Managing OS & MSOffice Licences

[Guest]

-----Original Message-----
Hi,

we have nearly 60 computers. When i started to work there was no license
management. Now I want to collect product key & ID infomartions from the CDs
and computers.
My questions: I have "XP Pro System Builder" CDs and many other "XP Pro
Genuine" CDs. I want to install and change them on all workstations where
Win2000 is installed. The admin before me has sticked the certificate of
authenticity and Product Key stickers on the backside of the CD covers. They
aren't installed anywhere, so can I use them and install them legally?

And can I install a "XP Pro OEM" on a different PC, when the old PC is out
and not any mor useable. Or is it to be used just with the PC it was sold
with?

Thank You all...

Khan
.
you are an admin and as clueless as your post ? hard to

believe.

oems can never be moved to a new machine without breaking
the licensing agreement as an admin you are held legally
responsible for any licensing issues, you should contact
microsoft directly and become fully informed because you
could be severely fined and never get another admin job
if you do this wrong and microsoft catches you,unlike a
casual home user who will never be prosecuted in a
setting of 50 to 100 computers you could get caught and
would be prosecuted.although no jail time is ever likely
you could be fined tens of thousands of dollars per theft
and then no one in the industry would ever hire you again
as you and the company would be fined.

 

[Ron Martell]

I understand. That means as long as there is OEM written on the certificate
sticker or on the CD, i cannot use them anywhere else. Just on the PCs it was
sold with? Is it right? We even don't know, where the CDs come from.

OEM licenses are permanently locked to the first computer that they
are installed on, and may not be legitimately transferred to another
computer under any circumstance

Additionally "BIOS Locked" OEM versions can no longer be activated if
they are installed on a system with a motherboard that is not from the
OEM that supplied that version. These versions always have the OEM
name/logo on the CD.

You mentioned that there are product key stickers on the various PCs.
Have you verified, at least on a sample basis, that these keys are the
actual ones used to install Windows XP onto that computer? You can do
this with several free utility programs, including:
Windows XP Product Key finder:
http://www.webtree.ca/windowsxp/keyfinder.exe

Magic Jelly Bean key finder:
http://www.magicaljellybean.com/keyfinder.shtml

With 60 PCs you should look seriously at the option of getting a
Volume License for Windows, and perhaps for application software as
well if you use Microsoft applications.

Volume licenses belong to the user and are not tied to specific
machines. You just have to control the total number of machines that
the product is installed on at any given point in time.

And if you do decided on a volume license for Windows then you should
check with your PC suppliers to see which of them will supply you with
new machines that do not have a preinstalled operating system. Most
major brands won't do this but smaller manufacturers/assemblers will.

Good luck


Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada
--
Microsoft MVP
On-Line Help Computer Service
http://onlinehelp.bc.ca

In memory of a dear friend Alex Nichol MVP
http://aumha.org/alex.htm