Can I use XP on another computer

[LarryT34286]

My Dell computer died, motherboard failure. Too expensive to fix.

I have a chance to buy an HP at a great price. It had Vista. Can I use my
Dell OS Recovery disk and install XP Pro on the HP? The old Dell will be
thrown out. Vista will not be used on the HP

 

[Lanwench [MVP - Exchange]]

My Dell computer died, motherboard failure. Too expensive to fix.

I have a chance to buy an HP at a great price. It had Vista. Can I
use my Dell OS Recovery disk and install XP Pro on the HP? The old
Dell will be thrown out. Vista will not be used on the HP

No, unfortunately, the OEM license for your Dell was permenantly linked to
that hardware. You can still buy a retail copy of XP (but hurry!) - which
you can install on the HP, if HP doesn't give you downgrade rights and
media. Many of us prefer not to buy OEM software/OSes because of this
annoyance.

 

[Mark]

No, you can not use a Dell OS in an HP system.

Mark

 

[John]

My Dell computer died, motherboard failure. Too expensive to fix.
Bummer!

I have a chance to buy an HP at a great price. It had Vista. Can I use
my
Dell OS Recovery disk and install XP Pro on the HP?

No. It's illegal. Also, Dell CD may not run on non Dell PC.

The old Dell will be thrown out.

The OS license goes with it. OEM license lives and dies with the PC.

Vista will not be used on the HP

Ask HP if they can provide downgrade CD (to WinXP)

 

[philo]

My Dell computer died, motherboard failure. Too expensive to fix.

I have a chance to buy an HP at a great price. It had Vista. Can I use my
Dell OS Recovery disk and install XP Pro on the HP? The old Dell will be
thrown out. Vista will not be used on the HP

No


a recovery disk will only work on the original machine.


Though I personally prefer XP myself...
I'd at least give Vista a try...it may very well work out ok for you...
it's likely to work ok on a new machine

 

[Fat Kev]

A question like yours will obviously produce an emphatic NO answer.
However, my advice is to try and see what happens.

People wrongly say that DELL cds won't install on non-dell systems.
This is completely wrong and they don't know what they are talking
about. I manage nearly 1000 systems and I have installed DELL and HP
Cds on non dell (or non-HP) systems and I have had no problems thus far.

Reading the EULA, it prohibits you from installing an OEM application or
OS on another system but this hasn't been tested at court of law and so
I would try it any way.

hth
Fat Kev!!!!

 

[K2NNJ]

On a recovery disk no, unless it has the full OS on the CD. The legal
answer is no, the non-legal answer is yes.

 

[philo]

On a recovery disk no, unless it has the full OS on the CD. The legal
answer is no, the non-legal answer is yes.

If the cd is the full legal version and the original machine is destroyed...
then legally XP could be re-loaded...
but with a restore disk, not only would it not be legal...
it would be matched to the hardware...so would not even be installable

 

[John]

People wrongly say that DELL cds won't install on non-dell systems. This
is completely wrong and they don't know what they are talking about.

IIRC, back in year 2001 I used Win98 setup CD from Dell on a no brand PC.
Setup won't go beyond a certain point (can't remember at which point)
because it's not a Dell PC.

I manage nearly 1000 systems and I have installed DELL and HP Cds on non
dell (or non-HP) systems and I have had no problems thus far.

Great.

 

[Colin Barnhorst]

A preinstalled copy of XP may not be transferred regardless of the state of
the machine it came with.

 

[Patrick Keenan]

My Dell computer died, motherboard failure. Too expensive to fix.

I have a chance to buy an HP at a great price. It had Vista. Can I use
my
Dell OS Recovery disk and install XP Pro on the HP? The old Dell will be
thrown out. Vista will not be used on the HP

The answer, in practical terms, is almost certainly no. Dell install disks
tend to look for a Dell signature in the BIOS and will not install on
non-Dell systems. So, you are likely to find that it flat-out will not
work.

In legal terms, the answer is probably no. The only versions of Vista that
carry *downgrade rights*, which mean that you can legally install XP with
legal media you happen to have (you still have to contact MS for
activation), do not have "Home" or "basic" in the name.

Only Vista Business and Ultimate (if there's a corporate version, that too)
carry downgrade rights.

So if that HP system has a version of Home or Basic, you can't legally
downgrade it without buying a new XP license, and even if it was a
qualifying version, the Dell disk won't work.

And you will have to wipe the system and do a clean install to replace Vista
with XP.

HTH
-pk

 

[Patrick Keenan]

A question like yours will obviously produce an emphatic NO answer.
However, my advice is to try and see what happens.
People wrongly say that DELL cds won't install on non-dell systems.

Actually, it's wrong to say that they all can.

This is completely wrong

Sorry, but that's not correct.

and they don't know what they are talking about.

Or perhaps they have wider experience including retail systems, not
corporate fleets.

The fact that you haven't run into it doesn't mean that the problem doesn't
exist. I have seen it myself more than twice.

If the bios check is made, you will know within a couple of minutes, as the
install will just not proceed.

I manage nearly 1000 systems and I have installed DELL and HP Cds on non
dell (or non-HP) systems and I have had no problems thus far.

How lucky for you that you haven't run into this as a problem.


HTH
-pk

 

[Bruce Chambers]

My Dell computer died, motherboard failure. Too expensive to fix.

I have a chance to buy an HP at a great price. It had Vista. Can I use my
Dell OS Recovery disk and install XP Pro on the HP? The old Dell will be
thrown out. Vista will not be used on the HP

No, you can't. By your own admission, you have an OEM license for
WinXP that came with the Dell. 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.

In fact, it's probably *not* even technically possible, in your
case. You most likely have a BIOS-locked Dell OEM Recovery CD that is
specifically designed to install only on the hardware with which it was
purchased.

You'll have to purchase a new WinXP license to go with the new
computer, if you want to replace Vista.





--

Bruce Chambers

Help us help you:


http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/555375

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killed a great many philosophers.
~ Denis Diderot

 

[DeeJay]

People wrongly say that DELL cds won't install on non-dell systems. This
is completely wrong and they don't know what they are talking about. I
manage nearly 1000 systems and I have installed DELL and HP Cds on non
dell (or non-HP) systems and I have had no problems thus far.

Does that mean you're the only one who knows what you're talking about
because you've worked with almost 1000 systems and never come across
problems with Dell CDs? Interesting theory.