Update: 1 XP Pro CD, 2 licences, 2 computers

[tiger]

So my husband, baby and I went to see our computer guy
right before church a few hours ago to confront him about
the burned CD that he gave us. What a futile experience
that was! I confronted him with my findings and info from
Microsoft (I printed off stuff from their website as per
Microsoft Piracy rep I spoke with yesterday). Despite what
I presented to him, he still maintains that he is allowed
to burn CDS. He said he has the same permission as Dell,
etc... to do the CDs the way that he wants to. I
specifically told him that Microsoft said otherwise, and
showed him the documents that I brought with me, but he
wasn't interesed. He then again swore that he gets the
license keys straight from Microsoft, and admitted that
they come in separately. Again, I told him that this is
not allowed. He basically said that the only thing that
Microsoft cares about is the licence key, and since this
worked, I shouldn't make things more complicated than they
need to be! The only thing he offered us was to sell us
the Microsoft hologram CD for another $125.00. He made me
feel guilty for believing Microsoft, and I reminded him
that they are the product creator and he must abide by
their rules, and he said that he does. We left his store
feeling very confused and frustrated.

Basically, my husband and I are fed up with the whole
situation. I mentioned that Microsoft wants me to report
him and he didn't seem worried at all. We are going to
sleep on it, and call Microsoft again on Monday for more
clarification and perhaps I'll have to report him so that
they can investigate. We are worried about it, and resent
the fact that as honest customers we have been dragged
into this mess.

Thanks for all replies. I'd be interested to hear what you
think after you read his responses!

Tiger

 

[Ross Durie]

If you have paid for a licence key then you do NOT pay more for a genuine
Microsoft OEM CD. I would simply report his practice to Microsoft and let
them deal with him.

 

[Rick \Nutcase\ Rogers]

He is relying on you to not report him, and is trying to confuse you on the
licensing issue so that you question whether or not he is right. The fact
that he is offering the "real thing" at an additional cost confirms this, as
then he will be able to ascertain that you were sold a legitimate copy (from
this I would surmise that the copy you currently possess is not).

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP

Associate Expert - WindowsXP Expert Zone

Windows help - www.rickrogers.org

 

[Guest]

Go get Em Tiger. And let him tell it to the judge.

SJ

 

[tiger]

Thanks - I knew that and that is why I gave him many
oppurtunities to explain himself. My hudband laughed when
we got in the car as I am a very persistent, honest and
educated person who will definitely give him a run for his
money. I am going to call Microsoft again on Monday and
see what they say.

In regards to your licence key comment, from all of the
research I've done over the past few days, Microsoft does
NOT sell licence keys separately, despite what he has led
me to believe. They told me that the licence key always
must come with their hologram CD, period. Are you implying
that they do sell them separately (reference to him
offering to sell it to me at a higher price?)

Would you explain please?

Tiger

 

[D@annyBoy]

heard of volume licensing? (1 CD minimum 5 keys)

There are different versions of WinXP Pro.

I would be more concern with the validity of my keys rather than the
original CD.
You are allowed to make a copy of the original CD merely for backup
purposes.
BTW I made copies of all my software and use them to install instead of
using the originals.
As for the originals, I framed them and hang them by the wall

 

[Jupiter Jones [MVP]]

Volume License can not be sold separately so Volume Licensing is not
relevant in this case.
Tiger only needs one license.

 

[D.Currie]

So my husband, baby and I went to see our computer guy
right before church a few hours ago to confront him about
the burned CD that he gave us. What a futile experience
that was! I confronted him with my findings and info from
Microsoft (I printed off stuff from their website as per
Microsoft Piracy rep I spoke with yesterday). Despite what
I presented to him, he still maintains that he is allowed
to burn CDS. He said he has the same permission as Dell,
etc... to do the CDs the way that he wants to. I
specifically told him that Microsoft said otherwise, and
showed him the documents that I brought with me, but he
wasn't interesed. He then again swore that he gets the
license keys straight from Microsoft, and admitted that
they come in separately. Again, I told him that this is
not allowed. He basically said that the only thing that
Microsoft cares about is the licence key, and since this
worked, I shouldn't make things more complicated than they
need to be! The only thing he offered us was to sell us
the Microsoft hologram CD for another $125.00. He made me
feel guilty for believing Microsoft, and I reminded him
that they are the product creator and he must abide by
their rules, and he said that he does. We left his store
feeling very confused and frustrated.

Basically, my husband and I are fed up with the whole
situation. I mentioned that Microsoft wants me to report
him and he didn't seem worried at all. We are going to
sleep on it, and call Microsoft again on Monday for more
clarification and perhaps I'll have to report him so that
they can investigate. We are worried about it, and resent
the fact that as honest customers we have been dragged
into this mess.

Thanks for all replies. I'd be interested to hear what you
think after you read his responses!

Tiger

Thanks for the update. It will be interesting to see how all of this plays
out.

And I'm glad you're willing to pursue this. A lot of people just take the
loss and move on.

Keep us posted.

 

[Bruce Chambers]

Greetings --

You can buy additional licenses, assuming you have a _retail_
license. Naturally, Microsoft cannot sell additional OEM licenses.
Be aware, however, that you'll probably pay more this way than you
would if you were to buy a second copy of WinXP from a discount
retailer; Microsoft will only offer you a 15% discount off their MSRP.

Additional Licenses for Windows XP Home Edition
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/home/howtobuy/addlic.asp

Additional Licenses for Windows XP Professional
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/howtobuy/addlic.asp


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

 

[Frank]

You people sound like real troublemakers. To be sure
if you confronted him with your misleading information
garnered from this newsgroup and he told you that
you could have a full install cd for another $125, you
better believe that what they have done is legal and
binding. Not seeing what is in front of you I would
guess that they gave you a slipstreamed cd with
all of the security and driver updates and a legal
license for WXP. As a matter of fact the instructions
for doing this is on Microsoft's support pages.