OEM Licence

[Dave]

I have done some reading on this and I am somewhat
confused about my situation. I have built my own PC and
purchased an OEM version of XP Pro. My question is what
hapeens if my mother board dies and I decide to replace
it with some thing different? Can I still use my OEM
version? It will still be the same computer just a
different board. Thanks for your help.

Dave

 

[purplehaz]

Funny you ask this. A few people here just had a discussion about this
yesterday.
I am in the process of verifing this with the ms oem team.
This info is if you plan to follow the ms eula. If you don't want to follow
the eula, then do what you want.
My understanding is the motherboard is the computer. Changing the
motherboard would be a new computer. And since oem version cannot be
transfered to another computer/motherboard, you cannot install the same xp
oem version after you change your motherboard. XP gets tied to the first
computer/motherboard it's installed on. No transfers allowed on oem
versions.

 

[kurttrail]

Funny you ask this. A few people here just had a discussion about this
yesterday.
I am in the process of verifing this with the ms oem team.
This info is if you plan to follow the ms eula. If you don't want to
follow the eula, then do what you want.
My understanding is the motherboard is the computer. Changing the
motherboard would be a new computer. And since oem version cannot be
transfered to another computer/motherboard, you cannot install the
same xp oem version after you change your motherboard. XP gets tied
to the first computer/motherboard it's installed on. No transfers
allowed on oem versions.

http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/oemeula.htm

This is a reposting of the answer I recieved from Microsoft OEM System
Builder Licensing Team last year.

--
Peace!
Kurt
Self-anointed Moderator
microscum.pubic.windowsexp.gonorrhea
http://microscum.kurttrail.com
"Trustworthy Computing" is only another example of an Oxymoron!
"Produkt-Aktivierung macht frei!"

 

[Dave]

Kurt,

Thanks for the post. This still doesn't fully answer my
question as I have built my own system and therefore if
my board dies I wouldn't have to get the same thing. And
actually who knows if it would still be available. Thanks
for the help.

Dave

 

[Bruce Chambers]

Greetings --

According to the EULA, an OEM license may not be transferred from
one distinct PC to another PC.

However, Microsoft has, to date, been very careful _not_ to define
when an incrementally upgraded computer ceases to be the original
computer. The closest I've seen a Microsoft employee come to this
definition is to tell the person making the inquiry to consult the
PC's manufacturer. As the OEM license's support is solely the
responsibility of said manufacturer, they should determine what sort
of hardware changes to allow before the warranty and support
agreements are voided. An incrementally upgraded computer ceases to
be the original computer, as pertains to the OEM EULA, only when the
*OEM* says it's a different computer.

If you've built the PC yourself, and used a generic OEM WinXP CD,
*you* are the OEM, and *you* get to decide when you're going to stop
supporting the system and its OS.


Bruce Chambers

--
Help us help you:



You can have peace. Or you can have freedom. Don't ever count on
having both at once. -- RAH

 

[Dave]

-----Original Message-----
When I built my computer, I considered purchasing an OEM version of XP pro
and when i contacted the legal team at Microsoft UK they replied that I
could upgrade anything including the motherboard but might need to explain
to the activation line. They said that they were unable to provide any
definition of when a computer would be considered a different computer by
means of upgrade. As this information is apparently wrong I wish i had kept
the email. As it happens I found an old copy of win 98 while sorting out
some junk and bought a retail XP pro upgrade.

Bruce,

Are you saying that you purchased an OEM version and then
tried to update it and couldn't? Or are you saying
instead of purchasing the OEM you went with the upgrade?
Sorry, I am just not clear on what your are trying to
say. Thanks.

Dave

 

[Dave]

Bruce,

Have you personally been able to upgrade a MB using an
OEM version? I quess my thought is that my PC is the box
it sits in and that the components are there to be
upgraded. I have no intention of using my copy of XP on
any other system but I would like to have the liberty to
upgrade whatever part of my sytem that I want to. So, I
hope you are right. Thanks.

Dave

 

[Dave]

OOps. Sorry Sam I didn't mean to call you Bruce. I just
read the two post and got your names mixed up.

Dave

 

[Sam Baker]

Dave, I ended up buying the retail upgrade, but when considering OEM, I
emailed MS UK legal dept. and asked them the exact question you asked. They
said I could upgrade any component and could not give a definition of when a
computer would cease to be the same machine. This information appears to be
wrong but I didn't keep the email.

