Windows XP and its License..

  • Thread starter Thread starter Ted Gervais
  • Start date Start date
T

Ted Gervais

I have been told that we can only use WindowsXP once. That is, we can
install it on one computer and that is it. We can't format the drive and
start over. No. I am told that once you put it on, than that is it. No
more.

I found all this out when I bought a new copy of XP (home) a couple of weeks
ago and installed it on a new computer I built. Everything went fine. I
activated it and registered the software etc., and life was great.

And than, I decided to make some changes so I formated the drive and started
again.
When I tried to activate it, I was told 'NO' ! The software can only be
used ONCE.

I called the phone number supplised and the person told me the same thing
but eventually gave me a new serial number. This new number is referenced
over to the orginal number and I can never uninistall my windowsXP software
with that serial number again. Only once but maybe twice , if one talks
nice.

Has anyone had this experience before? I thought you were restricted to
using the software you bought on ONE machine only. But could uninistall it
and reinstall it 100 times if you wanted. As long as it was on that same
machine. Wrong!!
 
Ted Gervais said:
I have been told that we can only use WindowsXP once. That is, we can
install it on one computer and that is it. We can't format the drive and
start over. No. I am told that once you put it on, than that is it. No
more.
Click to expand...

If you have an OEM copy, then that is correct. if you have a RETAIL copy,
then that is NOT correct.
 
On OEM copies you are only allowed to activate once; the licence being
linked driectly to the OEM not the user. With a retail copy of XP though you
should have no problem. I've lost count of the amount of times i've
reformatted, reinstalled and activated. In actual fact, with a retail copy,
you can actually reformat and re-install every 120 days or so without any
problem. Having said all that i have said, you would get a problem with a
retail version if you were reformatting every 35 days or so (remember you
have 30 days to activate anyway), simply because Microsoft would assume
(wrongly of course) that you were installing on more than one pc. Anyway it
is better not to activate until towards the end of the 30 grace period (on
retail copies) because, if you need to reformat and install again due to
problems, you won't have to keep attempting to activate.

--
John Barnett MVP
Associate Expert
http://xphelpandsupport.mvps.org
http://vistasupport.mvps.org

The information in this mail/post is supplied "as is". No warranty of any
kind, either expressed or implied, is made in relation to the accuracy,
reliability or content of this mail/post. The Author shall not be liable for
any direct, indirect, incidental or consequential damages arising out of the
use of, or inability to use, information or opinions expressed in this
mail/post..
 
Ted said:
I have been told that we can only use WindowsXP once. That is, we can
install it on one computer and that is it. We can't format the drive and
start over. No. I am told that once you put it on, than that is it. No
more.

I found all this out when I bought a new copy of XP (home) a couple of weeks
ago and installed it on a new computer I built. Everything went fine. I
activated it and registered the software etc., and life was great.

And than, I decided to make some changes so I formated the drive and started
again.
When I tried to activate it, I was told 'NO' ! The software can only be
used ONCE.

I called the phone number supplised and the person told me the same thing
but eventually gave me a new serial number. This new number is referenced
over to the orginal number and I can never uninistall my windowsXP software
with that serial number again. Only once but maybe twice , if one talks
nice.

Has anyone had this experience before? I thought you were restricted to
using the software you bought on ONE machine only. But could uninistall it
and reinstall it 100 times if you wanted. As long as it was on that same
machine. Wrong!!
Click to expand...


There's no limit to the number of times you can reinstall and
activate the same WinXP license on the same PC. Nor is there ever a
charge. Nor does a Product Key (so long as it's not an evaluation
license) ever expire. If it's been more than 120 days since you last
activated that specific Product Key, you'll most likely be able to
activate via the Internet without problem. If it's been less, you might
have to make a 5 minute phone call.

Here are the facts pertaining to activation:

Piracy Basics - Microsoft Product Activation
http://www.microsoft.com/piracy/basics/activation/

Windows Product Activation (WPA)
http://www.aumha.org/a/wpa.htm


--

Bruce Chambers

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John said:
On OEM copies you are only allowed to activate once; the licence being
linked driectly to the OEM not the user.
Click to expand...

Then again, with certain OEM copies, there doesn't seem to be a need to
activate at all (at least in the usual way).

Back in August I acquired a used Dell Dimension 2400. It still had the
original OS (Windows XP Home) installed on it. But it had lots of junk
on it, too, and I decided to do a clean install since I also acquired
the accompanying OEM Reinstallation CD.

There was no need to activate XP once it was installed; I was able to
get the SP 2 just fine. I later learned this was because Dell (which is
considered a "royalty OEM") uses "golden master" OEM copies of Windows
XP, which are similar to a volume license.
 
I have been told that we can only use WindowsXP once. That is, we can
install it on one computer and that is it. We can't format the drive and
start over. No. I am told that once you put it on, than that is it. No
more.
Click to expand...


You have been told wrong. That's completely false.

You may install and reinstall Windows XP as many times as you need or want
to.

If yours is a retail copy, you may even take it off the original computer
and reinstall it a completely different computer.

There are only two restructions in this regard--two things you may not do.

1. You may not have a single copy (or single license) installed on two
computers at once.

2. If yours is an OEM copy, not a retail one, you may not take it off the
original computer and install it on a second one (however, even if it's an
OEM copy, you may reinstall it as often as you want on that original
computer).
I found all this out when I bought a new copy of XP (home) a couple of
weeks ago and installed it on a new computer I built. Everything went
fine. I activated it and registered the software etc., and life was
great.

