Can I activate on more than one machine with this version of XP?

[jm]

http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproductdesc.asp?description=37-102-143&DEPA=6

That is where I got my Windows XP Professional. Because it says OEM,
does that mean I cannot install it on another computer? Thank you.

 

[Will Denny]

Hi

An OEM CD can only be installed onto one computer and can't be transferred
to another one.

 

[Bruce Chambers]

Greetings --

You'll need to purchase a separate WinXP license for each computer
on which you install it.

First of all, you have an OEM license for WinXP. An OEM
version must be sold with a piece of hardware (normally a motherboard
or hard rive, if not an entire PC) and is _permanently_ bound to the
first PC on which it's installed. An OEM license, once installed, is
not legally transferable to another computer under _any_
circumstances.

Secondly, as it has *always* been with *all* Microsoft operating
systems, it's necessary (to be in compliance with both the EULA and
U.S. copyright law http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/117.html), if
not technically) to purchase one WinXP license for each computer on
which it is installed. (Consult an attorney versed in copyright law
to determine final applicability in your locale.) 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.


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

 

[Alias]

Greetings --

You'll need to purchase a separate WinXP license for each computer
on which you install it.

First of all, you have an OEM license for WinXP. An OEM
version must be sold with a piece of hardware (normally a motherboard
or hard rive, if not an entire PC) and is _permanently_ bound to the
first PC on which it's installed.

Bruce Chambers

Not true. OEMs can be bought without hardware. Mr Chambers is not up-to-date
on this, his stubborness and hardheadedness notwithstanding.

As to being "permanently bound to the first PC on which it's installed" is a
misleading statement. With an OEM, you *can* upgrade your motherboard,
processor, hard drive, keyboard, mouse, CDROM/RW/DVD, video card, sound card
and any other hardware you want to change or upgrade.

What you can't do is legally install it on two different computers
simultaneously.

Alias

 

[Mistoffolees]

Not true. OEMs can be bought without hardware. Mr Chambers is not up-to-date
on this, his stubborness and hardheadedness notwithstanding.

As to being "permanently bound to the first PC on which it's installed" is a
misleading statement. With an OEM, you *can* upgrade your motherboard,
processor, hard drive, keyboard, mouse, CDROM/RW/DVD, video card, sound card
and any other hardware you want to change or upgrade.

What you can't do is legally install it on two different computers
simultaneously.

Alias

Actually, there are about as many versions of the licensing
agreement, other than the one license per computer rule, as
there are sales agreements between Microsoft and the different
OEM's and VAR's and their suppliers as well. But in general,
and for the masses, Bruce is correct although what constitutes
the definition of "hardware" will also vary among the various
interpretations of the sales agreement and has been known to
range between a complete computer system to an IDE HD cable.
In the end, the only enforceable part of licensing is the one
license per computer rule unless the OEM has placed its own
limitations (and which might have been required) on the cdrom
provided.

 

[jm]

Not true. OEMs can be bought without hardware. Mr Chambers is not up-to-date
on this, his stubborness and hardheadedness notwithstanding.

As to being "permanently bound to the first PC on which it's installed" is a
misleading statement. With an OEM, you *can* upgrade your motherboard,
processor, hard drive, keyboard, mouse, CDROM/RW/DVD, video card, sound card
and any other hardware you want to change or upgrade.

What you can't do is legally install it on two different computers
simultaneously.

Alias

Yeah, but will it activate or will Microsoft issue me another key?

 

[Alias]

"Alias" <[email protected]> wrote in message


Yeah, but will it activate or will Microsoft issue me another key?

Depends on how much hardware you change. If you don't change anything, you
will be able to activate online.

Alias

 

[Robert Kent]

Greetings --

An OEM license, once installed, is

not legally transferable to another computer under _any_
circumstances.

Microsoft needs to rethink this policy. Lets say your computer is fried by a
lightening strike. You go out and buy a new computer, maybe even one
identical to the one that was destroyed. Why can't you use the same copy of
Windows XP?

XP can cost as much as $300. If it cost say $30, it wouldn't be a big
problem, but this is a major expense.

 

[Alias]

An OEM license, once installed, is

Microsoft needs to rethink this policy. Lets say your computer is fried by a
lightening strike. You go out and buy a new computer, maybe even one
identical to the one that was destroyed. Why can't you use the same copy of
Windows XP?

If it's fried by a lightening strike, no can do unless you wait 120 days. If
you change your MBoard and Processor and throw in a new hard drive as a
master and make your old drive a slave, you can, but you'll have to make the
call. Then, if a few months go by, for example 120 days, the data base is
cleared and you can upgrade your computer even more without even making a
call. Bruce doesn't want me telling you that, though, as he's a MS boy
through and through and mistakenly thinks that's "stealing". Imagine!

XP can cost as much as $300. If it cost say $30, it wouldn't be a big
problem, but this is a major expense.

Not for rich folks like Bruce.

FYI, OEMs can be bought legally without hardware now. It's a new MS policy
that Bruce isn't aware of yet because he's in denial (and probably bought a
retail version for all his computers).

