Windows XP

We have built a new computer with 3 hard drives. We have the XP disc and I am wondering if anyone knows if there is a way to install it on all 3 drives. Mr. Softie`s people say that the licensing agreement says only on 1 drive. Is there a way around Mr. Softie in getting the OS on all 3? We would appreciate any help possible. Thanks.

 

Why? What do you hope to accomplish?

 

i believe most agreements say one pc,not hard drive,why would you want it on all three?

 

That would be a total waist of space, you only need one OS per PC. I could see installing LINUX on another drive, but not multiple XP's.
If it is for different people to use, why not just add more users, each with there own hard drive?

 

You should be able to by booting to it and selecting the drive. I dual boot between XP Home and a Evaluation copy of XP Pro. I must say it really comes in handy when trying different programs and tweaks out. I saves me alot of time and I don't have the pressure of "What Ifs" and "Oh Craps". I would agree "tunered" as One PC... as long as the drives stay in that PC.

 

But why on all three drives? Now i am curious!

 

I agree what would be gained by having the same o/s on 3 seperate drives i would be interested in the outcome of this.
Daul booting is a seperate issue so tell us why you wish to do this.

 

I don't think IceBlue will be back to let us know, though I hope to see the outcome too!

 

I am so sorry that some of you are so busy making fun of me for my lack of understanding of this OS question to help me with creative and useful answers. I was merely hoping for a realistic answer to an honest, if stupid, question. So if we don`t need it on all 3 drives, what then. Does the OS migrate from drive to drive? That was my first thought but all I spoke to said no. We want the OS on all 3 drives. If that is not possible, help me to understand why. I thought that this is where one gets answers, not hearty laughs.

 

If it is a retail CD, the license is for one computer, not one hard drive. The installation would be just fine, BUT activation after the first install will require the human touch. Just choose "Activate by phone" at the activation screen, dial the number listed, say "yes" to the first question, hit 0 three times to bypass the automated phone activation system, and explain to the person on the phone that you have reinstalled windows to the same hard drive. They will give you a code to activate.

I hope I am explaining myself well, it is kind of hard to describe to people who haven't done alot of O/S reinstalls before. But the short answer is yes, you can install the same O/S to multiple hard drives.

 

He's scarpered. WAIT no he hasn't!

And as long as it is all in one computer it's not a problem with microsoft although you only get 25 internet activations before you have to talk to someone in India.

 

Thank You Gecks. I will probably not be seen here again. I don`t think the reception was too terribly cordial or welcome. Back to PC Stats. Will try your suggestion. I was told by MS that the license was for 1 hard drive. It didn`t make sense to me. That is why I thought of asking for help. Big Mistake! in some cases. Thanks again.

 

If you install Windows XP on one hard drive, it will be able to access all three of the drives. It will run from one drive and be able to both read and write to all the other drives if you wish.

The mistake was yours. You asked how to get around MS' activation, not whether using multiple hard drives required seperate licenses. Thatt makes it sound like you needed help for piracy purposes.

 

Ya know people, some times you folks are an embarrassment to this site the way some of you jump the gun and just run with a thread. It's one thing to ask a question or two to find out the intent to make sure we are not assisting with something illegal but it's entirely another to go on and on without user input to find out if it is indeed a question of the user not understanding how something may or may not work.

@ iceblue, my apologies to you. To try and answer your question. No you cannot install 3 copies of your OS unless you have purchased 3 license keys and legally, we cannot assist you in any way to try and get around that as we could be held liable.

If it is a question of being confused re: your migrating comment. The way a multi-drive computer is usually set up you have a master and slave drive(s). The master drive has the install of the OS and the slave drive(s) are controlled via the OS from the master.

Does that help?

 

I thought it was OK to dual boot the same OS. After looking over at MS......took all of half an hour or more.......it seems you're right AbbySue.

Why that's the case I reallly don't understand, unless it is possible to use all two or three at the same time. Talk about mutitasking.

When I once had to use the phone to activate I told the person I was dual booting and that was the reason I rang two days in a row for activation. They didn't say anything.

 

so i guess all the people who buy external hds for backup[clone their complete drives] is doing so against the ms rules. or maybe the one backup rule applys here? ps the only reason i asked why he wanted 3 os was i cant believe anybody would want that task of taking care of all that. ed

 

Sorry for the belated reply, Playin. Thank you for answering my nebulous question. The OS does indeed,migrate from one hard drive to another, making the installation completely unnecessary. I will be posting under Blueice shortly. Thanks again for the info.