[Mr.Buttocks]

Originally Posted by anti

answer me this because i dont get it
i have a copy of xp that works only with the pc i bought (alienware. go ahead make fun, i was an idiot at the time but ive learned the error of my ways). ive replaced every single component inside the computer over the years except the master hard drive which ahs been reformatted countless times. how come the cd still works?

This might help explain things: http://aumha.org/win5/a/wpa.php

[quote:7af9a]
WPA asks for ‘votes’ from each of these ten categories: ‘Is the same device still around, or has there never been one?’ Seven Yes votes means all is well — and a NIC, present originally and not changed, counts for three yes votes! Minor cards, like sound cards, don’t come into the mix at all. If you keep the motherboard, with the same amount of RAM and processor, and an always present cheap NIC (available for $10 or less), you can change everything else as much as you like.

If you change the device in any category, you have lost that Yes vote — but will not lose it any more thereafter if you make changes in that category again. So, for example, you can install a new video display card every month for as long as you like.[/quote:7af9a]