Sam

 

[GSV Three Minds in a Can]

Bruce, what you say here has also been my understanding. However, have
you seen the recent correspondence here on this issue among purplehaz,
Michael Stevens, and me? And Michael's web site, quoting a message
purportedly from Microsoft to kurtrail?

What are your comments on this?

Let's face it - this is of purely academic interest, MS are not likely
to pursue you because you swapped the motherboard and didn't buy a new
copy .. I doubt the lawyer that drafted the EULA even knows what a
motherboard =is=.

My license number is stuck tot he case .. I figure as long as I keep
using the same case, the wording of the EULA says I'm in the clear. If
MS intend something different they need to re-write the EULA back into
real English (and while they're at it, maybe they can delete the 'only
install one copy on one computer' nonsense at the same time .. I don't
see any reason why they should have conniptions if I install a second
copy for recovery purposes .. it's not like I can boot both at once, is
it .. OK, maybe I can using HyperOS, but I'm still only getting the same
use out of the thing ).

 

[purplehaz]

http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/oemeula.htm

This is a reposting of the answer I recieved from Microsoft OEM System
Builder Licensing Team last year.

Thanks Kurt.

 

[GSV Three Minds in a Can]

Yes, as I've said here more than once before, I too think that that's a
legitimate and legally defensible point of view. But that doesn't say
what happens when you call to reactivate. If I were in the position of
needing to reactivate an OEM version after changing a motherboard, and
Microsoft said "no," it's highly unlikely that I would go to the
trouble and expense (not to mention the risk of losing) of suing
Microsoft to prove my point.

See my last reply. I doubt they'd even know =what= was changed .. and if
it was a problem, waiting 120 days would solve it anyway. If you have
enough OEM copies around, there has to be =one= you haven't reactivated
in the last 120 days. 8>.

No expense suing MS if you happen to have legal insurance. It might be
fun actually .. that EULA would come unglued in a European court on more
different counts than I can enumerate.

 

[D.Currie]

Bitstring <[email protected]>, from the wonderful person
Ken Blake <[email protected]> said

Let's face it - this is of purely academic interest, MS are not likely
to pursue you because you swapped the motherboard and didn't buy a new
copy .. I doubt the lawyer that drafted the EULA even knows what a
motherboard =is=.

No, it's of considerably more than academic interest. The point, as Michael
pointed out, is what happens when you change a motherboard on an OEM
version, then have to call to reactivate it. If they consider changing a
motherboard a new computer, their answer will be, soory you can't
reactivarte. If they don't, they will gladly reactivate you.

But they don't ask what you've upgraded, specifically. Heck, it could be the
same OEM motherboard with an upgraded bios that triggers it...you just say
that you swapped components and need to reactivate.

 

[kurttrail]

No, it's of considerably more than academic interest. The point, as
Michael pointed out, is what happens when you change a motherboard on
an OEM version, then have to call to reactivate it. If they consider
changing a motherboard a new computer, their answer will be, soory
you can't reactivarte. If they don't, they will gladly reactivate you.

But they don't ask what you've upgraded, specifically. Heck, it could
be the same OEM motherboard with an upgraded bios that triggers
it...you just say that you swapped components and need to reactivate.

But that wouldn't be the truth! LOL!

--
Peace!
Kurt
Self-anointed Moderator
microscum.pubic.windowsexp.gonorrhea
http://microscum.kurttrail.com
"Trustworthy Computing" is only another example of an Oxymoron!
"Produkt-Aktivierung macht frei!"

 

[Ken Blake]

But they don't ask what you've upgraded, specifically. Heck, it could be the
same OEM motherboard with an upgraded bios that triggers it...you just say
that you swapped components and need to reactivate.

I don't know for sure what is asked by whichever person you happen to get when you call. It's possible that they don't all ask the same thing.

Can you get away with coyly not providing any more information than you absolutely have to? Perhaps, but I wouldn't want to put myself in that situation.

 

[D.Currie]

But they don't ask what you've upgraded, specifically. Heck, it could be the
same OEM motherboard with an upgraded bios that triggers it...you just say
that you swapped components and need to reactivate.


I don't know for sure what is asked by whichever person you happen to get

when you call. It's possible that they don't all ask the same thing.

Can you get away with coyly not providing any more information than you

absolutely have to? Perhaps, but I wouldn't want to put myself in that
situation.


