Transferring a retail Win2K to another PC - how to persuade WGA that it's legit?

Hi folks,

Does anyone know what must be done to transfer a *retail* copy of
Windows 2000 to a different PC *and* persuade WGA to allow
automatic updates?

I've tried contacting Microsoft twice with this question. It was
almost worth it for the laughs.

The first "answer" I received was that though they recognised
that installing Windows 2000 "was important to me", I wasn't
allowed to run my copy of the software on more than one PC. Well
thanks, guys. I would never have known that if you hadn't told
me.

I sent them the question again, this time with the text "***I AM
TRYING TO **TRANSFER** MY **RETAIL** COPY OF WINDOWS 2000 TO A
DIFFERENT PC***" at the top of the message. Subtle, well maybe
not, but I had hopes it might get their attention. The answer was
even more idiotic, I was told to consult the documentation that
I'd received with my copy of *Windows 2003 Server*.

Obviously there's no-one at Microsoft India (or wherever they
route e-mail questions these days) who can speak basic English.
Well, either that, or they can't be bothered reading the
questions that they've been sent.

At the moment, of course, WGA rejects attempts to update on the
grounds that my copy of 2000 has been installed on another PC.
Well, yes, so it was - but now that said PC is running Mandriva,
I want to use that copy of 2000 to upgrade my wife's PC.

Has anyone solved this problem? If not, does anyone know of a
means of contacting Microsoft that isn't going to cost me $99 for
them to answer an e-mail and which might somehow get through to
someone with sufficient intelligence to read the question before
sending an "answer"?


Thanks,

Brian.
--
Invalid address used for Usenet postings.
Replace 'usenetposting' with my name
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Hi Brian,

WGA does not block updates for Windows 2000 users, but you may be having an
issue installing the WGA controls on this new box please go to
http://www.microsoft.com/genuine/dow.../validate.aspx to update and
install the latest version of the control.

Thank you

Eric
"Brian Meadows" <> wrote in message
news:...
>
> Hi folks,
>
> Does anyone know what must be done to transfer a *retail* copy of
> Windows 2000 to a different PC *and* persuade WGA to allow
> automatic updates?
>
> I've tried contacting Microsoft twice with this question. It was
> almost worth it for the laughs.
>
> The first "answer" I received was that though they recognised
> that installing Windows 2000 "was important to me", I wasn't
> allowed to run my copy of the software on more than one PC. Well
> thanks, guys. I would never have known that if you hadn't told
> me.
>
> I sent them the question again, this time with the text "***I AM
> TRYING TO **TRANSFER** MY **RETAIL** COPY OF WINDOWS 2000 TO A
> DIFFERENT PC***" at the top of the message. Subtle, well maybe
> not, but I had hopes it might get their attention. The answer was
> even more idiotic, I was told to consult the documentation that
> I'd received with my copy of *Windows 2003 Server*.
>
> Obviously there's no-one at Microsoft India (or wherever they
> route e-mail questions these days) who can speak basic English.
> Well, either that, or they can't be bothered reading the
> questions that they've been sent.
>
> At the moment, of course, WGA rejects attempts to update on the
> grounds that my copy of 2000 has been installed on another PC.
> Well, yes, so it was - but now that said PC is running Mandriva,
> I want to use that copy of 2000 to upgrade my wife's PC.
>
> Has anyone solved this problem? If not, does anyone know of a
> means of contacting Microsoft that isn't going to cost me $99 for
> them to answer an e-mail and which might somehow get through to
> someone with sufficient intelligence to read the question before
> sending an "answer"?
>
>
> Thanks,
>
> Brian.
> --
> Invalid address used for Usenet postings.
> Replace 'usenetposting' with my name
> for a valid e-mail address.