volume licensing issue

[Jeff]

I work for a school that has some PC that came with Win XP Pro preinstalled
and some PC's that have upgraded to Win XP Pro through the volume licensing
program. One of the PC's that came with XP Pro has developed a glitch and I
will need to reinstall the OS. I do not have an OS disk for that machine and
the key on the EULA sticker on the case will not work with the Volume
Licensing Disk I have. If I use the volume license key with this PC will it
count against my allowed number of installations? Remember this PC had XP
pro already installed under a different key.

Jeff

 

[Larry Samuels]

Yes, if you use your VL copy and key on that machine it will count towards
your total used licenses. It doesn't matter if it had XP Pro previously
installed or not.


--
Larry Samuels Associate Expert
MS-MVP (2001-2005)
Unofficial FAQ for Windows Server 2003 at
http://pelos.us/SERVER.htm
Expert Zone-

 

[Jeff]

Darn....
On the machine with the previously install Win XP there is an I386 folder. I
assume that this folder has all of the information pertaining to the Win XP
ver that is covered by the key that is stuck to the case. Is there a way to
copy that folder and make a bootable CD that can be used to reinstall that
licensed copy of XP pro on that PC?

 

[Harry Ohrn]

If the directory indeed contains _all of the installation files_ then you
could burn it to CD and restore from it however you will not be able to
create a true XP installation CD. However check here
http://www.nu2.nu/bootcd/ scrolling down to the section entitled "Bootable
Windows XP installation CD-Rom (with SP1) [updated! dec 17, 2002]"

 

[Larry Samuels]

What brand is the pc? In many cases you can get the recovery cds from the
manufacturer at little or no charge.

--
Larry Samuels Associate Expert
MS-MVP (2001-2005)
Unofficial FAQ for Windows Server 2003 at
http://pelos.us/SERVER.htm
Expert Zone-

 

[Ron Martell]

I work for a school that has some PC that came with Win XP Pro preinstalled
and some PC's that have upgraded to Win XP Pro through the volume licensing
program. One of the PC's that came with XP Pro has developed a glitch and I
will need to reinstall the OS. I do not have an OS disk for that machine and
the key on the EULA sticker on the case will not work with the Volume
Licensing Disk I have. If I use the volume license key with this PC will it
count against my allowed number of installations? Remember this PC had XP
pro already installed under a different key.

Jeff

Do you by chance have another *identical* PC with the OEM version of
Windows installed? By identical I mean exactly the same hardware
specs and purchased from the same OEM at the same time?

If so then you might repeat might be able to make an image of the
drive in that PC, restore that image to the problem PC, and then
change the product key to the correct one for that PC.

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

 

[Mak]

Jeff,
have a look under re-imaging rights:
https://www.microsoft.com/licensing/resources/volbrief.mspx

volume license key will not be counted against your 'allowed number of
installations'.

 

[Larry Samuels]

Hi Mak,
Thanks for the correction!
The relevant part of the doc is:

If a Volume Licensing customer has licensed Microsoft software products from
an OEM, through a retail source or under any agreement other than its
Microsoft Volume Licensing agreement, the customer may use copies made from
Microsoft Volume Licensing media in place of any copies made from the media
provided through that separate source, so long as the following conditions
are met:



§ A separate license is obtained from the retail source for each
copy being replaced.

§ The replacement copy and licensed copy are identical.




--
Larry Samuels Associate Expert
MS-MVP (2001-2005)
Unofficial FAQ for Windows Server 2003 at
http://pelos.us/SERVER.htm
Expert Zone-

 

[Jeff]

Thank you very much for the link...
For the present I won't need to go this route as a secretary came to me
yesterday with a large stack of disks and manuals. She had found them in an
unlabeled folder in the file storage room... The previous tech teacher had
stored all of the HP restore and OS disks for the PC's with OEM win xp.
I felt that it was the day to buy a lottery ticket, LOL. Outside of the
fact that the supplied OS was sp1 so I had to do the upgrade I was happy
since I though at that I was saving one of our volume license installs.

In the future I'll just use my VLP disk.
Thanks again

Jeff

 

[Jeff]

I reread the reimaging doc... MS does not consider the OEM copy of Win XP
Pro to be identical to the VLP copy of Win XP Pro.
see this line in Doc:

Microsoft Office XP Professional licensed via the OEM, System Builder or FPP
channel and Microsoft Office XP Professional Enterprise licensed via
Microsoft Volume Licensing are not the same product as they do not share the
same components.

This disqualifies the use of the VLP copy to restore the OEM ver of win XP
Pro, not to mention the fact that the OEM copy was SP1 while our VLP copy is
SP2. Again the copies are not identical.

As far as I'm concerned this is really a rip. Luckily, as I said in my
earlier reply.... The restore disks were found, I did not use the VLP disk,
and all worked out well.

Jeff

 

[Mak]

Jeff, you need to re-read the document again.
Skip paragraphs re Office (or re-read FAQ section below on why Office is
different), they are not your case, read this instead:

"However, you can use copies of a Microsoft Windows® desktop operating
system made from volume licensing media in place of licensed copies of the
same software obtained from the OEM channel, even though they may be of
different product types (e.g., one may be an upgrade license and the other a
full license), provided that the other attributes are identical."

Or, you can talk to your Microsoft contact and ask for help of licensing
specialist.

 

[Mak]

no problems Larry

Hi Mak,
Thanks for the correction!
The relevant part of the doc is:

If a Volume Licensing customer has licensed Microsoft software products
from an OEM, through a retail source or under any agreement other than its
Microsoft Volume Licensing agreement, the customer may use copies made
from Microsoft Volume Licensing media in place of any copies made from the
media provided through that separate source, so long as the following
conditions are met:



§ A separate license is obtained from the retail source for each
copy being replaced.

§ The replacement copy and licensed copy are identical.




--
Larry Samuels Associate Expert
MS-MVP (2001-2005)
Unofficial FAQ for Windows Server 2003 at
http://pelos.us/SERVER.htm
Expert Zone-

 

[Jeff]

Thank You Mark
I feel better

Jeff

no problems Larry