Hi guys, as a novice, have installed XP Pro, registered to my frienndfor his laptop bought at Xmas, onto a new hard drive on his desktop 5 year old recently upgraded Desktop. Why? Because I wanted his two machines to run the OS for networking compatibility and File Sharing.

Set up a dual boot system, which works fine. I select which OS to boot from, XP Pro loads super quick from HDD, then immediately a POP UP says, 30 days to validate. Tried to use KEY from laptop, tells me Good Licence, not for your machine, Also tells me my product KEY for the original desktop OS which is XP Home.

Then asks for money, a lot of money to buy avalidation kit. I'm sure this is all old hat to the daily professional tech. But I find it rude that my friend paid good money for an OS twice. And yet MS still ask for more money to use the licence on his other machine.

Noto Bene! When prompted during the XP Pro install, I said it was a business installnot a Home Office install. Would that have made a difference.

Question. Is it possible to load XP Pro, as a fresh install and not be asked for money, without upgrading the current XP Home install on the original HDD.

Thanks for your time and patience in advance