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

[Barry Watzman]

Re: "The OEM rules are so foggy, ...."
That is both true and part of the problem. Personally, I view that OEM
copies should be treated the same as retail copies, but should only be
permitted to be originally sold with a {complete computer, motherboard,
CPU or hard drive}.

Re: "IF you haven't installed the same disk in the last 120 days ..."
It's not clear that the activation database resets for OEM copies. EVER.

Re: "if you are prompted to make a call .... they have to activate it"
They don't HAVE to do ANYTHING. It's possible to get a person on the
phone who isn't even following Microsoft's own rules.

Re: "In no way are you required (in case you have to call) to give ..."
Well, I guess that's true, but the person on the other end isn't
required to reactive your copy of Windows. In fact, if the person on
the other end wants to know when you last had sex, with whom and in what
position(s), your immediate choices may boil down to telling them or not
getting your copy of Windows reactivated. Not to even mention caller ID.

 

[Robert Kent]

FYI, OEMs can be bought legally without hardware now.

Who has the best price for an OEM copy of Windows XP Professional?

 

[Alias]

Who has the best price for an OEM copy of Windows XP Professional?

The best price I've seen in Spain is 142 euros. Unless you live in Spain, I
wouldn't know what the best price is in your area. Check computer stores.

Alias

 

[Robert Kent]

The best price I've seen in Spain is 142 euros. Unless you live in Spain, I
wouldn't know what the best price is in your area. Check computer stores.

Ok, that works out to at least $150 US. That's a lot to throw away just
because your computer is fried.

 

[CS]

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

JM:

All very good answers and points. But it's really up to you. If you
like making Microsoft richer than they are, then by all means,
purchase another copy of XP Pro and throw away your OEM copy.

Some interesting reading here: www.microscum.com

 

[jm]

JM:

All very good answers and points. But it's really up to you. If you
like making Microsoft richer than they are, then by all means,
purchase another copy of XP Pro and throw away your OEM copy.

Some interesting reading here: www.microscum.com

" * Software as a Component of the Computer - Transfer. THIS
LICENSE MAY NOT BE SHARED,
TRANSFERRED TO OR USED CONCURRENTLY
ON DIFFERENT COMPUTERS. The SOFTWARE
is licensed with the HARDWARE as a single integrated
product and may only be used with the HARDWARE. If the
SOFTWARE is not accompanied by new HARDWARE, you may
not use the SOFTWARE. You may permanently transfer all
of your rights under this EULA only as part of a
permanent sale or transfer of the HARDWARE, provided
you retain no copies, if you transfer all of the SOFTWARE
(including all component parts, the media and printed
materials, any upgrades, this EULA and the Certificate
of Authenticity), and the recipient agrees to the terms
of this EULA. If the SOFTWARE is an upgrade, any
transfer must also include all prior versions of the
SOFTWARE. "

I'm not so sure it is saying that I can't upgrade the components of my
computer. For example, what if I originally bought the product with a
stick of memory? Does that mean everywhere I use that memory I can
legally use the XP software? I can change the motheraboard, CPU, hard
drive, etc., as long as I don't change the memory? It really is foggy
here. Not so much as to what this says as on what the product is sold
with.

 

[Bruce Chambers]

Greetings --

No. An OEM license, once installed, cannot legally be transferred
to any other 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

 

[Bruce Chambers]

Greetings --

There's nothing in the OEM EULA to prevent one from upgrading the
PC on which it is installed. The only restriction is that the OEM
license cannot legitimately be removed from the first PC on which it's
installed to be transferred to an entirely different, distinct
computer.

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, what I read says:

"The SOFTWARE is licensed with the HARDWARE as a single integrated product
and may only be used with the HARDWARE."

What if that hardware was a stick of memory?

It then says:

" If the SOFTWARE is not accompanied by new HARDWARE, you may not use the
SOFTWARE."

This tells me the problem lies with what Microsoft is allowing vendors to
qualify as "HARDWARE." If I purchased a stick of memory, then logically,
this paragraph is about *that* "HARDWARE." [emphasis theirs].

This is further bolstered by the leading statments:

" THIS LICENSE MAY NOT BE SHARED,
TRANSFERRED TO OR USED CONCURRENTLY
ON DIFFERENT COMPUTERS."

I guess the third party vendor shouldn't have sold it to me unless I bought
a whole computer.

