Is my Windows Registered or NOT?

[Mr. NoOne]

How can I find out if my windows is registered or Not?

Is there a place in microsoft.com where I can put the serial# and it would say : YES or NO

[originel]

i assume you are running XP. if it's not registered you will most definitely know. If you are not registered windows will "lock" itself 30 days after it was installed and not allow you to boot. also if you are not registered it will remind you with a baloon pop-up every time you boot and there is also an icon on your start menu that says "activate windows." they're pretty adamant about it.

[Mr. NoOne]

Oh...no, I'm talking about Windows ME

[originel]

oh...there's no way to check then, but it really doesn't matter if you register or not on pre-XP systems because there aren't any real benefits from it.

[Mr. NoOne]

Well, I wanna sell my Windows ME because I bought a whole new Windows XP (not upgrade). But i guess if I registered I can't sell it..

[Bill in SD, CA]

If you're not using it, you can sell it.

CD, COA, Key, and generally a letter of non-use is sufficient for the buyer.

Bill

[Mr. NoOne]

But if they try to register it later & I had already done it, wouldn't they get in trouble? Or wouldn't I get in trouble?

[jmichna]

Originally posted by Mr. NoOne
But if they try to register it later & I had already done it, wouldn't they get in trouble? Or wouldn't I get in trouble?

Do as San Diego Bill indicated. I've sold W95, W98, WinME, W2K Pro and various versions of MS Office and MS Flight Simulator. I give the buyer the COA, product key, original media and a "transfer of license" letter. IF the buyer has any issues, they can contact MS with all this documentation. usually a phone call is all that is needed, if anything. I have never had any buyer come back and say they had a problem re-registering the software

[Theophylact]

"Registered" or "activated"? You can activate WinXP without registering it, by going online and punching in an authentication code. "Registering" it (or any other Microsoft product) just gets your name in their database for product updates and the like. But with WinXP, OfficeXP and later products, you have to "activate" it or it won't run.

Unfortunately, more and more companies are doing this sort of thing.