Friend's cpu died, putting his harddrive into another computer

[Ayses]

The cpu inside my friend's computer died when the heat sink fell out of place. Lots of pins got bent and some fell off. Rather than buy a new cpu, because we're short on time, I've taken the harddrive out of his computer (the one with the broken CPU) and putting it inside my old Dell XPS . I've replaced the video card and RAM also so, motherboard and cpu aside, it's essentially the same computer.

It works and starts up fine...the only problem is that when trying to log on, it requires that I activate WIndows. It won't let me use the activate via internet option (even though the internet works fine with the previous harddrive) so I had to call Microsoft.

The robot lady told em that I had an invalid Windows code, which I don't, and now I can't log on.

Any ideas on how to fix this kind of problem?

 

[Slaymate]

Call Microsoft back and listen to the instructions carefully. They should have an option to speak to a representative. You can then explain your situation to them and they will either activate you or not.

 

[AdHoxicle]

What copy of windows was installed on the hard drive?
Retail? OEM? Dell OEM?
Also what version? XP, Vista, 7?

 

[MindoverMaster]

Whether OEM or retail, they might let you re-activate it. It's not putting it in a new computer, it's swapping out defective hardware.

 

[AdHoxicle]

Whether OEM or retail, they might let you re-activate it.

True, depends mainly on the customer service rep you get really. However, my question was geared more for finding the actual cause of the key activation issue.

 

[Slaymate]

my question was geared more for finding the actual cause of the key activation issue.

Rather than buy a new cpu, because we're short on time, I've taken the harddrive out of his computer (the one with the broken CPU) and putting it inside my old Dell XPS . I've replaced the video card and RAM also so, motherboard and cpu aside, it's essentially the same computer.

You answered your own question already. Though you came to a confused conclusion. You replace the hard drive, video card and memory so, motherboard and cpu aside, it's a completely different computer.

 

[AdHoxicle]

You answered your own question already. Though you came to a confused conclusion. You replace the hard drive, video card and memory so, motherboard and cpu aside, it's a completely different computer.

Bear with me while I explain my reasoning

Here is how I understood the original post:
- Ayses's friend has a computer with a toasted CPU (unknown manufacturer or home built & unknown windows installation type & version)
- Ayses took the hard drive from the dead computer and put it in his XPS with the OS still intact (as in he didn't re-install)

With that understanding in mind, here is the reason I asked my original question:

What copy of windows was installed on the hard drive?
Retail? OEM? Dell OEM?
Also what version? XP, Vista, 7?

When you swap a system board/cpu without re-installing, Windows sometimes forces you to re-activate(anti-piracy reasons I'm guessing). Now, OEM installations usually wont allow you to activate over the network on a foreign machine (such as a Dell OEM install with a Dell Key on a home built machine). With an XP installation, you could easily contact Microsoft and have it activated over the phone. However, if it were Vista or 7 it might be a different story. Companies now have the ability to have their own activation servers at their location which Microsoft doesn't deal with. For instance:

I work at the University of Minnesota. We have educational versions of Windows Vista and 7 for university machines. When we do an install on a machine, it doesn't call out to Microsoft's activation servers, it calls out to our own on-campus activation server. And if there is ever an issue, it is dealt with internally.

With all that said, if Ayses's friend's broken machine was a Compaq with their OEM of Vista installed on it, it is very possible they could have their own activation server. End result would be HP/Compaq declining his Windows activation because their OS is running on a Dell and not on an HP/Compaq machine.


Then again, this is ONLY if I understood the original post correctly =/

Edit: Apologies if I wasn't clear earlier

 

[Slaymate]

Activation is strictly Microsoft.

HP / Compaq / Dell don't activate the software, they have nothing to do with it. Microsoft requires re-activation upon any hardware change that they classify as a Major System Change.