Multiple Installation

[AP]

2 years back, my brother bought Win-XP Pro (Retail version). He installed &
activated it in his PC & has been using it all along. He stored the
original CD near his PC. He lives in an apartment, which he shares with 2
others, & each has their own PC.

He recently caught one of his house-mates installing Win-XP Pro using his
CD. On being questioned, the culprit informed my brother that the other
house-mate had also "borrowed" the CD and installed/activated Win-XP in his
PC.

My brother is furious & want's to know what he can do.

- how is it that his house mates could activate?

- how can they continue to download updates? There are 3 PCs
downloading updates, with the same registration number.

- is there any way for him to contact Microsoft (together with proof
of purchase) and prevent the others from downloading updates?

He stored the CD beside his PC thinking that Win-XP could only be activated
on 1 PC. He was clearly wrong!

 

[Alias]

2 years back, my brother bought Win-XP Pro (Retail version). He installed &
activated it in his PC & has been using it all along. He stored the
original CD near his PC. He lives in an apartment, which he shares with 2
others, & each has their own PC.

He recently caught one of his house-mates installing Win-XP Pro using his
CD. On being questioned, the culprit informed my brother that the other
house-mate had also "borrowed" the CD and installed/activated Win-XP in his
PC.

My brother is furious & want's to know what he can do.

- how is it that his house mates could activate?

Every 120 days, the slate is wiped clean.

- how can they continue to download updates? There are 3 PCs
downloading updates, with the same registration number.

WGA sees a valid product key and approves it.

- is there any way for him to contact Microsoft (together with proof
of purchase) and prevent the others from downloading updates?

He could borrow his mates' computers and do a format but that might make
living with them a bit tense.

He stored the CD beside his PC thinking that Win-XP could only be activated
on 1 PC. He was clearly wrong!

I'm still not sure what the problem is?

Alias

 

[AP]

I'm still not sure what the problem is?

Alias

The problem is that his software was borrowed (i.e. stolen). If MS detects
3 versions of the same OS downloading updates, MS will identify all of them
as pirated & prevent windows updates (including my brother's PC). He wants
to take some pro-active action before this happens.

 

[Gordon]

The problem is that his software was borrowed (i.e. stolen). If MS
detects 3 versions of the same OS downloading updates, MS will
identify all of them as pirated & prevent windows updates (including
my brother's PC). He wants to take some pro-active action before this
happens.

If the copy is valid and has activated then MS will not "detect" that it's
pirated. If they've all activated correctly, how can MS "detect" that they
are stolen?

 

[Alias]

The problem is that his software was borrowed (i.e. stolen). If MS detects
3 versions of the same OS downloading updates, MS will identify all of them
as pirated & prevent windows updates (including my brother's PC). He wants
to take some pro-active action before this happens.

Well, he could format the mates' computers, ask the mates to remove the
software or turn them into MS.

Alias

 

[DocHoliday]

Me thinks the question is: What would happen if
I installed Win-XP Pro (Retail version) in three
PC's?????????????

 

[Gordon]

Me thinks the question is: What would happen if
I installed Win-XP Pro (Retail version) in three
PC's?????????????

Tecnically (but not legally AFAIK - as its never been taken to court) you
are in violation of the Eula. Physically, what /ought/ to happen is that you
wouldn't be able to activate two of them, but that's NOT neccesarily true!
(Especially if you activated each copy 121 days after the other....)

 

[AP]

Me thinks the question is: What would happen if
I installed Win-XP Pro (Retail version) in three
PC's?????????????

Put that in the past tense. It has already happened, & all 3 versions are
working. MS's activation system is far from perfect.

 

[AP]

Tecnically (but not legally AFAIK - as its never been taken to court) you

are in violation of the Eula. Physically, what /ought/ to happen is that
you
wouldn't be able to activate two of them, but that's NOT neccesarily true!
(Especially if you activated each copy 121 days after the other....)

Who is in violation of the EULA? It should be whoever is unable to provide
proof of purchase.

 

[Guest]

Your brother should inform his "housemates" that they need
to purchase their own copies of Windows XP Pro and perform
a "Repair Install" if they wish to continue using XP Pro.
Otherwise, your brother, may have a problem activating
his own XP Pro license if ever he needs to reinstall his own
copy of XP Pro.

 

[Bruce Chambers]

2 years back, my brother bought Win-XP Pro (Retail version). He installed &
activated it in his PC & has been using it all along. He stored the
original CD near his PC. He lives in an apartment, which he shares with 2
others, & each has their own PC.

He recently caught one of his house-mates installing Win-XP Pro using his
CD. On being questioned, the culprit informed my brother that the other
house-mate had also "borrowed" the CD and installed/activated Win-XP in his
PC.

My brother is furious & want's to know what he can do.

Get new house-mates, honest ones.

- how is it that his house mates could activate?

Every 120 days, Microsoft purges its activation database, so they would
be unable to tell that that particular license had already been
activated. Here are the facts pertaining to activation:

Piracy Basics - Microsoft Product Activation
http://www.microsoft.com/piracy/basics/activation/

Windows Product Activation (WPA)
http://www.aumha.org/a/wpa.htm

- how can they continue to download updates? There are 3 PCs
downloading updates, with the same registration number.

The Windows Update checks only for known pirated Product Keys; your
brother's Key isn't among that small group.

- is there any way for him to contact Microsoft ....

Reporting Piracy
http://www.microsoft.com/piracy/reporting/

Although, to be honest, Microsoft probably won't bother to pursue a
couple of individuals; the cost/benefit ration wouldn't make it worthwhile.

.... and prevent the others from downloading updates?

No.


He stored the CD beside his PC thinking that Win-XP could only be activated
on 1 PC. He was clearly wrong!

It's clear that your brother didn't fully understand the limitations of
the Activation process, true. WPA still depends primarily upon the
integrity of the license holder; any lock can be by-passed, given the
desire and means.

Perhaps more importantly, has your brother looked into whatever else
these house-mates may have stolen from him? They're obviously not to be
trusted.


--

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]

Every 120 days, Microsoft purges its activation database, so they
would be unable to tell that that particular license had already been
activated. Here are the facts pertaining to activation:

Bruce, a clarifification here. They don't actually purge it every 120 days;
that would imply that if you got there a day before they purged it, you
could install it on another computer the next day.

What happens is that *every* day, the records of those activated 121 days
ago are purged.

I'm sure you know this and just said it wrong, but I don't want others to be
confused.