activation

  • Thread starter Thread starter Bil
  • Start date Start date
B

Bil

I have two computers on a home network. One had WindowsME
and the other ran WinXP/home.

The XP machine got screwed up (my fault) and I took it to
a PC repair place, where I bought a new OEM disk of
WinXP/home becasue I lost the original disk.

They reloaded XP/home on the PC and activated it at the
shop.

I brought it home and then loaded XP/home with the new
disk onto the WinME machine. Now I can't activate the
second machine. What's up with that?

Can't I load more than one of my own machines with the
operating system that I own??
 
This is a Microsoft gotcha! Sorry, if you have two
machines, you have to have two licensed copies of windows
XP software. It will activate only on the original
machine it was installed on. You're going to have to fork
out another $99 for another copy. The rich (Microsoft)
just keep on getting richer. Sorry.
 
Bil said:
I brought it home and then loaded XP/home with the new
disk onto the WinME machine. Now I can't activate the
second machine. What's up with that?
Click to expand...
Can't I load more than one of my own machines with the
operating system that I own??
Click to expand...

You don't own the OS, you own a license enabling you to run it on ONE
computer. If you want to put it on a second computer, you need another
license.
 
In
I brought it home and then loaded XP/home with the new
disk onto the WinME machine. Now I can't activate the
second machine. What's up with that?

Can't I load more than one of my own machines with the
operating system that I own??
Click to expand...


No. The rule is quite clear. It's one copy (or one license) for
each computer.

There's nothing new here. This is exactly the same rule that's
been in effect on every version of Windows starting with Windows
3.1. The only thing new with XP is that there's now an
enforcement mechanism.
 
Greetings --

Of course not. First of all, you don't own the OS; all you've
purchased is a license to use it on a single PC.

As it has *always* been with *all* Microsoft operating systems,
it's necessary (to be in compliance with both the EULA, if not
technically) to purchase one WinXP license for each computer on which
it is installed. The only way in which WinXP licensing differs from
that of earlier versions of Windows is that Microsoft has finally
added a copy protection and anti-theft mechanism, Product Activation,
to prevent (or at least make more difficult) multiple installations
using a single license.

Further, you've stated that the WinXP CD is an OEM version. OEM
versions must be sold with a piece of hardware (normally a motherboard
or hard drive, if not an entire PC, although Microsoft has greatly
relaxed the hardware criteria for WinXP) and are _permanently_ bound
to the first PC on which they are installed. An OEM license, once
installed, is not legally transferable to another computer under _any_
circumstances.


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
 
No, although Kurt will tell you that you can. This is especially true
with an OEM license. OEM licenses are tied to the computer they are
first installed on. For example, let's say you have two computers -
Computer 1 and Computer 2. If you install it on Computer 1, you can't
install it on Computer 2, even if you remove it from Computer 1.
 
Back
Top