And than, I decided to make some changes so I formated the drive and
started again.
When I tried to activate it, I was told 'NO' ! The software can only be
used ONCE.
Click to expand...


The message is a terrible one, unfortunately, and often confuses people.
There are circumstances in which reactivation has to be done by voice call
to an 800 number, but you can install it as often as you want.


I called the phone number supplised and the person told me the same thing
Click to expand...


If he told you that, he was in error.

but eventually gave me a new serial number. This new number is referenced
over to the orginal number and I can never uninistall my windowsXP
software with that serial number again. Only once but maybe twice , if
one talks nice.
Click to expand...


No, as many times as you want.

Has anyone had this experience before? I thought you were restricted to
using the software you bought on ONE machine only. But could uninistall
it and reinstall it 100 times if you wanted. As long as it was on that
same machine. Wrong!!
Click to expand...


It's not wrong. You were correct in the first place.
 
An OEM license is tied to the machine it is first installed on. The first
activation should go through without any problem subsequent online
re-activations will fail. Here is a quote direct from Microsoft which i
recieved regarding another OEM query. This obviously involved OEM products.
Retail products have no such restriction.
"Subsequent re-activations for any reason will fail if an attempt is made
online or using the automated service - customer will need to speak directly
with a Product Activation CSP. The reason for this is to counter piracy,
and before a new activation code can be issued, a number of questions will
need to be asked by the Product Activation team. For example (but by no
means exhaustive):

· Why is there a requirement for a new activation

· Was the software transferred to another machine (not permitted) or
was there a need to reinstall the software onto the same machine

· Do you have Proof of Purchase"


--
John Barnett MVP
Associate Expert
http://xphelpandsupport.mvps.org
http://vistasupport.mvps.org

The information in this mail/post is supplied "as is". No warranty of any
kind, either expressed or implied, is made in relation to the accuracy,
reliability or content of this mail/post. The Author shall not be liable for
any direct, indirect, incidental or consequential damages arising out of the
use of, or inability to use, information or opinions expressed in this
mail/post..



T
 
I agree. Even the original OEM copy i had with my machine only required
activating once. Any time i have re-installed it, it hasn't asked for an
activation.

My OEM copy i keep on my C: drive wheras i also have a copy of XP Pro and
Vista on seperate partitions on the same machine.

--
John Barnett MVP
Associate Expert
http://xphelpandsupport.mvps.org
http://vistasupport.mvps.org

The information in this mail/post is supplied "as is". No warranty of any
kind, either expressed or implied, is made in relation to the accuracy,
reliability or content of this mail/post. The Author shall not be liable for
any direct, indirect, incidental or consequential damages arising out of the
use of, or inability to use, information or opinions expressed in this
mail/post..
 
Don't take our word for it? If you are now absolutely confused or have
any additional questions regarding licensing; take a look at the EULA
yourself. Click START --> RUN and type EULA.txt. I think youR question
can be answered in section 1 (subsection 1.1). And it comes straight
from Microsoft.

--
Michael D. Alligood,
MCSA, MCDST, MCP, A+,
Network+, i-Net+, CIW Assoc.,
CIW Certified Instructor
 
John Barnett MVP said:
On OEM copies you are only allowed to activate once; the licence being
linked driectly to the OEM not the user.
Click to expand...

Eh? That's wrong......you can activate an OEM copy as many times as you
like....what you CAN'T do is to transfer it to another machine....

With a retail copy of XP though you should have no problem. I've lost
count of the amount of times i've reformatted, reinstalled and activated.
In actual fact, with a retail copy, you can actually reformat and
re-install every 120 days or so without any problem. Having said all that
i have said, you would get a problem with a retail version if you were
reformatting every 35 days or so (remember you have 30 days to activate
anyway), simply because Microsoft would assume (wrongly of course) that
you were installing on more than one pc. Anyway it is better not to
activate until towards the end of the 30 grace period (on retail copies)
because, if you need to reformat and install again due to problems, you
won't have to keep attempting to activate.
Click to expand...

Hmmmm - I re-installed my RETAIL copy of XP on the SAME (unchanged) machine
a few weeks ago. This machine had been untouched for at least six months. It
failed both the internet activation AND the automatic telephone activation.
the Customer representative I seventually spoke to, told me that there is a
new MS activation policy in that NO version of XP is now allowed more than
ONE internet activaion in its lifetime - all subsequent activations have to
be done over the phone.
 
You can activate OEM copy over the internet 'once'. After that you shouldn't
need to activate again. I have re-installed my OEM copy every month for the
last year and have never been asked to activate. If the system does flag for
an activation you will 'usually' be refused and activation online. On
telephone Microsoft there shouldn't be a problem activating 'providing' you
can supply the relevant information that Microsoft require, i.e., it is not
being installed on another machine, do you have a valid receipt etc (see my
post in this thread of 11/11/06)

Your second comment i can only say that one simple way of getting round the
activation problem is to image the drive using Acronis true Image or
something similar. By imaging the drive you don't get any prompt for
activating when the drive is re-imaged.


--
John Barnett MVP
Associate Expert
http://xphelpandsupport.mvps.org
http://vistasupport.mvps.org

The information in this mail/post is supplied "as is". No warranty of any
kind, either expressed or implied, is made in relation to the accuracy,
reliability or content of this mail/post. The Author shall not be liable for
any direct, indirect, incidental or consequential damages arising out of the
use of, or inability to use, information or opinions expressed in this
mail/post..
 
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