XP OEM and motherboards

[JB]

What happens to somebody with XP OEM and they discover
that the motherboard has failed due to the incredible
taiwanese capacitor fiasco, which effected almost every
brand of motherboard, can you replace it and expect to
reactivate your OEM version of XP.?

jess

 

[GHalleck]

What happens to somebody with XP OEM and they discover
that the motherboard has failed due to the incredible
taiwanese capacitor fiasco, which effected almost every
brand of motherboard, can you replace it and expect to
reactivate your OEM version of XP.?

jess

In general, yes. Specifically, it is the OEM's responsibility to
replace the motherboard, according to its rules and guidelines as
they relate to guarantees and warrantees. For the home-builder or
DIY-builder who is doing the repair-replacement, unequivocally yes.

 

[Patrick Keenan]

What happens to somebody with XP OEM and they discover
that the motherboard has failed due to the incredible
taiwanese capacitor fiasco, which effected almost every
brand of motherboard, can you replace it and expect to
reactivate your OEM version of XP.?

jess

You'll have to do a repair install very first thing, and right away install
the motherboard drivers. Don't allow Windows to attempt to boot till you've
done the repair install. Install the motherboard drivers right after it
boots and before anything else.

Set the BIOS to boot from CD, and do the repair install before you let
Windows run the first time. It will probably want to activate, and
shouldn't be a huge problem. At worst, you'll need to phone, and in that
case you will be shown a phone number, usually toll-free. The calls I have
had to make have been perhaps five to eight minutes.

I would expect that you will not have a problem, except in one specific
case. Really, Activation normally isn't any big deal, and its
inconvenience is very minor. And if it's been a long enough time since the
last activation, (IIRC, 120 days), there's no record of previous
activations, so no flag sending you towards the phone call.

And MS is aware that people have to sometimes reinstall Windows. What they
really care about is that you aren't installing it on multiple machines.
You're not doing that, so it should be fine.

Go ahead, install the new board, change the boot sequence to give the CD
priority, and do the repair install. Note that when you do the repair
install, it sets all Windows files back to the original versions, so all
updates are gone.

When Windows boots, shut off Automatic Updates (as this will slow things
down, you're going to get the updates manually, and then turn it back on)
and install the new motherboard drivers. Then, as long as your install
CD has SP2 on it, after any necessary reboots, go to Windows Update and get
the updates you're now going to need. Post SP2, there are I think over 80
updates now. Once this is all done, you can turn automatic updates back
on.

Caveat: If your OEM CD does not have SP2, either download the entire SP2
file to CD from another system, or downoad it first before any other
updates. This file is 260 meg, and is worth having on CD. It's a much
better idea to use this approach than to install it via Windows Update.

Get SP2 here:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...BE-3B8E-4F30-8245-9E368D3CDB5A&displaylang=en



With some OEM CDs and all retail CDs, you can "slipstream" SP2 into a
pre-SP2 CD file set. This is made very easy using Autostreamer. However,
this doesn't work with disks from vendors like Dell, who have included other
updates, that cause slipstreaming to fail.

There is one OEM issue where you might have a problem, but it isn't with
Activation and you'll know long before you get to that part - in fact, you
won't have an install to activate. And to get past it, you may, yes, have
to get a new license.

If your system uses an OEM-modified CD that checks for a particular string
in the BIOS... and if your motherboard does not match the original, the OEM
install routine will halt. This is one of the very first things checked
and will stop the install cold. You can't easily get past it.

You see this mostly on Dells, where Dell provided an bootable install OEM
CD, which is great. However, the install CD checks that the motherboard is
a Dell, or more specifically that there is a DELL identifier in the BIOS.
This locks those install CDs to Dell systems, so if your system is a Dell
and the new board isn't, you can't use that CD. You'd have to get a board
from Dell.

HTH
-pk

 

[Uncle Grumpy]

What happens to somebody with XP OEM and they discover
that the motherboard has failed due to the incredible
taiwanese capacitor fiasco, which effected almost every
brand of motherboard, can you replace it and expect to
reactivate your OEM version of XP.?

Sure... if you have the original OEM XP disc.

 

[Bob Harris]

Technically, no.

OEM copies of XP are intended to be sold with hardware, such as
motherboards, although most e-stores will sell a copy with any hardware,
even a pen drive. Once installed, the OEM version of XP is locked to the
hardware. If you change the hardware, such as new motherboard, the license
in no longer valid. This is in contrast to the retail version of XP, which
can be moved from one PC to another.

All that said, the folks at Microsoft are not completely unreasonable, and
if on-line activation fails, call them and explain that your motherboard
died, they may provide the code you need to re-activate on the new
motherboard.

