Office 2003 Activaton

[winifreid]

I have a valid, activated version of Office 2003. If I clone my HD to a new computer, I assume , I will have to re-activate Office. Is this a problem? How do I prove that I removed Office from my old computer?
Thanks.

[TaoTeWingChun]

I actually think you'd have a tough time cloning your drive to fit into another computer, unless the new computer was an exact duplicate of the one you're using now.

I clone drives all week long, and I can tell you that its easier to do on paper than it is in reality.

Cheers!

TTWC

[winifreid]

I assume you are joking. Most drives come with software that clone one drive to another. Obviously, the cloned drive can not have more data on it than will fit on receiving drive. But my question is really about activation.
Thanks.

[bgclarke]

He's talking about the internals of the other computer.

If the other computer has a different motherboard, etc. the cloned drive will most likely not boot. Windows 2000 and XP do not handle motherboard swaps very well, if at all.

You're most likely looking at a full rebuild.

[TaoTeWingChun]

I wish I were joking, Winifreid - but truth is if you use Ghost or True Image and put your newly cloned drive into a different machine, it will not boot.

Of course, no need to take my word for it, go ahead and clone it and see. Another test would be to take your existing drive out of the machine it's currently in and istall it into the target machine. After all the cloe is exactly a duplicate, right?

I believe the software you are referring to is a migration assistant, like PC Relocator. And you should be aware that those tools do NOT install applications from one drive to another, you have to do that yourself.

Cloning and migrating are 2 separate and distinct processes. As for reactivating your Office 2003, that depends on what exactly you are attempting to accomplish.

If you're looking to clone your drive into a larger drive for use in the same machine, I don't see that you'd have to re-activate anything.

If you're looking to move your system drive into another machine, as bgclarke mentioned, you are looking at a new system build and yes, you'd have to re-activate your Office 2003.

Hope this helps!

Cheers!

TTWC

[winifreid]

I thought you were joking because yu said fit into the drive, as in size or something. I have cloned and migrated 98 systems numeruos times with no problem. I have as yet to try this with 2000. We will see because I hate reinstalling all the updates and programs and then all the addons and settings. You don't realize how customized your computer gets until you try to reinstall the OS. Anyway, when I reactivate the Office, will I have to call or can I just use the internet activation?
Thanks.

[TaoTeWingChun]

I see what you're saying, Winifreid! I didn't catch that the first time around!!! My bad!! LOL!!

Technically, the drive will "fit" into the other machine, but the booting of said clone would be rendered very difficult, especially if there are differences in the hardware configurations between the two machines. That's what I was getting at - sorry if I took the long way around that explanation!

As for re-activating, you should be able to do so over the internet without too much trouble.

Just watch out for the subtle differences across Win2000 & WinXP. In the old days of Win95/Win98 you certainly could take and move drives/clones to different machines no problem. This is no longer the case with Win2000 and up, ok?

Best wishes for a successful re-activation!

Cheers!

TTWC

[ROF]

For cloned drives on an XP Pro system, boot the new system using your XP CD and have your recovery disc available. When prompted to reinstall or use ASR(Auto System Recovery) perform an auto system recovery. The recovery will find all your new hardware, reset your registry(Good way to clean that thing out) and re-boot your system. Make sure to change the new system back to booting from your hard disk and your mission is now completed.

[winifreid]

I use 2000 pro. I don't think there is an auto recovery in 2000.
Thanks

[winifreid]

One thing I hope to avoid by cloning is having to reinstall all my other programs, like office, and the myriad of updates and patches that goes with each. I also hate having to figure out ways to tranfer all my settings and mail accounts. Upgrading is really a big hassle when you can't just clone the drive.

[winifreid]

Would this work?
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;824125

Thanks

[ROF]

Sure, that'll work if you want to re-install your OS. Warning, you will lose everything on your partition you are re-installing to. you will get this warning before the process begins and I'd imagine that kinda defeats the purpose of cloning. Grab your recovery disk and win XP CD and follow the directions I posted above. I've done this twice for my own systems and also done this for two other people once each. One of them was XP Home Edition and neither Operating System needed to "call home".

Edit: Oops . . Sorry I just noticed you said your using 2K. I don't use that OS as it's too unstable after several months of constant running.

[winifreid]

Here is a more appropriate solution. I believe number 3 is what I should do.
http://www.windowsreinstall.com/install/other/motherboard/win2k.htm

[ROF]

That sounds similiar to the way you use this recovery disk in WinXP. This should work, but heed the advice of step # 5. This can occur in WinXP as well.

[TaoTeWingChun]

Winifreid, if your goal is not to have to go throught the entire Windows Update and application re-install, I say go with option #1. Otherwise, you may as well just start from scratch and rebuild onto your new drive. For the trouble you'll go through to make option #3 viable, rebuilding will even save you time.

Option #1 seems to be the quickest way to do this, if you're interested. Unless your hardware differences are not significant and can therefore use #2, I's try not to use #3 as it appears to be a destructive re-setting of your base OS (Win2K).

