Building a new PC can I use my old OEM XP install disk?

[Kevin]

I'm going to be building a new system as my 4 year old system is showing
signs of old age. Can I use my old OEM XP install disk to install XP on my
soon to be built new system? The old machine will be junked, the hard drive
formatted and given to a local school. No working parts of the old PC,
other than that formatted old hard drive will survive.

 

[Ted Zieglar]

There's no legal bar to doing so the way you are planning, however some OEM
versions of Windows are locked to the BIOS of the machine on which they were
originally installed, so they won't install on any other computer. Other OEM
versions of Windows may only install on the brand of computer on which they
were originally installed.

 

[Miss Perspicacia Tick]

I'm going to be building a new system as my 4 year old system is
showing signs of old age. Can I use my old OEM XP install disk to
install XP on my soon to be built new system? The old machine will
be junked, the hard drive formatted and given to a local school. No
working parts of the old PC, other than that formatted old hard drive
will survive.

No. An OEM licence is permanently tied to the system on which it was first
installed. Moreover, if it is a branded disc (one supplied with a system) it
will not install on any other system other than the one with which it was
supplied as most are BIOS locked.

 

[Danny Boy]

BLAH BLAH BLAH
Take your head out of your a$$ for 5 minutes to breath.

 

[Danny Boy]

After 4 months your xp key is kicked from microsofts database. Give it a try
and if you have to call in the activation.If it does't work no harm no foul.
Check this out for more info.
http://www.microscum.com/mmpafaq/

 

[Donald McDaniel]

I'm going to be building a new system as my 4 year old system is showing
signs of old age. Can I use my old OEM XP install disk to install XP on my
soon to be built new system? The old machine will be junked, the hard drive
formatted and given to a local school. No working parts of the old PC,
other than that formatted old hard drive will survive.

While using the old OEM XP install disk MAY work for the installation
of XP on your new system, you will have a problem when you go to
activate XP(unless it's been at least 120 days since your last
activation, in which case, you probably won't have any problems, and
may be able to activate via the Internet). You will most probably
have to activate via the phone, and the Activation Tech will ask you
why you are activating. If you tell them what you have told us, you
will probably be denied an activation, since OEM copies of XP can only
be installed again on the original machine they were provided with or
purchased for.

It all boils down on to whether you want to maintain your integrity,
and speak the truth, keeping a clear conscience.

Microsoft won't sue you, or have you arrested if you lie (you don't
have to give them any personal information), and will probably allow
an activation if you tell the right lie, since they usually err on the
side of the consumer, but you will have a defiled conscience.


Donald L McDaniel
Please reply to the original thread
so that others may be instructed or informed
============================================

 

[Bruce Chambers]

I'm going to be building a new system as my 4 year old system is showing
signs of old age. Can I use my old OEM XP install disk to install XP on my
soon to be built new system? The old machine will be junked, the hard drive
formatted and given to a local school. No working parts of the old PC,
other than that formatted old hard drive will survive.

According to the EULA, an OEM license may not be transferred from
one distinct PC to another PC. However, this most emphatically does not
prohibit one from repairing or upgrading the PC on which an OEM license
is installed.

Now, some people believe that the motherboard is the key component
that defines the "original computer," but the OEM EULA does not make any
such distinction. Others have said that one could successfully argue
that it's the PC's case that is the deciding component, as that is where
one is instructed to affix the OEM CoA label w/Product Key. Again, the
EULA does not specifically define any single component as the computer.
(Licensed Microsoft Systems Builders, who are allowed to distribute
OEM licenses with computers they sell, are contractually obligated to
"define" the computer as the motherboard, but this limitation/definition
can't be applied to the end user until the EULA is re-written.)

Microsoft has, to date, been very careful _not_ publicly to define
when an incrementally upgraded computer ceases to be the original
computer. The closest I've ever seen a Microsoft employee come to this
definition (in a public forum) 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. To paraphrase: 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 system yourself, and used a generic OEM CD, then _you_ are the
"OEM," and _you_ get to decide when you'll no longer support your product.




--

Bruce Chambers

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