Installing XP on two HD's

[joejam2]

Can I install the same windows license on two different HD's? I am getting a new HD today and want to use it for FSX only (for now). I want to do this so I don't have stuff running in the background to slow FSX down.

[xxmikexx]

My guess (guess) is that you would be able to. Activation is tied to an overall machine fingerprint that includes the HDDs but is not restricted to the HDDs. Therefore my guess is that Microssoft would consider the second acitivation to be a reactivation.

[joejam2]

Thanks for the info. I have another question. Would I have to reinstall the drivers for my motherboard or is that all in the bios or cmos? I am guess I would need to reinstall things like my sound card and graphics card drivers.

[xxmikexx]

I think the two installations are effectively parallel universes so whatever driver issues apply to one would apply to the other. Note, however, that the two installations ought to be able to share, say, a third HDD whether for FS-related purposes or other purposes.

But treat mine as an interim answer for planning purposes. The experts on this forum will be along sooner or later and will give you a more accurate and detailed answer than I can.

Gotta run, hope this helps.

[jwenting]

unless you use something like Norton Ghost to create a complete image of the existing disk and use that to spool in the new one then yes, you're going to have to install everything from scratch just as you would were it a completely new machine.

And that includes every application you want to use on that new Windows installation, including FSX, except for some simple utilities that don't use the registry, don't install DLLs or other files in the Windows directory system (not that many anymore, luckily), etc.

You may indeed get away with using the same Windows license for both images, but I'm not sure of that. If you want certainty before you go ahead with it you should call Microsoft tech support.