EULA questions

[DaveInRedmond]

I have a PC with a retail Win98SE and another with a retail WinXP Home. I
just purchased a copy of WinXP Pro. A couple of questions:

1. From a licensing point of view can I replace XP Home with XP Pro on the
one machine and then replace Win98SE with the previously activated XP Home?
2. From a practical point of view are there any issues with upgrading from
Home to Pro on the one machine?
3. How about from Win98SE to Home - particularly if I move from FAT32 to
NTFS?
4. Any other issues or gotchas to be aware of?

TIA

--
.......................................................................
Remove NOSPAM. before replying

Pursuant to U.S. code, title 47, Chapter 5, Subchapter II, Section 227
Any and all unsolicited commercial E-mail sent to this address is
subject to a fee of US $500.00. E-Mailing denotes acceptance of these
terms. Consult <http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/47/227.html> for
details.

 

[Nick]

that older machine should be capable of handling XP memory wise...min 256
mem..

 

[Bruce Chambers]

Greetings --

1. From a licensing point of view can I replace XP Home with XP Pro
on the
one machine and then replace Win98SE with the previously activated
XP Home?

Yes, no problem, as long as you've a _full_ version of WinXP Pro
and therefore are not using the WinXP Home license to qualify for an
Upgrade version of WinXP Pro.

2. From a practical point of view are there any issues with
upgrading from
Home to Pro on the one machine?

Not really. WinXP is designed to install and upgrade the existing
operating system while simultaneously preserving your applications and
data, and translating as many personalized settings as possible. The
process is designed to be, and normally is, quite painless. That
said, things can go wrong, in a small number of cases. If your data
is at all important to you, back it up before proceeding.

The upgrade from WinXP Home to WinXP Pro, in particular, should go
smoothly, as both operating systems use the same kernel.

3. How about from Win98SE to Home - particularly if I move from
FAT32 to
NTFS?

Again, WinXP is designed to install and upgrade the existing
operating system while simultaneously preserving your applications and
data, and translating as many personalized settings as possible. The
process is designed to be, and normally is, quite painless. That
said, things can go wrong, in a small number of cases. If your data
is at all important to you, back it up before proceeding.

Have you made sure that your PC's hardware components are capable
of supporting WinXP? This information will be found at the PC's
manufacturer's web site, and on Microsoft's Windows Catalog:
(http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/hcl/default.mspx) Additionally, run
Microsoft WinXP Upgrade Advisor to see if you have any incompatible
hardware components or applications.

You should, before proceeding, take a few minutes to ensure that
there are WinXP device drivers available for all of the machine's
components. There may not be, if the PC was specifically designed for
Win98/Me. Also bear in mind that PCs designed for, sold and run fine
with Win9x/Me very often do not meet WinXP's much more stringent
hardware quality requirements. This is particularly true of many
models in Compaq's consumer-class Presario product line or HP's
consumer-class Pavilion product line. WinXP, like WinNT and Win2K
before it, is quite sensitive to borderline defective or substandard
hardware (particularly motherboards, RAM and hard drives) that will
still support Win9x.

HOW TO Prepare to Upgrade Win98 or WinMe
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;Q316639

Upgrading to Windows XP
http://aumha.org/win5/a/xpupgrad.htm

You can safely convert your hard drive to NTFS whenever desired,
without having to format the partition and reinstall everything. As
always when performing any serious changes, back up any important data
before proceeding, just in case. A little advance preparation is also
strongly recommended, so you can avoid any performance hits caused by
the default cluster size:

Converting FAT32 to NTFS in Windows
http://www.aumha.org/a/ntfscvt.htm




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

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

In

Greetings --



Yes, no problem, as long as you've a _full_ version of WinXP Pro
and therefore are not using the WinXP Home license to qualify for an
Upgrade version of WinXP Pro.

Alternatively, he might be able to do a clean installation of XP
Professional and use his Windows 98 CD to qualify. That would
require that he had a Full version of XP Home to install on the
other machine.

 

[Bruce Chambers]

Greetings --

Good point, one I'd overlooked.

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

 

[DaveInRedmond]

Bruce -

Much thanx for the speedy reply. A follow-up question:

Yes, no problem, as long as you've a _full_ version of WinXP Pro
and therefore are not using the WinXP Home license to qualify for an
Upgrade version of WinXP Pro.

Upgrading to Windows XP
http://aumha.org/win5/a/xpupgrad.htm

The above article seems to draw distinctions between OEM full and Retail
full. I was thinking my license for XP Home was Retail as I bought it at a
store, but since I bought it with a hard drive and the disk says " For
distribution with a new PC only. ..." my guess is that it's actually an OEM
full (I built the machine myself). Does this make a difference? The XP Pro
license is straight from Microsoft, so there should be no problem with it.

