Can OEM XPpro install be changed to Retail XPpro install? 1

[kopja]

Hi all. We have this piece of software that connects to our PBX system for logging. The PC where this software is installed on, has XP pro OEM on it. The PC is ancient and on its last legs, so we need to move the software to a different PC.
The problem is, to install the software again and transfer the database it uses to a new PC requires about a day of consultant time, ie very expensive.
I was thinking to buy a Windows XP Pro retail CD, and
- create an image of the PC using Acronis Workstation (which has the tools to convert the image to a VirtualMachine)
- use free VMPlayer or MS VirtualPC to use this image.
This way I would not have to pay consultant fees, and just as important, I can move/backup the VM image easily without ever having to worry again about the old PC dying.
I understand that OEM XP on this VM is not allowed by MS, and will not activate anyway.
So, is there a way to change this install on the VM to the retail XP that I will buy? Remember, I cannot install from scratch as that will remove the PBX software.
Searches on google seem to indicate that I can do a in-place repair using the new Retail CD, and that should reset the license key.

Since winxp pro retail currently costs $270, I am asking if anyone has had any success changing an OEM install to a retail, and whether it broke any installed programs, before I go ahead and buy XP.

Thanks in advance.

 

[linney]

Maybe you could move the hard drive to another machine and then perform the repair install (upgrade) on the operating system via any purchased XP Full Version Retail CD?

Should you purchase an OEM license version of XP?
faq779-4004

 

[goombawaho]

You could end up with a real mess with a repair install and then be worse off than before because you wouldn't have a running PC at the end of the day, would need to get that working (reload from scratch) and then pay the consultant for the original job.

 

[vacunita]

In the interest of protecting potentially irreplaceable data, I would clone the current HD into another one, and attempt the repair install as linney suggests on the clone


That way if worst comes to worst at least you'll have your data intact in one drive, and you can clone again if necessary.


With that said, I believe the repair install is a pretty viable option in your case.

No reason why it should end up messy. If all is successful though, you'll likely need to download all XP updates again.

But your data and application should be untouched, and run as it was running on the old machine.


----------------------------------
Phil AKA Vacunita
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Ignorance is not necessarily Bliss, case in point:
Unknown has caused an Unknown Error on Unknown and must be shutdown to prevent damage to Unknown.

 

[donb01]

I'll say ditto on what Vacunita said.... Get your new PC with bigger drive, etc and clone the hard drive of the critical system onto it. That way the critical system stays running til the new one is set to go.

My only suggestion is to buy the newest version of XP you can get (which may only be SP2) and pre-download the entire image of SP3 and burn it on a CD before you start. I would not connect any PC with a fresh Windows install on it to the internet (if you need to do that) before I have all 3 service packs and an anti-virus product like AVG Free or something installed while I am offline...

I once hooked up a Windows PC I was recovering for a friend to the internet so I could go to the windows update site and download the updates, and crap was flying by on the screen so fast I couldn't even get to that website before the viruses and crap had taken over and bloced access to it... Needless to say I had to start over again from scratch!

 

[kopja]

Thank you all for your suggestions. I have my cloned image in backups, and that can go to a different computer if neccessary (the PC is a DELL, and luckily so far I have never had activation issues transferring images into different DELLs).
I will buy XP and give it a try.
I wasn't aware about the updates needing to be reinstalled. But I am not too concerned anyway, the computer is sitting behind the company firewall and we do not use that pc for any other purpose, in fact only two people can even connect to it. Not to mention that SP3 might even break the PBX software (currently is on SP2).