changing mobo on old computer

[GENX34]

i have sony vaio pcv-rx850 with a 2.4 pentium 4 and its about 6 years old
wanted to chage out the mobo for a better dual core mobo.
it has a windows xp oem disk.
is it possible to change the mobo with the new one and not reformat?
i believe ive read that you have to get a new product key in order to get xp to work
is this true?

thanks
GENX34

 

[meat_helmet]

It is 'possible' to do a windows repair in XP after changing the motherboards around, however, i would not recommend this. A clean install is the only safe way to do it without the risks of conflicts.

You do not need a new product key if you already have one. You may have to re-authorize windows with microsoft though - which normally just happens over the net so u dont have to do anything.

 

[Jorsoft]

Worst case scenario it makes you call for approval. It's an automated system, just say you swapped a piece of hardware like a vid card or cpu and it will give you a new key. I've done this quite a few times, you just press buttons, don't even need a live person any more.

 

[meat_helmet]

don't even need a live person any more.

They are over-rated anyway...

 

[Jorsoft]

They are over-rated anyway...

I remember when I first installed xp I had to call and it went straight to a live person for some reason. Probably took like about 15 mins to get it activated. That's was a few years back. But about 6 months ago I had to call for like 12 at work and it was entirely automated. Only took about 2 minutes to reactivate each copy.

 

[GENX34]

thanks for the info
GENX34

 

[GENX34]

what a good dual core mobo with vga output for about $100?

thanks
GENX34