Rules about copies of XP?

[Laurel]

What are the rules for installing XP Pro on multiple PCs?
1 - If you get a new PC, obviously you have to re-install. Do you get into
difficulties by "activating your system" more than once?
2 - I've been told that it's perfectly OK to install Windows on your home PC
and your laptop. Actually, I've been told that 3 installations is the legal
limit. Is this true?

 

[Jupiter Jones [MVP]]

Laurel;
1. You can install your retail Windows XP on the new computer as long as
you remove it from the first.
Activation should not be a problem.

2. You have been told wrong.
Some versions of Microsoft Office allow multiple installations but no
versions of retail Windows allow more than one installation at a time.

Read your specific EULA for details:
Start/Run
Type "winver" ENTER
Click "End-User..." to access the EULA.

 

[Laurel]

How do I remove the OS from the first computer?

Laurel;
1. You can install your retail Windows XP on the new computer as long as
you remove it from the first.
Activation should not be a problem.

2. You have been told wrong.
Some versions of Microsoft Office allow multiple installations but no
versions of retail Windows allow more than one installation at a time.

Read your specific EULA for details:
Start/Run
Type "winver" ENTER
Click "End-User..." to access the EULA.

 

[Michael Stevens]

In

How do I remove the OS from the first computer?

Format it.
Click on the link below, or copy and paste the link into the address box
if using the web based newsgroup.
How do I deactivate, move to another computer or sell a previously activated
XP?
#06 on the FAQ list
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/xpfaq.html
--
Michael Stevens MS-MVP XP
(e-mail address removed)
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com
For a better newsgroup experience. Setup a newsreader.
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/outlookexpressnewreader.htm

 

[kurttrail]

What are the rules for installing XP Pro on multiple PCs?

MS's "rules," or those of reality?

1 - If you get a new PC, obviously you have to re-install. Do you
get into difficulties by "activating your system" more than once?

Not really. If it has been over 120 days since you last activated that
copy, then activation should go smoothly over the internet just like the
first time you activated XP, and if it has been less than 120 days, then
you'll have to phone MS to get activated. If asked why you are
activating, just tell the phone rep that you've upgrade YOUR computer.

2 - I've been told that it's perfectly OK to install Windows on your
home PC and your laptop. Actually, I've been told that 3
installations is the legal limit. Is this true?

There is no "legal limit." There is just the limits MS tries to impose
in the privacy of your home, and the limit of reality. MS's legally
unsubstantiated EULA claim is that they only allow installation of XP on
one computer. The limit of reality is that you can get away with
installing it on ALL of YOUR PCs. Through activation, MS cannot
determine what specific computer or computer components XP is installed
on, so unless you actually tell MS that XP is installed on more than one
computer, they have no way of knowing.

--
Peace!
Kurt
Self-anointed Moderator
microscum.pubic.windowsexp.gonorrhea
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"Trustworthy Computing" is only another example of an Oxymoron!
"Produkt-Aktivierung macht frei"

 

[kurttrail]

How do I remove the OS from the first computer?

What are you doing with the old computer? If you are keeping it, then
don't bother.

--
Peace!
Kurt
Self-anointed Moderator
microscum.pubic.windowsexp.gonorrhea
http://microscum.com/mscommunity
"Trustworthy Computing" is only another example of an Oxymoron!
"Produkt-Aktivierung macht frei"

 

[Laurel]

Thanks for the very helpful link. It did, however, leave me with a couple
of remaining questions. This article assumes that I have a "startup disk."
I have nothing. The PC was given to my granddaughter, but no disks of any
sort for the old operating system (XP home). The hard drive is partitioned
(C and D). XP/ME is installed on the C partition, and XP/Pro is installed
on the D partition. Since I don't want to revert to 95 or 98 (another
assumption the article seems to make), can I just right mouse on the C drive
(containing XP/ME) and click format? While logged onto XP/Pro, which lives
on the D drive, of course.

XP/ME is flakey, which is one reason for installing the new OS. I don't
know if there's an upgrade option from ME to Pro, but it didn't seem
advisable. For "flakiness" symptoms, see my other posting, "Content Advisor
is broken."

 

[Ken Blake]

In

What are the rules for installing XP Pro on multiple PCs?
1 - If you get a new PC, obviously you have to re-install. Do
you
get into difficulties by "activating your system" more than
once?

