What is a computer?

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I C

I bought a PC with Windows Me. I later bought a second hard drive and
installed XP Pro OEM onto it. I have now built a new PC and I want to
transfer that second hard drive to the new PC.
I know that an OEM licence lives and dies with the computer in which
it was first installed. Hence my question. What is a computer? Is it
the hard drive? Or the motherboard? Or the tower? Or something else?
I cannot believe that I can't move a hard drive with XP OEM into a new
tower with different components. Is it acceptable to upgrade all the
components inside the existing tower apart from the hard drive in
question? Then it should also mean that I could move the hard drive to
a new tower, which would contain whatever other components I want. If
upgrading within the existing tower is allowed, but moving hard drive
to a new tower is not allowed, then this would suggest that a computer
is the tower, which is absurd. Or maybe upgrading even within the
existing tower is forbidden, which is also absurd.
 
Changing a Motherboard or Moving a Hard Drive with XP Installed
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/moving_xp.html

Windows Product Activation (WPA) on Windows XP
http://aumha.org/win5/a/wpa.htm

--
Carey Frisch
Microsoft MVP
Windows XP - Shell/User

Be Smart! Protect your PC!
http://www.microsoft.com/security/protect/

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


| I bought a PC with Windows Me. I later bought a second hard drive and
| installed XP Pro OEM onto it. I have now built a new PC and I want to
| transfer that second hard drive to the new PC.
| I know that an OEM licence lives and dies with the computer in which
| it was first installed. Hence my question. What is a computer? Is it
| the hard drive? Or the motherboard? Or the tower? Or something else?
| I cannot believe that I can't move a hard drive with XP OEM into a new
| tower with different components. Is it acceptable to upgrade all the
| components inside the existing tower apart from the hard drive in
| question? Then it should also mean that I could move the hard drive to
| a new tower, which would contain whatever other components I want. If
| upgrading within the existing tower is allowed, but moving hard drive
| to a new tower is not allowed, then this would suggest that a computer
| is the tower, which is absurd. Or maybe upgrading even within the
| existing tower is forbidden, which is also absurd.
 
The exact definition is vague and largely for the OEMs to determine.
Many OEMs effectively determine the motherboard as the factor since
those OEMs will not let their Windows install on a motherboard from
another manufacturer,
 
Greetings --

According to the EULA, an OEM license may not be transferred from
one distinct PC to another PC. However, this most emphatically does
not prohibit one from repairing or upgrading the PC on which an OEM
license is installed.

Now, some people believe that the motherboard is the key component
that defines the "original computer," but the OEM EULA does not make
any such distinction. Others have said that one could successfully
argue that it's the PC's case that is the deciding component, as that
is where one is instructed to affix the OEM CoA label w/Product Key.
Again, the EULA does not specifically define any single component as
the computer.

Microsoft has, to date, been very careful _not_ publicly to define
when an incrementally upgraded computer ceases to be the original
computer. The closest I've ever seen a Microsoft employee come to
this definition is to tell the person making the inquiry to consult
the PC's manufacturer. As the OEM license's support is solely the
responsibility of said manufacturer, they should determine what sort
of hardware changes to allow before the warranty and support
agreements are voided. To paraphrase: An incrementally upgraded
computer ceases to be the original computer, as pertains to the OEM
EULA, only when the *OEM* says it's a different computer.

If you've built the PC yourself, and used a generic OEM WinXP CD,
I'd have to conclude that *you* are the OEM, and *you* get to decide
when you're going to stop supporting the system and its OS.


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
 
I said:
I bought a PC with Windows Me. I later bought a second hard drive and
installed XP Pro OEM onto it. I have now built a new PC and I want to
transfer that second hard drive to the new PC.
I know that an OEM licence lives and dies with the computer in which
it was first installed. Hence my question. What is a computer? Is it
the hard drive? Or the motherboard? Or the tower? Or something else?
Click to expand...

You're looking at this all wrong. You need to consult your intellectual
property attorney -- the one you keep handy while maintaining and
backing up your system -- and ask him to explain "What is an end-user
license agreement from Microsoft?" Using a computer is less about
understanding bits and bytes and more about understanding legal
agreements with torts and clauses.

Then research how to do a repair installation.
 
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