Xp Activation-30 Days Or...

Hi everybody:
My problem is this: I just build a new rig, (my first build), ordered a Ultra ATA/133 Maxtor w/160GB, just to find out that i could also go the SATA route, ,so I did lots of reading and decided to go w/ a Seagate Barracuda 160 GB SATA, now I have two drives,one is a PATA and one SATA,I cant make a RAID s/u (at least I dont think can) so the PATA is s/u with windows XP (for every day use)and it is activated, The Barracuda is also set up with XP (for gaming) not activated. So I just adjust my BIOS accordingly to choose the boot drive. my dilemma is do I have to pay for a second OS?? even if its for the same rig??? or is there other options???
if anybody have a suggestion I will be very grateful..
p/s--Im on the 25Th day and dont want to loose my info.

thanks: Vitico66

 

well now that depends on your stand on one os for each computer or if you dont mind bending the rules

 

activate it using the same serial as the first shouldnt call out the fbi or anything

 

Thanks Catbro, actually it is the same computer but I wonder if it will let me use the same #, and if it does, is it going to then deactivate my other hard drive with the original OS
Vitico66

 

If you are being told that you have "nn" days to activate, then you have NOT activated XP. (I guess you know that).

Don't know the PATA/SATA/RAID route, but I would have thought that you don't need two installs, one on each hard drive.

Someone will correct me, if my assumption is wrong.

If it is the same XP CD, you are using on both drives, you should be able to use the same activation code.

Not sure whether M$ would consider that legal, though, (but it is on the same PC).

XP experts, please step in. Bazza
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No I am using my xp after its 8th install shhhhhhhh ms dont know that

 

I guess Ill try it ; was hoping that someone knew how to backup the activation key from one hard drive to the next
vitico66

 

You have seen this, haven't you?

http://netsecurity.about.com/od/windowsxp/qt/aaqtwinxp0829.htm

 

Why exactly are you dual booting the same os

 

Nope just did neat.

 

Reading this link, would M$ consider one PATA and one SATA drive on the same PC as one PC, or 2 different PC's? Or would they consider it as one configuration? Bazza

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wow, just went to that link and printed the page, followed it and now Im all activated, hopefully there wont be a couple of "Feds" outside my door in the morning , wow thanks you all , and by the way catbro, I had my PATA drive set up & running and got some Comp USA gift certs for my B/day thats how I ended up w/two drives , mu SATA drive is just for gaming so I have most Services, & pretty stuff turned off for performance reasons.-
thanks again:
Vitico66

 

vitico66 has succeeded in getting it working, (with the same activation key, I assume), so do we assume it is only one PC configuration? Beats me. bazza

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excellent link, I bookmarked it

 

Here are a few things that MS doesn't want you to know

1. There is no clearcut definition on what changes need to be made to be considered a different computer. Chances are, if its the same motherboard and CPU, it will be considered the same, but you may need to call in and have it activated over the phone.

2. You are allowed to activate on another computer if said copy of XP is NO longer installed on the other machine. Of course, there is no way to prove if you are lying or not, so its the csr's discretion. Seeing how they are all in India, its usually a bad decision on their part

3. After 120 days, your activation information is purged from the database. Poof! What does this mean? You can activate like a brand new copy after 120 days of activating it prior. Brand new as in...over the internet on any machine. It does not deactivate your previous copy.

Now, I do not promote piracy and those who pirate are dumbasses. So...take this as an FYI.

 

I have 3 legit Wxp's and 3pc's the thing I didnt do from the get go is assign a cdkey to a "x,y,z" pc's. So I interchange the installation keys all the time; the most that can happen is you calling Microsoft and telling them "blah blah i updated my pc parts and its asking for reactivation" You give 'em the installation # and they give you back some key that you enter, and your set. No it doesn't disable any features or anything by the likes.

 

Yup. Refer to the prior post for the reasons why that works.

 

Thanks for the info. Bazza

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Though, a neat experiment would be using this:

http://www.cwol.com/serial-ata/serial-ata-ide-converter.htm

to convert your pata into a sata. Then trying the raid out.

On a side note:

Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) is coming out (actually is already out from Maxtor) that allows you to Mix and Match SAS and SATA drives in an array.

 

Interesting to note that this worked for you vitico66. I say this because I noted that both your SATA/PATA HDDs are 160Gb in size....

Good Luck

 

Thanks to all for the suggestions,links and help in general,like I posted before, I was able to copy the XP key from one HD to the other,(after renaming the unactivated key) and things seem to be A.O.K. Im going to buy the converter that "Theefool" suggested, then Ill have two SATA drives w/ 160GB , although I remember reading somewhere that to set up a raid array its suggested to use two "identical" drives, and this two,(other than the 160GB) are far from being "identical",oh well if it doesnt work , then its just a $30 investment.
vitico66

 

Just my 2 cents...

I run a dual boot xp system with the same OS insalled on both drives. My configuration is Windows XP on drive C (single Western Digital 100 GB HDD) and Windows XP on drive D (2 Samsung 160 GB HDD in Raid 0). I've reformatted these drives many times and reinstalled XP on both of them using the same product key. To date none of the installs gave me any activation problems. The only time I had to reactivate was due to several hardware changes.