MCE 2005

[AT and HMB]

I bought an Elonex Artisan Media Centre(er) from Elonex 3 years ago with MCE
already installed - OEM.
Elonex went bust. So far I have had no trouble, but I am conscious that
if/when the hard disk fails I have no CD to start fresh instal. The Product
Code is genuine.

About a month ago I bought another Artisan from ebay. I was unhappy with the
way it was set up and prevailed on the supplier to give me a CD. I installed
from scratch without any problem and the system is working fine with all the
updates. At least it proves the supplied Product Code was OK.

My question. If my first Artisan fails and I have to instal from scratch
will the CD I have for the second Artisan work with the Product Code of the
first Artisan.

If this is not too clear, I will restate thus:
I have 2 genuine product codes and one Installation MCE 2005 CD.
Can I use the same CD for either Product Code?
Many thanks

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

I bought an Elonex Artisan Media Centre(er) from Elonex 3 years ago with MCE
already installed - OEM.
Elonex went bust. So far I have had no trouble, but I am conscious that
if/when the hard disk fails I have no CD to start fresh instal. The Product
Code is genuine.

About a month ago I bought another Artisan from ebay. I was unhappy with the
way it was set up and prevailed on the supplier to give me a CD. I installed
from scratch without any problem and the system is working fine with all the
updates. At least it proves the supplied Product Code was OK.

My question. If my first Artisan fails and I have to instal from scratch
will the CD I have for the second Artisan work with the Product Code of the
first Artisan.

If this is not too clear, I will restate thus:
I have 2 genuine product codes and one Installation MCE 2005 CD.
Can I use the same CD for either Product Code?

Since they are both MCE and both OEM versions, yes, that should work.

 

[Big Al]

Since they are both MCE and both OEM versions, yes, that should work.

As long as you get the opportunity to input the Product Key.
I have a Dell Laptop with OEM MCE and I do not input the product key.
I do nothing but load the software and run. No license, no registration
etc. Yet I do have the product key in the OS that matches the label on
the bottom of the PC.

 

[AT and HMB]

As long as you get the opportunity to input the Product Key.
I have a Dell Laptop with OEM MCE and I do not input the product key. I do
nothing but load the software and run. No license, no registration etc.
Yet I do have the product key in the OS that matches the label on the
bottom of the PC.

I'm not sure what you mean. You state "As long as you get the opportunity to
input the Product Key.
I have a Dell Laptop with OEM MCE and I do not input the product key.
I do nothing but load the software and run."
Am I missing something - your statement seems contradictory.
But thanks for replying.

 

[Colin Barnhorst]

What he is describing is a form of preactivated system using SLP technology.
It is commonly called BIOS locking and the user does not enter a product key
on reinstallation. This type of OEM software won't even install on a
different computer because it is tied to the motherboard of the original
machine by the SLP technology, making activation totally unnecessary. If
that is the case with your OEM cd that came with the new machine then the
software will not install on your old machine and it will not matter that
you have the product key. You can test this by removing the hard drive from
the old machine and replacing it with a blank hard drive and then attempting
an installation with the cd.

 

[AT and HMB]

What he is describing is a form of preactivated system using SLP
technology. It is commonly called BIOS locking and the user does not enter
a product key on reinstallation. This type of OEM software won't even
install on a different computer because it is tied to the motherboard of
the original machine by the SLP technology, making activation totally
unnecessary. If that is the case with your OEM cd that came with the new
machine then the software will not install on your old machine and it will
not matter that you have the product key. You can test this by removing
the hard drive from the old machine and replacing it with a blank hard
drive and then attempting an installation with the cd.

You will see from the 2nd para of my post that I have already used the CD
without any trouble whatsoever, so it would seem that if/when my first MC
fails I will be able to do a fresh instal given that I have a valid Product
Code.
I wasn't aware that SLP equates to BIOS locking. Does this mean that a MB
fail terminates the licence, where as in my case the vendor went bankrupt?
Thanks for your reply which is informative.