Bios locked XP, will an upgrade fix it?

[ad1974]

Hopefully someone here can answer this for me.

I need to buy a new motherboard (btx so not from here sadly). Only other thing I will be replacing is the optical drive. Hard drive will be transferred to new case, motherboard, etc.

The issue is that it is all from a Dell PC. I understand that the XP media Centre Edition installed on here, will be bios locked. In other words, I can only replace it with another Dell board.

If I was to purchase an OEM upgrade copy of Vista, would this remove the lock? I would then like to fit new mobo into new case and rebuild PC.

Obviously I would then have to reactivate Windows.

Is this going to work or am I going to have to shell out for a full copy, rather than an upgrade?

Any help greatly appreciated. Have got a new BTX media pc case that looks great in my lounge, but the Dell BTX board I have, doesn't use any std fittings, which is the reason for the m/board change.

cheers

Ady

EDIT: If I need it, what are the rules on purchasing an OEM copy of XP/Vista from Novatech? Do I need to purchase particular hardware? I heard that Microsoft had relaxed the rules, but Novatech site says that it has to be purchased with a full system (if you look at software product info screen).

[Taxation]

I dont really know what you are asking here.
You want to change the motherboard in your dell to another motherboard?? correct
Doing this will require you to install windows again, windows gets configured to the motherboard when it is first installed.

I would just replace the motherboard with a "normal" one and install a fresh copy of windows, but thats just me.

Oh yea, back up all data you want/need before you do this :roll:

[ad1974]

Thanks for the reply. I have a new motherboard on its way, what I wanted to know is, can I buy the "upgrade" license or will I need a "full" license for windows?....I have read that the upgrade disks sometimes aren't enough to do a clean install.

I started typing and changed what I wanted to say, so after reading it, can see that it doesn't explain what I wanted....thats what you get when searching for someone with a BTX motherboard in stock all day!!

Lastly, what are peoples experiences with Vista? If I have to buy Windows, then might as well know if Vista is worth getting, saying that it appears to be cheaper than XP at present.

Hope that makes more sense.

[Taxation]

Buy a full license and just install it a fresh, but back the info up, as it will all be lost.
Go online and check that your system will work with vista, check forums especially, they are usually the most helpful.
Vista is good, but make sure your machine can handle it first

[ad1974]

Thanks. My machine will handle Vista ok, I'll have a search for some opinions on Vista and decide what to do.