Windows XP Home and XP Professional are great operating systems but the rules have changed. Here's one you may not know about...
When you buy a new computer you should receive a “Certificate of Authenticity (COA)”... usually a label affixed to the back or side of the computer itself... which includes the Windows XP “Product Key (PK)”. That is the unique key that identifies the particular copy of XP that was installed on the computer when it was built. Microsoft receives the computer's unique processor ID, and the unique IDs of all installed hardware components, along with the PK. That information is stored in a database. Should you attempt to register that PK again your computer is scanned for the processor and hardware component IDs and they are compared to the information in the database. If they do not match the registration process fails. That's how that particular copy of XP is forever restricted to exactly that one specific computer.
Therefore, if some “computer expert” tries to sell you a copy of XP to install on your computer(s), be very wary. Here’s why…
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You must verify it's a legitimate copy of XP. Legitimate means it's never been installed on any other computer and the CD itself should have the Microsoft trademark and product key on the label. If not, it's likely an “illegal copy”; in other words, it belongs to someone else. In either case, should you allow it to be installed on your computer(s) you will soon learn that Microsoft does not allow illegal copies of XP to be updated. For example, when you try to download the latest security updates, you will receive an “invalid product key” or “unable to install” message and the updates will fail. At that point you can either buy and install licensed versions of XP or allow your computer(s) to remain exposed to spyware and viruses forever. Remember, hundreds of new spyware and virus components are released every month and in an effort to combat them Microsoft releases security updates at least every month. Without regular XP security updates, it’s only a matter of time before your computer(s) become infected. See "Spyware and viruses" to learn the risks you assume.
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Windows XP was written to take advantage of the rapid advances in computer hardware over the last few years. If you try to install XP on a computer that came with Windows 98, for example, you will be very unhappy with the result... it will be very slow and unstable, if it works at all.
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No problem has ever been solved by installing Windows XP over the top of any other operating system… but lots of problems have been caused by attempting to do so.
Similarly... should you ever decide to buy a new “custom built” computer or any used computer, never take the seller’s word that is has a legitimate copy of XP installed. Insist on getting the original XP CD and compare the product key on it to the product key on the computer.
Note that it’s still perfectly OK for you to make a copy of your own Windows XP CD as a backup should your original become unusable.
Contact us if you have any questions.