Assuming that you've removed XP from the original computer, and
also assuming that yours is a retail version, no. You can move it
as many times as you want, reinstall it as many times as you
want, and reactivate it each time.

But if it's an OEM version, its license ties it permanently to
the first computer it's installed on, and it can never be legally
moved to another, sold, given away, etc.

2 - I've been told that it's perfectly OK to install Windows on
your
home PC and your laptop.

Sorry, you've been told wrong. That's true for Microsoft Office,
but not for any version of Windows.

Actually, I've been told that 3
installations is the legal limit. Is this true?

Nope. One is the limit.

 

[Jupiter Jones [MVP]]

Perhaps integrity and following the EULA already agreed has some meaning.
"reality"?
The "MS's "rules,"" as you put it became part of "reality" once an agreement
is accepted.
Is following an agreement not reality?
Is it to difficult for you to follow and agreement you have accepted?

--
Jupiter Jones [MVP]
http://www3.telus.net/dandemar/

MS's "rules," or those of reality?

SNIPPED mot of the garbage.

 

[Stephen Craft]

Aren't you telling her to break the eula? aren't these forms monitored by
Mircosoft? I know they aren't gonna send the cops to your house or anything
but still, is that a good idea?

 

[kurttrail]

Perhaps integrity and following the EULA already agreed has some
meaning. "reality"?

Perhaps MS has NO RIGHT to tell individuals what they can and cannot do
with the very expensive copyrighted software that was sold to them!

"Any individual may reproduce a copyrighted work for a "fair use"; the
copyright owner does not possess the exclusive right to such a use." -
US Supreme Court.

The "MS's "rules,"" as you put it became part of "reality" once an
agreement is accepted.

No, the reality is that the button must be pushed. Whether what is said
in the EULA is legally applicable to private non-commercial individuals
isn't part of reality, as MS has been to afraid to prove it in a real
court of law, and there is no legal precedent where an individuals "fair
use" rights can be stripped from then through a post-sale shrinkwrap
license.

Is following an agreement not reality?

It is a choice. Whether MS is the king of your castle, or are you the
king of your castle.

Is it to difficult for you to follow and agreement you have accepted?

LOL! Not one that doesn't tries to strip me of my legal rights to my
copy of copyrighted material that was legally sold to me, in a post-sale
shrinkwrap license. Those that do try that are, in my opinion, a
violation of my "fair use" rights.

SNIPPED mot of the garbage.

Yep, you need to hide from reality.

Another example of how you try to hide from reality, yet it is just a
waste of time. Fool!

--
Peace!
Kurt
Self-anointed Moderator
microscum.pubic.windowsexp.gonorrhea
http://microscum.com/mscommunity
"Trustworthy Computing" is only another example of an Oxymoron!
"Produkt-Aktivierung macht frei"

 

[kurttrail]

Aren't you telling her to break the eula?

While MS's EULA is a perfectly legal Commercial Use Contract, it has yet
to be determined if MS's EULA is a valid private use contract that can
strip an individual of his/her "fair use" rights.

aren't these forms
monitored by Mircosoft?

So? I ain't afraid of no MicroGhost. I've been posting here for years,
and even have a web site that explains how activation really works.

I know they aren't gonna send the cops to
your house or anything but still, is that a good idea?

Sure. You just have to man enough to stand up for your rights in your
own home! Just because MS sells you a copy of software, doesn't mean
they have any right to tell you what you can and cannot do in the
privacy of your own home.

MS and its EULA is not the Law. MS is a know and proven lawbreaker. As
an individual, you have rights that they don't. Remember the
Constitution? It doesn't say "We the Corporations . . . ." It says "We
the PEOPLE . . . .," and the day that some corporation has the legal
right to tell me what I can and cannot do, in the privacy of MY HOME,
with MY COPY of copyrighted software, that was legally sold to me,
through a POST-SALE SHRINKWRAP LICENSE is the day I'm moving the hell
out of this god-forsaken country!




--
Peace!
Kurt
Self-anointed Moderator
microscum.pubic.windowsexp.gonorrhea
http://microscum.com/mscommunity
"Trustworthy Computing" is only another example of an Oxymoron!
"Produkt-Aktivierung macht frei"

 

[Laurel]

There is no "legal limit." There is just the limits MS tries to impose
in the privacy of your home, and the limit of reality. MS's legally
unsubstantiated EULA claim is that they only allow installation of XP on
one computer. The limit of reality is that you can get away with
installing it on ALL of YOUR PCs. Through activation, MS cannot
determine what specific computer or computer components XP is installed
on, so unless you actually tell MS that XP is installed on more than one
computer, they have no way of knowing.