As the Win98SE machine is my wife's I want to make *very* sure things go
smoothly. My guess is that I need to upgrade my machine to XP Pro first so
that I'm in compliance and then do hers. I'm just wanting to ensure there's
no gotchas before I get somewhere I can't get back from on her machine. Both
machines are less than a year old with 512MB, so I'm not expecting any
hardware problems.

Thanx again!

--
.......................................................................
Remove NOSPAM. before replying

Pursuant to U.S. code, title 47, Chapter 5, Subchapter II, Section 227
Any and all unsolicited commercial E-mail sent to this address is
subject to a fee of US $500.00. E-Mailing denotes acceptance of these
terms. Consult <http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/47/227.html> for
details.

 

[Bruce Chambers]

Greetings --

A follow-up question:


The above article seems to draw distinctions between OEM full and
Retail
full. I was thinking my license for XP Home was Retail as I bought
it at a
store, but since I bought it with a hard drive and the disk says "
For
distribution with a new PC only. ..." my guess is that it's actually
an OEM
full (I built the machine myself). Does this make a difference? The
XP Pro
license is straight from Microsoft, so there should be no problem
with it.

This does put a different light on the matter. As the WinXP Home
is an OEM license, you can replace it with WinXP Pro, if you like, but
you cannot transfer it to another PC.

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. This is the main reason some people avoid OEM
versions; if the PC dies or is otherwise disposed of (even stolen),
you cannot re-use your OEM license on a new PC.


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

 

[Alex Nichol]

I have a PC with a retail Win98SE and another with a retail WinXP Home. I
just purchased a copy of WinXP Pro. A couple of questions:

1. From a licensing point of view can I replace XP Home with XP Pro on the
one machine and then replace Win98SE with the previously activated XP Home?

As they are retail copies, you can transfer the Home freely. If it is
an upgrade version, you must keep a 'qualifying' system , in the form of
its CD, with it (The win98 on the other machine would meet that) .
And if the Pro is an upgrade copy it will need separate qualifying
product too - make sure you have one spare for it.

2. From a practical point of view are there any issues with upgrading from
Home to Pro on the one machine?

Not if it is a retail, as opposed to OEM Pro. Just run the Pro CD from
the Home system and take Install - Upgrade. That will upgrade from a
'Full' Pro CD, though as noted if it is an Upgrade version and you take
the Home elsewhere you need qualifying support around after that. An
OEM one though will only do a 'clean' install

3. How about from Win98SE to Home - particularly if I move from FAT32 to
NTFS?

Again run the CD from the present system, and upgrade., Make sure the
hardware is up to it, and ensure that you uninstall (not just disable)
Antivirus; System utilities like Norton and CD burning software first.
Read Gary Woodruff's article on upgrading to XP at
http://www.aumha.org/win5/a/xpupgrad.htm

4. Any other issues or gotchas to be aware of?

Be sure to turn on the firewall before connecting to the net *at all* or
you will have a virus infection in a minute. It could be worth
getting the consolidated CD of security updates (which includes SP1 I'm
told) in advance - order at
http://www.microsoft.com/security/protect/cd/order.asp


And back up important data - just in case

 

[DaveInRedmond]

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. This is the main reason some people avoid OEM
versions; if the PC dies or is otherwise disposed of (even stolen),
you cannot re-use your OEM license on a new PC.

Hmmmm, now this brings up the question of what is a PC. If I were to upgrade
CPU, and motherboard one day, power supply on another, other items later on,
and so forth at some point in time the only original equipment might be the
case! Given that Longhorn is several years out it's likely that I might have
a completely rebuilt box before a new OS is available. Forgetting about the
transfer issues that started this thread - is the license (and MS's
implementation of it) so rigid that I'd have to buy another copy of the OS
for my system?

Dave
.......................................................................
Remove NOSPAM. before replying

Pursuant to U.S. code, title 47, Chapter 5, Subchapter II, Section 227
Any and all unsolicited commercial E-mail sent to this address is
subject to a fee of US $500.00. E-Mailing denotes acceptance of these
terms. Consult <http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/47/227.html> for
details.

 

[Bruce Chambers]

Greetings --

Yes, this is a bit of a grey area.

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.

If you've built the PC yourself, and used a generic OEM WinXP CD,
I'd have to conclude that *you* are the OEM, and *you* get to decide
when you're going to stop supporting the system and its OS.


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

 

[Tim Slattery]

Greetings --

Yes, this is a bit of a grey area.

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.

But many (most?) pre-installed XP systems are locked to the BIOS. On
bootup they will check a serial number (or some such identifier)
reported by the BIOS chip. If it's not the right one, they'll refuse
to run. So if you swap motherbards, you need a new XP license.

 

[Bruce Chambers]

Greetings --

Yes, that's quite true of the CDs provided by the major OEMs with
their factory-assembled PCs. However, the generic OEM CDs sold to
small systems builders are the only sort that can legitimately be
purchased without an entire PC, and these are _not_ BIOS-locked.

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