Pete said:
I have XP Pro that I got on a new desktop system, have XP Home on a laptop,
and want to use XP Pro on the laptop, too.
Can I use the XP Pro that came with my desktop to upgrade my laptop without
having to buy a completely different upgrade for my laptop?
Thanks in advance for your help!
No, you can't. You'll need to purchase a separate WinXP Pro
license for each computer on which you install it.
First of all, your new desktop computer has 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