However, as one of the other replies mentioned, if this PC was purchased
with XP already installed, such as from any major vendor, the copy of XP is
probably "bios-locked", meaning that it will only work on that one type of
motherboard with one revision of its bios. In such a case contact the PC
maker for assistance. If they provide (free or at your cost) a new
motherboard, they should also provide a means of installing XP.

 

[Alias]

Technically, no.

OEM copies of XP are intended to be sold with hardware, such as
motherboards, although most e-stores will sell a copy with any hardware,
even a pen drive.

Not any more. You need to buy a motherboard, CPU, hard drive and RAM if
you want to buy a generic OEM version of XP or Vista.

Alias

 

[Lil' Dave]

What happens to somebody with XP OEM and they discover
that the motherboard has failed due to the incredible
taiwanese capacitor fiasco, which effected almost every
brand of motherboard, can you replace it and expect to
reactivate your OEM version of XP.?

jess

Answer to your question varies. Depends if you mean a factory OEM
installation CD, or an installation source partition. Another variable
would be if the new motherboard has a revised bios version that requires a
new installation source instead. Another variation to the answer would be
if such an installation source has facility for a repair, leaving your user
data and 3rd party installations intact.

Still further, another answer would depend if you speaking of a generic OEM
installation CD. This will do both a clean install and a repair install.
Bios version changes should not be factor if the same motherboard in the
case of a repair.

Dave

 

[norm]

Not any more. You need to buy a motherboard, CPU, hard drive and RAM if
you want to buy a generic OEM version of XP or Vista.

Alias

The oem copy of vista home premium on this computer was purchased within
the last two months from newegg without any hardware purchase
requirements. A vista sale as of today still does not have the
requirement. An xp purchase did have the requirement for hardware at
least two months ago and it is still required as of today, and it is
prominently stated as a disclaimer.

 

[Alias]

The oem copy of vista home premium on this computer was purchased within
the last two months from newegg without any hardware purchase
requirements. A vista sale as of today still does not have the
requirement. An xp purchase did have the requirement for hardware at
least two months ago and it is still required as of today, and it is
prominently stated as a disclaimer.

In Spain, both XP and Vista generic OEMs have to come with a
motherboard, CPU, hard drive and RAM now and retail is really expensive,
over 800 US Dollars for Ultimate.

Alias

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

What happens to somebody with XP OEM and they discover
that the motherboard has failed due to the incredible
taiwanese capacitor fiasco, which effected almost every
brand of motherboard, can you replace it and expect to
reactivate your OEM version of XP.?

It's a can of worms, as far as I'm concerned. The OEM EULA states that
the license is valid only for the original computer it's installed on,
and it may never be moved to another.

The problem is that the Microsoft OEM EULA does not precisely define
exactly what constitutes the "computer." Some people claim that the
motherboard constitutes the computer. However logical that might seem,
the EULA does not state that, and the EULA is the document that
defines the rights of both parties to the agreement.

Some of those people point to a web site for System Builders, where
Microsoft defines the computer as the motherboard. However it's not
what it says on some web site that defines the customer's rights, it's
the EULA; besides, that web site is not even available to the general
public. I'm not a lawyer, but my guess is that if it ever came to a
court case and someone cited that web site, he'd be laughed out of
court.

So, can you replace a motherboard, consider the result the same
computer, and reuse your OEM copy of Windows? Regardless of what I
think, you think, or anyone else thinks, or even what a court might
rule if it came to that, the real issue is whether Microsoft will
permit you to reactivate if you do. Unfortunately the answer is again
not clear-cut, and we have heard here from people who have had both
experiences--some were reactivated and others were not. If they refuse
to reactivate you and you take them to court, you might win, but who
of would be willing to undergo that trouble and expense to find out?

So the answer is that there is no real answer.

 

[JB]

It's a can of worms, as far as I'm concerned. The OEM EULA states that
the license is valid only for the original computer it's installed on,
and it may never be moved to another.

The problem is that the Microsoft OEM EULA does not precisely define
exactly what constitutes the "computer." Some people claim that the
motherboard constitutes the computer. However logical that might seem,
the EULA does not state that, and the EULA is the document that
defines the rights of both parties to the agreement.

Some of those people point to a web site for System Builders, where
Microsoft defines the computer as the motherboard. However it's not
what it says on some web site that defines the customer's rights, it's
the EULA; besides, that web site is not even available to the general
public. I'm not a lawyer, but my guess is that if it ever came to a
court case and someone cited that web site, he'd be laughed out of
court.

So, can you replace a motherboard, consider the result the same
computer, and reuse your OEM copy of Windows? Regardless of what I
think, you think, or anyone else thinks, or even what a court might
rule if it came to that, the real issue is whether Microsoft will
permit you to reactivate if you do. Unfortunately the answer is again
not clear-cut, and we have heard here from people who have had both
experiences--some were reactivated and others were not. If they refuse
to reactivate you and you take them to court, you might win, but who
of would be willing to undergo that trouble and expense to find out?

