines. If out of warranty (and, in any event, it has
been voided by removing the original motherboard), then SOL. Microsoft has
nothing to do with your deal with eMachines.

Donald
Thu May 15 13:49:42 PDT 2008

On Thu, 15 May 2008 08:38:40 -0700, Malke <malke@invalid.invalid>
wrote:

>5J's wrote:
>
>> I had to change a failed eMachines motherboard. I matched up the
>> replacement
>> as close as possible - but the mobo is not identical. Now XP Home Edition
>> that came with the original mobo comes up and complains of not be
>> activated,
>> and will not let me login to Windows. In safe mode I complains about all
>> the
>> new hw and not having drivers. I tried to perform an in place repair -
>> did
>> not work, never asks for lic key.

As a general rule, OEM installation media won't allow one to do an
in-place installation. Such media usually must be installed on a
"clean partition", so unless you back up your data and program
installers on external drives, you would lose it.

>> I tried to install new on a new hard
>> drive
>> and that rejects the lic key as invalid. How do I ge this resolved? I
>> see a lot of posts on this topic and I believe I tried all of these
>> methods to no
>> success. I obviously am doing something wrong. Also, there seems to be
>> some "magic" phone number to get a hold of MS to discuss generating a new
>> key -
>> but I never see the phone number - what is it? If I can just call MS and
>> discuss the situation that would be ideal. Appreciate the assist folks!
>
>I'm sorry to tell you this but there is no magic solution. In order to use
>the XP Home OEM disk you received from eMachines, you would have needed to
>replace the motherboard with the exact same one from eMachines. Since you
>didn't, you don't have a legal copy of Windows that will work with the new
>motherboard.

Whether the copy is "legal" or not is irrelevant, since it won't work
with your newer motherboard anyway.
>
>You will need to purchase a full retail copy of XP.

This is not true (if by "full retail copy" you mean a "boxed" copy
from Microsoft.)

Purchasing a "FULL OEM" copy from your local computer shop down the
street will work just as well.

But prices being such as they are at present, it MIGHT be possible to
purchase a boxed copy as cheaply as a full OEM copy.

>
>I need to change my XP Product KEY #18 on the FAQ list -
>http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/xpfaq.html#018

>Then you'll need to install the correct drivers that came with the new
>motherboard.
>
That is correct, however.

It will also be necessary to install the new OS "clean". And, even if
it isn't "necessary", it is certainly advisable.


Donald L McDaniel
Please reply to the correct thread and article.
================================================

Malke
Thu May 15 15:30:02 PDT 2008

Donald L McDaniel wrote:

> On Thu, 15 May 2008 08:38:40 -0700, Malke <malke@invalid.invalid>
> wrote:

(snippage)

Thanks for all the thoughtful comments but I'm not the OP and I don't have
the problem.

Malke
--
MS-MVP
Elephant Boy Computers
www.elephantboycomputers.com
Don't Panic!

Bruce
Thu May 15 17:58:24 PDT 2008

5J's wrote:
> I had to change a failed eMachines motherboard. I matched up the replacement
> as close as possible - but the mobo is not identical. Now XP Home Edition
> that came with the original mobo comes up and complains of not be activated,
> and will not let me login to Windows. In safe mode I complains about all the
> new hw and not having drivers. I tried to perform an in place repair - did
> not work, never asks for lic key. I tried to install new on a new hard drive
> and that rejects the lic key as invalid. How do I ge this resolved?


Obtain an identical replacement motherboard from eMachines - accept no
substitutes. Or buy a new WinXP license.



--

Bruce Chambers

Help us help you:
http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/555375

They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary
safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. ~Benjamin Franklin

Many people would rather die than think; in fact, most do. ~Bertrand Russell

The philosopher has never killed any priests, whereas the priest has
killed a great many philosophers.
~ Denis Diderot

Donald
Fri May 16 00:20:49 PDT 2008

On Thu, 15 May 2008 15:30:02 -0700, Malke <malke@invalid.invalid>
wrote:

>Donald L McDaniel wrote:
>
>> On Thu, 15 May 2008 08:38:40 -0700, Malke <malke@invalid.invalid>
>> wrote:
>
>(snippage)
>
>Thanks for all the thoughtful comments but I'm not the OP and I don't have
>the problem.
>
>Malke

Sorry, I seem to be doing that often.

I meant to reply to the OP, but apparently, I moved the selection bar
on to your reply and forgot I had done it.

I will try harder not to do this.


Donald L McDaniel
Please reply to the correct thread and article.
================================================

Donald
Fri May 16 00:40:20 PDT 2008

On Thu, 15 May 2008 18:58:24 -0600, Bruce Chambers
<bchambers@cable0ne.n3t> wrote:

>5J's wrote:
>> I had to change a failed eMachines motherboard. I matched up the replacement
>> as close as possible - but the mobo is not identical. Now XP Home Edition
>> that came with the original mobo comes up and complains of not be activated,
>> and will not let me login to Windows. In safe mode I complains about all the
>> new hw and not having drivers. I tried to perform an in place repair - did
>> not work, never asks for lic key. I tried to install new on a new hard drive
>> and that rejects the lic key as invalid. How do I ge this resolved?
>
>
> Obtain an identical replacement motherboard from eMachines - accept no
>substitutes. Or buy a new WinXP license.

From his comments, it appears to me that the OP probably also wanted
to upgrade his motherboard, rather than just replace it with an
identical one, unless, of course, eMachines had no replacement
available.

In which case, he has no other choice than to purchase a new copy of
XP.


Donald L McDaniel
Please reply to the correct thread and article.
================================================