My understanding of how this works is that

1 - "Activate" stores 10 different aspects of your PC hardware configuration
in a database
2 - If you don't "activate" within 30 days, you can't run Windows
3 - When you boot your PC (if connected to the web.... not clear about what
happens
if you're not connected), it compares the database with your current
PC. If it's
different, you can't run Windows except to back up. Then you call
MicroSoft
to explain

If these are all facts, then I don't see how you could run multiple PCs
simultaneously off the same copy of Windows??
Please advise.

TIA
LAS

 

[Stephen Craft]

lol... just not what i expected to find on a microsoft forum, thats all!!

 

[kurttrail]

lol... just not what i expected to find on a microsoft forum, thats
all!!

Not everyone here is the MicroBorg. ;-)

http://www.microscum.com/jupiter/

--
Peace!
Kurt
Self-anointed Moderator
microscum.pubic.windowsexp.gonorrhea
http://microscum.com/mscommunity
"Trustworthy Computing" is only another example of an Oxymoron!
"Produkt-Aktivierung macht frei"

 

[Yves Leclerc]

The XP install CD is the only start-up disk required. It is bootable.

 

[Yves Leclerc]

NO!. it does not "compare" to the web. It generates a "secret" code based
on several aspects of the hardware with the one sent for activation. If too
many changes occur, the allowed count for changes, would push for a
re-activate request.

 

[Ken Blake]

In

My understanding of how this works is that

1 - "Activate" stores 10 different aspects of your PC hardware
configuration in a database
2 - If you don't "activate" within 30 days, you can't run
Windows

Except in Safe Mode.

3 - When you boot your PC (if connected to the web.... not
clear
about what happens
if you're not connected),

Whether connected or not, the comparison is to the activation
info stored on your computer.

Read MVP Alex Nichol's Article "Windows Product Activation (WPA)
on Windows XP"
at http://aumha.org/win5/a/wpa.htm

 

[kurttrail]

My understanding of how this works is that

1 - "Activate" stores 10 different aspects of your PC hardware
configuration in a database

The wpa.dbl file on your computer. What is sent to MS is only a
encrypted snapshot of that database plus the Product ID, not the entire
WPA database, and it cannot be backward calculated by Microsoft.

2 - If you don't "activate" within 30 days, you can't run Windows

Not true entirely true. You can activate after the 30 days by going
into Safe Mode and taking the phone option to activate.

3 - When you boot your PC (if connected to the web.... not clear
about what happens
if you're not connected), it compares the database with your
current PC. If it's
different, you can't run Windows except to back up.

Only within the first 120 days from the last activation, and then all
you have to do is phone MS, and tell them you upgraded your computer.
After 120 days since the last activation, you should be activated just
like the first time over the internet. MS resets the Activation info
every 120 days.

Then you
call MicroSoft
to explain

Yes. If you tell them it is installed on more than one computer, then
they won't activate you. If you tell them you upgrade YOUR computer,
then they have to take your word for it. MS doesn't know what actual
computer, or computer components any copy of XP is installed on. All
activation tells them is that components have changed.

If these are all facts,

They aren't the complete facts.

then I don't see how you could run multiple
PCs simultaneously off the same copy of Windows??

I think you should have a better idea how activation really works now.
People, like Jupiter, go around spouting the "EULA Über Alles," but
notice he doesn't dispute my explanation about how activation really
works. That's because it is the reality of how it really works.

Please advise.

TIA
LAS

--
Peace!
Kurt
Self-anointed Moderator
microscum.pubic.windowsexp.gonorrhea
http://microscum.com/mscommunity
"Trustworthy Computing" is only another example of an Oxymoron!
"Produkt-Aktivierung macht frei"

 

[Jupiter Jones [MVP]]

Laurel;
It is possible to install and run on multiple computers.
But it violates the EULA you have agreed to do so.
Like most things, there are ways for those without integrity to violate the
agreement.

1. Close enough
2. Exactly
3. not unless you want the computer to activate.
Your computer does not phone home on a routine basis to check validity.
The data used to verify activation is stored on your computer.

See this about Activation:
http://aumha.org/win5/a/wpa.htm
And:
http://www.microsoft.com/piracy/activation.mspx