So the answer is that there is no real answer.

It is a can of worms and with the benefit of hindsight
MS should never have allowed parts suppliers to retail
OEM versions with hardware bits & pieces.

Consumers who bought a new system from Dell, Toshiba,
wherever and run into problems later, have to sort that
out for themselves.

I have built many boxes for family (gratis) and close
friends (at cost), they all have legitimate and paid
for MS OS installed, only two of them have OEM.

I can probably resurrect this old Athlon box with
another new motherboard (one of the very few still
available in Australia) but it is not MSI, I will have
to decide whether it is worth the risk.

jess

 

[JB]

It's a can of worms, as far as I'm concerned. The OEM EULA states that
the license is valid only for the original computer it's installed on,
and it may never be moved to another.

The problem is that the Microsoft OEM EULA does not precisely define
exactly what constitutes the "computer." Some people claim that the
motherboard constitutes the computer. However logical that might seem,
the EULA does not state that, and the EULA is the document that
defines the rights of both parties to the agreement.

Some of those people point to a web site for System Builders, where
Microsoft defines the computer as the motherboard. However it's not
what it says on some web site that defines the customer's rights, it's
the EULA; besides, that web site is not even available to the general
public. I'm not a lawyer, but my guess is that if it ever came to a
court case and someone cited that web site, he'd be laughed out of
court.

So, can you replace a motherboard, consider the result the same
computer, and reuse your OEM copy of Windows? Regardless of what I
think, you think, or anyone else thinks, or even what a court might
rule if it came to that, the real issue is whether Microsoft will
permit you to reactivate if you do. Unfortunately the answer is again
not clear-cut, and we have heard here from people who have had both
experiences--some were reactivated and others were not. If they refuse
to reactivate you and you take them to court, you might win, but who
of would be willing to undergo that trouble and expense to find out?

So the answer is that there is no real answer.

It is a can of worms and with the benefit of hindsight
MS should never have allowed parts suppliers to retail
OEM versions with hardware bits & pieces.

Consumers who bought a new system from Dell, Toshiba,
wherever and run into problems later, have to sort that
out for themselves.

I have built many boxes for family (gratis) and close
friends (at cost), they all have legitimate and paid
for MS OS installed, only two of them have OEM.

I can probably resurrect this old Athlon box with
another new motherboard (one of the very few still
available in Australia) but it is not MSI, I will have
to decide whether it is worth the risk.

jess

 

[mikeyhsd]

partial wording from ms regarding oem license and moving them to new hardware.

Moreover, Microsoft has addressed this issue in the Channel Discussion Guide (the full title being "Discussion Guide: Clarifying Proper Windows Desktop OS Licensing"). Page 2 clearly states that "If the motherboard is being replaced because of a defect, a new OS license is not required." [Emphasis added.] The only time a new OS license is required is when hardware refurbishing is done for reasons other than a defect (for example, adding memory or getting a faster motherboard).





(e-mail address removed)

It's a can of worms, as far as I'm concerned. The OEM EULA states that
the license is valid only for the original computer it's installed on,
and it may never be moved to another.

The problem is that the Microsoft OEM EULA does not precisely define
exactly what constitutes the "computer." Some people claim that the
motherboard constitutes the computer. However logical that might seem,
the EULA does not state that, and the EULA is the document that
defines the rights of both parties to the agreement.

Some of those people point to a web site for System Builders, where
Microsoft defines the computer as the motherboard. However it's not
what it says on some web site that defines the customer's rights, it's
the EULA; besides, that web site is not even available to the general
public. I'm not a lawyer, but my guess is that if it ever came to a
court case and someone cited that web site, he'd be laughed out of
court.

So, can you replace a motherboard, consider the result the same
computer, and reuse your OEM copy of Windows? Regardless of what I
think, you think, or anyone else thinks, or even what a court might
rule if it came to that, the real issue is whether Microsoft will
permit you to reactivate if you do. Unfortunately the answer is again
not clear-cut, and we have heard here from people who have had both
experiences--some were reactivated and others were not. If they refuse
to reactivate you and you take them to court, you might win, but who
of would be willing to undergo that trouble and expense to find out?

So the answer is that there is no real answer.

It is a can of worms and with the benefit of hindsight
MS should never have allowed parts suppliers to retail
OEM versions with hardware bits & pieces.

Consumers who bought a new system from Dell, Toshiba,
wherever and run into problems later, have to sort that
out for themselves.

I have built many boxes for family (gratis) and close
friends (at cost), they all have legitimate and paid
for MS OS installed, only two of them have OEM.

I can probably resurrect this old Athlon box with
another new motherboard (one of the very few still
available in Australia) but it is not MSI, I will have
to decide whether it is worth the risk.

jess