Win XP upgrade and OEM limitiations

[Ben]

I have a Dell and accompanying XP disc from Dell. It's limited to being
reinstalled on my Dell.

I have another computer, a non-Dell, I'd like to install XP on. My question
is, if I buy a Windows Xp Pro Upgrade CD, is that install limited to my
Dell, or can I use it to install on another computer? is the upgrade limited
to my Dell?

(This is the only kind of XP disc I can get through schoo.)

Many thanks

Ben

 

[Colin Barnhorst]

If the non-Dell computer does not have an operating system on it then you
need a full edition of XP Pro to install XP on it. If you are wanting to
put XP Pro on the Dell then you may do so. Which computer are you wanting
to put XP Pro on?

 

[David B.]

Your question is rather confusing, if your asking if you can install the
upgrade license on more than one computer, the answer is no, just as with
any other Microsoft OS, one license, one PC.

 

[Ben]

Parallels on a Macbook

If the non-Dell computer does not have an operating system on it then you
need a full edition of XP Pro to install XP on it. If you are wanting to
put XP Pro on the Dell then you may do so. Which computer are you wanting
to put XP Pro on?

 

[Ben]

SO even if I buy an upgrade disc, it's limited to the PC.

That's all I needed to know, thanks.

 

[Malke]

SO even if I buy an upgrade disc, it's limited to the PC.

That's all I needed to know, thanks.

This is incorrect. Generic OEM install disks - which are full operating
system disks and are designed to be installed on a bare hard drive - are
tied to the original hardware. Branded OEM install disks (HP, Dell, etc.)
can normally only be installed on that OEM's hardware because of
BIOS-locking.

Retail install disks - upgrade or full - are not tied to the original
hardware on which they are installed. A retail upgrade install disk will
ask you to insert qualifying media (Win9x/ME install disk, not a recovery
disk) if it doesn't find the older operating system already installed on
the hard drive.

You cannot use an upgrade edition for Parallels or for Boot Camp. A full
version, retail or generic OEM, is required.

Malke

 

[Colin Barnhorst]

You may not use the cd from the Dell because of licensing. But a full
edition of XP for Parallels.

 

[Colin Barnhorst]

The upgrade edition is transferrable but the OEM (Dell) edition is not.

When you use an upgrade edition you must also own a tranferrable license to
another copy of Windows or there is no license to upgrade from. When you
install XP Pro with an upgrade edition it will require you to provide a cd
from another copy of Windows that is eligible for upgrade to XP Pro, which
your OEM copy from the Dell is not (because it is not a transferrable
license).

If your plan was to buy XP Pro upgrade because it is upgradable from XP
Home, why don't you buy a copy of XP Home (full) instead and save some money
over the Pro edition? If you want XP Pro specifically then buy it.

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

SO even if I buy an upgrade disc, it's limited to the PC.

No, it's not.

There are two kind of Windows licenses, Retail and OEM. Either license
is good on only one computer at a time. An OEM license has an
additional restriction--it is valid only on the first computer it's
installed on, and can never be moved to another.

OEM CDs do clean installations only, and an Upgrade CD is always a
retail license. So an Upgrade license is not limited to the original
computer.

It's for that reason that I almost always recommend buying an Upgrade
copy rather than an OEM one. It usually costs only slightly more than
an OEM one, and doesn't have that restriction. Also, despite what many
people think, a Windows XP Upgrade *can* do a clean installation as
long as you have a copy of a previous qualifying version's CD to show
it when prompted. Most people have such a CD, but for those who don't,
a used copy of Windows 98 can usually be bought very inexpensively.