OT?: Selling older version of Windows

[cmxl]

Am asking on this NG, even though it's about win2000, probably the same
applies to XP: I originally bought win2000pro and had it installed on my PC.
Later, I bought winXP pro for the same PC and had that installed in place of
the win2000. Question: if I remove the win2000 product key sticker from my
PC case, can I now sell the retail win2000 cd and product key sticker
together on ebay and the buyer will be able to use it freely and not get a
hassle if he tries to register it with MS?

 

[Mike Brannigan [MSFT]]

Am asking on this NG, even though it's about win2000, probably the same
applies to XP: I originally bought win2000pro and had it installed on my PC.
Later, I bought winXP pro for the same PC and had that installed in place of
the win2000. Question: if I remove the win2000 product key sticker from my
PC case, can I now sell the retail win2000 cd and product key sticker
together on ebay and the buyer will be able to use it freely and not get a
hassle if he tries to register it with MS?

Did your PC come with Windows 2000 installed or did you go out and buy it ?
If you bought it - was it a full retail boxed product (big glossy white box
etc) or an OEM product - may have come in a slip case and you were supposed
to buy it with a piece off hardware (may have been a hard disk or even a
power cord).

If it was a full retail then yes you can sell the product in accordance with
the End User License agreement. It is was preinstalled or you bought an OEM
copy you may not resell this as it is a one time use license and the license
remains tied to the first PC it is installed to even if that PC is dead or
has its operating system replaced.

--

Regards,

Mike
--
Mike Brannigan [Microsoft]

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no
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[Ron Martell]

Am asking on this NG, even though it's about win2000, probably the same
applies to XP: I originally bought win2000pro and had it installed on my PC.
Later, I bought winXP pro for the same PC and had that installed in place of
the win2000. Question: if I remove the win2000 product key sticker from my
PC case, can I now sell the retail win2000 cd and product key sticker
together on ebay and the buyer will be able to use it freely and not get a
hassle if he tries to register it with MS?

That depends on your Windows XP Pro vrsion.

If your XP Pro is an OEM version or if it is a Retail Full Install
version (Blue Microsoft Box says "for PCs without Windows....." then
there would be no restrictions on your selling of the retail version
of Windows 2000.

However if your Windows XP Pro is a Retail *Upgrade* version then the
license for it is conditional on your continuing to posses a valid
license for a product to be upgraded to Windows XP Pro.

In other words when you upgrade an existing version of Windows to a
newer version then the licenses for the existing version is merged
into the upgrade licence for the new version and they become a
"package deal".

On the other hand if you have another version of Windows that can also
qualify for upgrading to Windows XP Pro then you could retain that
other version as your upgrade qualification and dispose of the Windows
2000 Upgrade license.

Good luck


Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada
--
Microsoft MVP
On-Line Help Computer Service
http://onlinehelp.bc.ca

"The reason computer chips are so small is computers don't eat much."