ppiazzese said:
The dead computer was built by a local computer place and they did
the install. The new(er) computer is also a local built computer.
probably with the same sort of intall. Will this make a difference?
What was assumed was that an OEM version was probably installed on your
original computer. OEM version stick with the first host on which they
are installed. If the host is destroyed, ran over, burned, stolen,
missing, or otherwise unusable to you, the OEM license is also just as
unusable to you. There is no transfer allowed from the original host
on which the OEM license was installed no matter what happened to the
original host.
However, the license does not bar you from replacing defective
components or upgrading them. You could, in fact, upgrade the
motherboard and still be compliant with the OEM license. Since the
license doesn't bar upgrades, you could upgrade the case, motherboard,
hard drives, memory, video card, PSU, and all other hardware and also
do so all at once to effectively build yourself a new computer.
However, that also means that you have no prior computer after
upgrading it. When you are done with the upgrade, you still only have
the one computer (but a bunch of old parts sitting in storage).
Because Microsoft cannot condemn their users to a static set of
hardware at the time of the Windows install, any version, they
effective render their license worthless because upgrades are permitted
- and upgrades can be so extensive as to result in building a new
computer (even if the build of the new computer is from old parts
salvaged from elsewhere). So upgrade your old computer buy building a
new computer (which can be the other computer), install the OEM
license, revalidate it due to the major hardware "upgrades", and store
the old parts (altogether as a computer but on which you do NOT have
that license of Windows installed). There is nothing in the EULA that
restricts the number of component changes in the "computer".
OEM licenses are not allowed to be transferred between computers. Once
installed, the OEM license sticks to that computer. However, nothing
bars the user from "upgrading" or "repairing" their computer. Can you
change the case for your old host on which the OEM license was
installed? Sure. Can you change the PSU in the old computer? Sure.
Can you change the PSU? Sure. Can you add or replace the memory
modules? Sure. Can you replace the motherboard? Sure. Can you
replace the CPU? Sure. Can you change or replace <name-a-component>
in your old computer? Sure. Is there a limitation on how many
hardware changes or replacements can be performed at once? No. Since
you can change or repair every component in computer, you can
effectively build a totally different host than it was before. You
will be left with an altered and new host with the OEM license on it
and old parts (whether separate or all stored inside a case and mantled
together) on which that license doesn't exist. However, if your
computer is stolen, you have nothing against which to "upgrade" or
"repair".
Read the EULA, and do *not* read more into it than what it says. There
is what might've been intendeded but it is not your responsibility to
decipher that intent other than what is explicitly stated. The EULA
for my OEM license says, "You may also need to reactivate the SOFTWARE
if you modify your HARDWARE". Well, they've already allowed the
condition of continuing to use the OEM license if I modify the
hardware. The extent of that modification is not specifically limited.
If you used all the components from the 2nd computer to upgrade your
1st computer, what do you end up with? The 2nd computer with a bunch
of old parts from your 1st computer. There is no stipulation that the
old parts that got replaced must be stored separately rather than
remain together inside the case. If you have to make a phone call to
do the validation and are asked what major change was performed, well,
you did "replace" the hard drive which required a fresh install of the
OS. Does the EULA say what you are restricted to do with the old parts
that got upgraded or replaced? No, so go install Linux on it or keep
it around for repair parts or stick in storage until you buy another
copy of Windows.
Because the number of repairs or upgrades are not restricted against
"COMPUTER" then what is "COMPUTER" can change in its hardware
configuration. The OEM license looses its legal teeth because it isn't
enforced against a static hardware configuration. However, if the OEM
version is a brand-specific version (coded to install on a particular
brand and model of computer) then what you have for the install CD for
the 1st host might not work on the 2nd host (which is all those
"upgrades" you made to your 1st host). You'll get opinions from those
that like to play it safe and go further than what a license
stipulates. Then there are those that push the envelope to so stretch
the license that their interpretation doesn't look like anything of the
original license. There are those, obviously, that give a gnat's fart
about the license. And then there are those that actually read the
license and don't go imposing restrictions on themselves that aren't
actually explicitly stated in the license.
On my host with OEM Windows XP Pro installed, I've replaced the PSU
(old one was defective), replaced the case (with a thinner one with
front USB and audio ports), replaced the memory sticks with
larger-sized ones, replaced the CPU (with a faster speed one), added a
2nd hard drive, replaced the original hard drive (with a bigger one),
replaced the CD-R/DVD-R drive with a CD-RW/DVD-R drive, added a 2nd
CD-RW/DVD-RW drive, replaced the PCI modem card, replaced the video
card (with a faster one with more memory), removed a PCI IDE controller
card (since the new hard drives used SATA which was available on the
motherboard). The only component that I haven't replaced in the last 6
years has been the motherboard but the EULA doesn't restrict me from
replacing it. I replaced the CRT monitor when it went bad with an LCD.
The laser printer got sold and I went to a color inkjet. The mice and
keyboard have been replaced maybe a dozen times. I replaced the huge
and heavy HP ScanJet IIcx with a Canon scanner that slides into a desk
drawer, along with removing the old SCSI card since the new scanner
used USB. So does my old host look anything like it did 6 years ago?
No. But I am still using the same OEM license through all those repair
replacements or hardware upgrades. And I still have lots of old parts
left over from all the upgrades.
For an OEM license:
- Can you replace defective hardware components? Yes.
- Can you upgrade hardware components? Yes.
- The limit of concurrent repair replaces or hardware upgrades? None.
(But changing 2 or 3 major components results in revalidation.)