Just my 2 cents, my friend.

Let me know what you think . . .

Cheers!

TTWC

[stiltman]

I actually think you'd have a tough time cloning your drive to fit into another computer, unless the new computer was an exact duplicate of the one you're using now.

I clone drives all week long, and I can tell you that its easier to do on paper than it is in reality.

Cheers!

TTWC

Then you haven't done your home work...

Lets see.

The hit or miss way:
Delete all IDE drivers from 2003/XP so just the basic MS driver is running...clone the drive.
Win2K Srv and Pro are a little harder, you actually have to make some regedit changes before you clone the drive. (search MS site for moving OS to new hardware)

The easy way:
Universal Imaging Utility

BTW, they were the first company to create a HDD cloning software
BTW2, I used to clone drives too (along with sysprep and windiff started with NT4)
BTW3, I've been using Ghost since version 2


To the original post, you'll probably have to reactivate in you do not have a Corp version of Office. The MSDN/MSDNAA/Select versions do not require activation. I'm pretty sure the Technet version requires activation, but I'm not 100%.

[TaoTeWingChun]

Considering the original topic is "Office 2003 Activation", we are pretty off-topic here discussing cloning. As for cloning under Ghost, I've been using Ghost since it first came out (*WELL* before Norton/Symantec became interested in it!), but I have found Acronis True Image to excel in places that Ghost falters, notably Win2000 & XP cloning.

As for removing IDE drivers, etc., at that point winifreid may as well just rebuild his entire machine for the work involved here. And, as you stated, that method is truly 'hit or miss'.

If all he wants to do is clone his drive and throw it into another machine, Acronis actually has a method of doing so with little to no impact on installed apps, hardware driver database and the Windows resgistry.

However, I was not suggesting that the OP purchase said software.

Cheers!

TTWC

[winifreid]

Here is what it appears I should do:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;824125
I would have to install the 2000 and IE updates, but I already have those downloaded. I assume that this would leave all my other programs intact???
I actually intend on using my current HD, I wanted to clone/backup it in case of a problem. Since I am getting a new SATA drive that I want to serve as my boot drive, I might try to clone my current HD to it. I would have to do this in the new computer since my current rig does not support SATA. I am hoping that I can use my Maxblast CD to clone my current HD (mator) to my new Hitachi SATA drive before I boot into windows. Or do you think I should keep my Maxtor as the boot drive and use the Hitachi for capture?
I know this isn't really about activation of Office, but I assume it is allowed for me to hijack my own thread.
Thanks
Oh, TTWC, since you use the term Cheers, I wondered if you have some Aussie connection. If so have you ever heard the term "no wuckies"?

[TaoTeWingChun]

One of my best mates hails from Australia, by way of South Africa, and he also says "no dramas" !

It's been a while since I've contemplated the use of certain phrases - last time it nearly got me burned at the stake when talking to the missus!

LOL!

[winifreid]

I finally got everything running (so far). The upgrade didn't work until I first deleted all the stufff in the hardware control panel and then upgraded. But then it worked. All my apps and settings are in place. I did have to reactivate office, but it was easy. Whne I launched Outlook, it asked if I wanted to activate online; I clicked okay and that was it. No wuckies.

[TaoTeWingChun]

WooHoo!

Way to go, winifreid! No wuckies indeed!

I'm glad you were able to get it sorted out! Congratulations on a job very well done, mate!

Cheers!

TTWC

[thevoelk]

I realize I'm alittle late in posting this, but Stiltman is right. If you use the Sysprep utility, and before-hand use MS generic IDE drivers, you can pretty much clone the same image across chipsets. I.E, AMD AthlonXP to Intel Pentium4 is probably not going to work too well, you have to repair the OS after restoring, but I have cloned numerous workstations and notebooks this way. (I even had that question on an MCSE exam for a couple of questions regarding RIS.) If you follow Microsoft's instructions, you won't have to activate a thing unless it was an OEM copy.

[winifreid]

I was using generic IDE drivers, but I did not do sysprep. I still had to delete everything from Control panel hardware. (I deleted everything, but there may have been just a few key things that need deleting. But I am not going back and find out. It is easy enough to delete everything.) I did this in safe mode - don't know if that is necessary. I then switched the drive to the new computer and booted from my slipstreamed 2000 SP4 disk and hit r for repair/upgrade. I had to do this twice because it then asked for an admin password and just went to WINNT directory. I think I then rebooted and this time just hit enter for complete install. After a few screens it then detected a previous version and asked if I wanted to repair. It didn't ask for the password this way and continued on to completion. I had to reinstall my AVG virus program and reset Zonealarm. But everything else worked. Oh, I did have to reactivate Office, but as I said it was just over the internet.
Now, I do have a problem. I have tried to install Sandra (latest version), but when it launches it says it can not connect to computer. I had a problem like this with a 98 machine and I had to install Jet 4.0 Service Pack 8. Does Win 2000 and Sandra require Jet to work?
Thanks