Authentic Windows XP home edition ?

if you already have a copy and are scrapping an old computer then you can legitimately transfer your licence from your old computer to the new one.

You are advised to find the contact telephone number for microsoft and ask to speak to someone about licencing. alternatively go to an etailer and buy a new version XP home is only around £80 when you buy it as an OEM version you would need to buy a hardware device such as a keyboard or mouse when you buy OEM software, but hey it is worth it.

for example a three pack (three seperate copies of the MS works 8.5 OEM can be yours for under £20 this would entitle you to save big time by buying the upgrade version of microsoft office should you need it for example.

as for malware vendors that should apply the same as long as you have paid for the licence to keep the software updated you should be able to transfer your licence over.

in both cases you may need to phone microsoft and the malware maker to tell them of the change and to get a new registration unlock key.

at least in the case of microsoft it is a toll free number to call available 24 hours a day.

good luck.

oh and as for anyone giving you a copy that would be or could be considered piracy and could result in a prosecution so be careful, besides which anyone online could supply you with tampered and virus ridden versions of the microsoft operating system, so where ever possible use genuine software.

in your case if you have a new computer then you can try doing the following put the hard drive from your new computer in the old computer as the c drive, disconnect any and all other drives except the cd/dvd boot the system with the original system restore disk from the old system. allow the system to start setup, and stop the set once you complete the basic set up and the system boots up asking for you to log on with your user name.

on the login screen click to shut down the computer after first removing the cd.

allow the system to shut down. poer off at the switch at the back or at the mains.

disconnect the new drice and place it in your new computer. reconnect everything from the old computer and the new.

boot the new computer and when prompted select phone microsoft to activate, follow the instructions on screen. you may be prompted to tell them why you are registering, just say you are transfering the operating system from an old now dead system to a new one. they will take a minute or less to get a new code based on the information you provide from the long series of digits on screen, enter the code given where it says on screen click next and the system will be ready to go once more.

failing all that hardware swapping if you have an external backup up of your old systems entire C: drive (no exceptions every folder and file backed up) then you can recover from that and still phone microsoft to transfer the licence over.

Remember that you can only legaly use one version (copy of the software on one computer) i hope this makes sense.

your best bet is to try the 1 of your old computer you wont be able to buy a second hand one that has been already used due to an algorythm that microsoft use that checks the hardware componets on your sysem, so that you can upgrade comonents but transfer it onto another computer and it will know so when you come to activate it it will say its not genuine. so if you put the one from your other pc on you may be able to ring them to activate it tell them you have upgraded somthing. if you can get your hands on a copy that is sold to a computer shop/ system builder then you wont have any trouble because they are sold 1 copy with a generic licence which can be used on many machines. your other option is getting a crack for windows which will make windows think its been activated but you wont be able to download security updates so not the best idea. as for anti virus and other programs they should all be transferable. i suggest avast anti virus http://www.avast.com/eng/avast_4_home.html

Major programs in general cannot be transferred. I fear Service Pack 2 falls in that category. Windows Vists will be out the end or January. Why not wait for it and forget the service pack. The price for home edition is reasonable. You need a lot of Ram, though.

The only authentic Windows (any version) is one you buy yourself or comes pre-installed on a computer...period! The rest are considered pirated copies!

It makes no difference mate, with the aid of fact the main they'll supply you is for Microsoft domicile windows XP domicile version, and it won't artwork with Microsoft domicile windows XP expert version.

Yes you can. I've done it. My old neihbor had a copy of Windows XP Home that he put on all his computers, and mine. As long as you have the keycode, you can put it on any computer you want. Just don't register it online with Microsoft.

Buy one yourself directly from Mirosoft. You will detur SOO many problems by doing this. Below is a website that you can purchase Windows for cheap.

if you want to have a genuine copy of your windows xp., just use the end user license.,

go buy a genuine copy of windows