If I install Windows XP Pro OEM, are there any disadvantages?
Your question seems to have two parts: what implications does the “OEM” status of the software have, and will Activation work. For the OEM issue: as long as your software works with Windows XP, it will work with the OEM image of that operating system. “OEM”, or “Original Equipment Manufacturer”, is a full version of the software that is normally sold to computer manufacturers so they can put it on machines they are selling to computers (i.e. in a situation where Microsoft sells to the manufacturer, not to the consumer). Microsoft does support these OEM copies just like other copies of Windows (in fact, more than 90% of consumers run OEM versions of Windows). You shouldn’t have any problems there. As for your activation question: activation normally works straightforward over the Internet. It is known that during Activation, the software detects a number of characteristics of your hardware, and transmits this (in anonymous form) to Microsoft. If you try to activate the same copy again o