 

[Barry Watzman]

Bruce, your two posts contain somewhat of a contradiction, in that at
some point (granted that the line is "gray"), an upgrade becomes a new
computer.

For example: I'm upgrading my computer. I'm getting a new case,
motherboard, CPU, disk drive and video card.

[Yes, people really do perform "case" upgrades.]

Greetings --

There's nothing in the OEM EULA to prevent one from upgrading the
PC on which it is installed. The only restriction is that the OEM
license cannot legitimately be removed from the first PC on which it's
installed to be transferred to an entirely different, distinct
computer.

Bruce Chambers

Before which Bruce Chambers had also written:

Greetings --

No. An OEM license, once installed, cannot legally be transferred
to any other computer under any circumstances.

Bruce Chambers

 

[Bruce Chambers]

Greetings --

I see no contradiction, at all. As a computer technician, I have
absolutely no trouble differentiating between upgrading a computer, or
removing an OS from one complete PC and installing it upon another
distinct PC. What I _don't_ understand is how so many other people
can possibly confuse these two very different actions for one another,
or how this is a "gray" area.

Granted, after a certain number of upgrades, a computer may
eventually become completely different (in constitution) from the
original, but the process is gradual enough so that it remains, for
all practical purposes, the same computer. It started out as my PC,
and it remains my PC, as it were. What the OEM EULA prohibits is
removing the OS from one computer and subsequently installing it upon
a completely new, distinct machine.

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.

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 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.


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, your two posts contain somewhat of a contradiction, in that
at some point (granted that the line is "gray"), an upgrade becomes
a new computer.

For example: I'm upgrading my computer. I'm getting a new case,
motherboard, CPU, disk drive and video card.

[Yes, people really do perform "case" upgrades.]

Greetings --

There's nothing in the OEM EULA to prevent one from upgrading
the PC on which it is installed. The only restriction is that the
OEM license cannot legitimately be removed from the first PC on
which it's installed to be transferred to an entirely different,
distinct computer.

Bruce Chambers

Before which Bruce Chambers had also written:

Greetings --

No. An OEM license, once installed, cannot legally be
transferred
to any other computer under any circumstances.

Bruce Chambers

 

[Robert Kent]

Greetings --

No. An OEM license, once installed, cannot legally be transferred
to any other computer under any circumstances.

I realize that. I think the policy should be changed for situations like I
posted. Make the user provide proof if necessary, perhaps by sending
Microsoft the dead computer.

 

[Robert Kent]

Greetings --

There's nothing in the OEM EULA to prevent one from upgrading the
PC on which it is installed. The only restriction is that the OEM
license cannot legitimately be removed from the first PC on which it's
installed to be transferred to an entirely different, distinct
computer.

What if the original computer morphs into a new computer? I bought a 486 in
1994. By 1998 it was a completely different computer. I had swapped out
everything one item at a time, newj Pentium motherboard, new memory, hard
drive, video card, finally new case/power supply.

Would I be able to use my OEM copy of Windows XP if I did something similar
today, or would there be a point when I had to buy a new copy?

 

[Bob I]

It's part of the insurance settlement, just like the rest of the computer.

 

[Robert Kent]

It's part of the insurance settlement, just like the rest of the computer.

Assuming you have insurance. I don't.

 

[Bruce Chambers]

Greetings --

Why did you snip out the portion of my post that answered that
very question?

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]

I didn't realize that I did.

Greetings --

Why did you snip out the portion of my post that answered that
very question?

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 --

You didn't. I was replying to Robert Kent, who had.

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

 

[Robert Kent]

by

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!

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

Maybe it's time for Microsoft to come out with their own dongle. Here's how
it could work.

The dongal itself could be a serial number built into a USB hub. When you
install an application, it will look for this number and write it as part of
a hidden configuration file. It will only run if this particular USB hub is
found.

Ok, what to do if your hub is stolen or otherwise needs replacement? Call
Microsoft and request that your old number be deactivated. Once a month
(maybe more often), your hub will call home. If the serial number is
reported stolen, all applications associated with it are deactivated. They
are also deactivated if the hub can't call in once a month or so. It may be
possible to call in and verify by voice.

Once 30 days have passed, the owner is entitled to purchase a new hub and
use it to activate their existing software.

The OEM software would be licensed to that particular hub, not just one PC.
If you replace your PC, take the hub with you.