Alias

 

[Bruce Chambers]

Greetings --

The lack of "transferability" is one of the reasons an OEM license
costs so much less than a retail license. After all, you get what you
pay for. (And if you paid anywhere near $300 for an OEM license, you
were ripped off.)


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 --

Please stop lying about this subject. While an OEM license may
indeed be purchased without a piece of hardware, the seller is
violating his contract with Microsoft, and the purchaser is violating
the EULA. Such a license is NOT legitimate. I am not misinformed,
and you have never provided a shred of evidence that your claim has
any basis in reality. In fact, you keep refusing to provide such
evidence, every time someone challenges you on the issue.


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

 

[jm]

Actually, there are about as many versions of the licensing
agreement, other than the one license per computer rule, as
there are sales agreements between Microsoft and the different
OEM's and VAR's and their suppliers as well. But in general,
and for the masses, Bruce is correct although what constitutes
the definition of "hardware" will also vary among the various
interpretations of the sales agreement and has been known to
range between a complete computer system to an IDE HD cable.
In the end, the only enforceable part of licensing is the one
license per computer rule unless the OEM has placed its own
limitations (and which might have been required) on the cdrom
provided.

I just want to know if I can buy a new mobo, cpu and hard drive and it activate.

 

[Al Smith]

Microsoft needs to rethink this policy. Lets say your computer is fried by a

lightening strike. You go out and buy a new computer, maybe even one
identical to the one that was destroyed. Why can't you use the same copy of
Windows XP?

Why indeed? Greed, of course. What othere explanation could there be?

 

[Tom]

Microsoft needs to rethink this policy. Lets say your computer is fried by a
lightening strike. You go out and buy a new computer, maybe even one
identical to the one that was destroyed. Why can't you use the same copy of
Windows XP?

You can activate it on another PC, as long as the disk is a retail version (not OEM), and using the scenario you posted as just one example of that possibility.

 

[Robert Kent]

You can activate it on another PC, as long as the disk is a retail version

(not OEM), and using the >scenario you posted as just one example of that
possibility.

I think you should be able to install the OEM version on a new computer if
you can prove that your original computer was fried.

Is it true that you can do it anyways if the first installation was at least
90 days ago?

 

[Alias]

version
(not OEM), and using the >scenario you posted as just one example of that
possibility.

I think you should be able to install the OEM version on a new computer if
you can prove that your original computer was fried.

Is it true that you can do it anyways if the first installation was at least
90 days ago?

No, it isn't true. It's 120 days.

Alias

 

[Tom]

(not OEM), and using the >scenario you posted as just one example of that
possibility.

I think you should be able to install the OEM version on a new computer if
you can prove that your original computer was fried.

Is it true that you can do it anyways if the first installation was at least
90 days ago?

That's 120 days, but an OEM is tied to the first PC on which it is installed, so when that PC dies, so does that install disk. OEMs are not transferrable (unless the system it was installed on went with it) according to the license agreement. ONLY retail copies of Windows are transferrable, as long as it is removed from the previous PC, or in this case, the PC is totally unusable.

 

[jm]

You can activate it on another PC, as long as the disk is a retail
version (not OEM), and using the scenario you posted as just one example
of that possibility.

It is an OEM. I am upgrading my motherboard, cpu and harddrive.

 

[Barry Watzman]

There are two separate questions here, when one is talking about OEM
copies of Windows.

One is what's legal and permitted by the license agreement, and in the
case of the OEM copies, there are quite a few "gray" areas in which this
is genuinely not clear, even to someone who wants to follow the rules.

The second question is, forgetting the license agreement, how is product
activation actually implmenented, and what can you (excluding hardware
hacks) physically do (separate from what you are "permitted" to do by
the license agreement).

Related to the 2nd question is, does the database in fact reset after
120 days for OEM copies? I've heard that it does for retail copies but
not for OEM copies, for example. And, under what circumstances will MS
give you a new key or activation code if you have an OEM copy?

There is no real definition of what constitutes "the computer". The
sticker is affixed to the sheet metal. But then you have the
motherboard, CPU, hard drive, video card, network card, all of which are
looked at by the Product Activation algorithms. Clearly, MS is
attempting to impose MUCH more than "one computer, one copy of Windows"
with respect to OEM copies, but, at the same time, the license agreement
does NOT make it clear what this really means, and, beyond that, the
physical implementation of Product Activation both on the PC and on the
activation servers does not necessarily reflect either the intent or the
wording of the license agreement. And when you throw in telephone
activation, then you are adding the judgement, personality and tempement
of the people to whom you talking [plus the exact wording used by the
caller] into an already muddy equation.

One computer / one copy of Windows is clear and unambiguous enough, but
the OEM versions of the product try to go beyond that, and they do so in
a way that leaves a lot of things very unclear.

 

[Tom]

It is an OEM. I am upgrading my motherboard, cpu and harddrive.

Well, if your PC was hit by a lightning strike, I think you can use the disk again. The OEM rules are so foggy, it is laughable. IF you haven't installed the same disk in the last 120 days, you should go right through the net activation with no issues; if you are prompted to make a call, just explain to them you replaced a piece of hardware, they have to activate it. In no way are you required (in case you have to call) to give your name or other personal info, just what you need accomplished.