There's probably a difference between what they're supposed to ask and what
a bored phone rep might ask. What they are supposed to ask is minimal. When
XP first came out, I had a lot of discussions about this with one of MSs
licensing reps. In theory you should be able to keep using the same software
if you have a computer from one of the big OEMs and you swap motherboards.
It should trigger activation, which MS would allow. The problem with that
theory is that although MS would allow the reactivation, the customized
restore CDs from most big OEMs wouldn't work after a motherboard swap. So
there's the advantage to generic OEM software -- it can be installed on
other hardware without going belly-up.

I don't consider a motherboard upgrade a new computer, especially if you're
replacing one that fried. If you're keeping all the other parts, you've got
the same peripherals, the same applications, it's not a new computer. And as
far as it goes, a new mobo might not trigger activation if it doesn't have
everything built in, and you keep the rest of the setup. To me, a new
computer is a whole new unit, all at once. And there's a whole working
computer left behind.

If MS intended on having a new motherboard = a new computer and require a
new license, they could have implemented that instead of the software hash
of multiple parts.

 

[Bruce Chambers]

Greetings --

I haven't personally used OEM licenses for some time now, because
of the limitations, so I've never had occasion to test the "ability."
There is no technical reason why a generic OEM installation CD cannot
be reinstalled onto a different motherboard, as the CD was originally
designed and manufactured to be installed upon *any* compatible
motherboard. It has no way of detecting an "unauthorized"
motherboard. Needless to say, branded, BIOS-locked OEM CDs and/or
manufacturer's Recovery CDs may very well not install on a different
motherboard.

Bruce Chambers

--
Help us help you:



You can have peace. Or you can have freedom. Don't ever count on
having both at once. -- RAH

 

[Bruce Chambers]

Greetings --

I have seen the conversation. Like you, I kill-filed Kurtrail
years ago when it became apparent that he had no regard for facts and
after he made it abundantly clear that he had no reluctance about
lying when it suited his purposes. This immediately rendered him an
unreliable source. I'd have to see something directly from Microsoft
before changing my position in this matter. Unfortunately, I cannot
access the "inner circles" of the pertinent Microsoft OEM sites, as
I'm not a system builder and I don't have the login.


Bruce Chambers

--
Help us help you:



You can have peace. Or you can have freedom. Don't ever count on
having both at once. -- RAH

According to the EULA, an OEM license may not be transferred from
one distinct PC to another PC.

However, Microsoft has, to date, been very careful _not_ to define
when an incrementally upgraded computer ceases to be the original
computer. The closest I've seen a Microsoft employee come to this
definition is to tell the person making the inquiry to consult the
PC's manufacturer.

Bruce, what you say here has also been my understanding. However, have
you seen the recent correspondence here on this issue among purplehaz,
Michael Stevens, and me? And Michael's web site, quoting a message
purportedly from Microsoft to kurtrail?

What are your comments on this?

 

[D.Currie]

The "inner circles" don't have a definition of what constitutes a computer,
any more than they have an actual definition of what you can sell with OEM
software. At least not that I've ever found, and I do have the login.

 

[Benny Fu]

Dear Dave,

Thank you for your posting.

For OEM questions please browse to http://www.microsoft.com/oem

More Information:
===============
For Windows XP, it is necessary to activate it after you install it. So if
you want to install it for the second time, you still need to active it. It
is related to license. Product activation works by ensuring that each
Windows XP license is installed in compliance with the EULA, and is not
installed on more than the number of computers that are allowed by the
license.



For information about Windows Product Activation, view the following
Microsoft Web site:
http://www.microsoft.com/piracy/basics/activation/


For a list of frequently asked questions (FAQ) about Windows Product
Activation, view the following Microsoft Web site:
http://www.microsoft.com/piracy/basics/activation/mpafaq.asp

Thanks and have a good day!


Regards,

Benny Fu
Microsoft Online Partner Support
Microsoft Corporation
Get Secure! – www.microsoft.com/security

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

--------------------
| Content-Class: urn:content-classes:message
| From: "Dave" <[email protected]>
| Sender: "Dave" <[email protected]>
| Subject: OEM Licence
| Date: Sun, 3 Aug 2003 09:54:49 -0700
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|
| I have done some reading on this and I am somewhat
| confused about my situation. I have built my own PC and
| purchased an OEM version of XP Pro. My question is what
| hapeens if my mother board dies and I decide to replace
| it with some thing different? Can I still use my OEM
| version? It will still be the same computer just a
| different board. Thanks for your help.
|
| Dave
|