XP (OEM) license transfer from old laptop to old desktop activated?

[jeolmeun]

What would or should happen if I take the XP Pro (maybe or maybe not
OEM) product key from the bottom of an old unused (over 120 days or
under 120 days) laptop and used the product key for another old desktop
with an installation of XP Pro from a different OEM XP (without SP1 or
SP2) CD and tried to activated XP Pro on the old desktop?

What would be the meaning if the XP Pro on old desktop was activated
and deemed genuine by Microsoft's Windows Update website?

Overview:

1 XP Pro Product Key from an old laptop of a well known company. The
key may or may not be OEM.

1 XP Pro OEM CD without SP1 and without SP2.

1 Old desktop with an XP Pro installation with the 1 XP Pro OEM CD
without SP1 and without SP2.

 

[Shenan Stanley]

What would or should happen if I take the XP Pro (maybe or maybe not
OEM) product key from the bottom of an old unused (over 120 days or
under 120 days) laptop and used the product key for another old
desktop with an installation of XP Pro from a different OEM XP
(without SP1 or SP2) CD and tried to activated XP Pro on the old
desktop?

What would happen? It would likely work.

What would be the meaning if the XP Pro on old desktop was activated
and deemed genuine by Microsoft's Windows Update website?

Nothing. As I said before - it would work.

Overview:

1 XP Pro Product Key from an old laptop of a well known company. The
key may or may not be OEM.

Laptop + well known company + sticker on laptop = OEM license.

1 XP Pro OEM CD without SP1 and without SP2.

RTM Windows XP (Released to Manufacturing/Gold..)

1 Old desktop with an XP Pro installation with the 1 XP Pro OEM CD
without SP1 and without SP2.

RTM Windows XP (Released to Manufacturing/Gold..)

It would work. It would be against the wording of the license agreement
that comes with OEM software - but it has a 99% chance of working. As long
as the OEM key matches the TYPE of media (OEM) then it usually works fine
(barring any BIOS lockage in the CDs) to mix CD and CD Keys.

What were you expecting to happen?

 

[Bert Kinney]

Hi,

Legally, OEM product keys stay with the system they were sold with, and
die with that system. They are not transferable.

 

[Bruce Chambers]

What would or should happen if I take the XP Pro (maybe or maybe not
OEM) product key from the bottom of an old unused (over 120 days or
under 120 days) laptop and used the product key for another old desktop
with an installation of XP Pro from a different OEM XP (without SP1 or
SP2) CD and tried to activated XP Pro on the old desktop?

What would be the meaning if the XP Pro on old desktop was activated
and deemed genuine by Microsoft's Windows Update website?

It would mean that you succeeded in "fooling" Microsoft's Activation
and have successfully pirated the OS license.

Overview:

1 XP Pro Product Key from an old laptop of a well known company. The
key may or may not be OEM.

If the Product Key was obtained from a CoA label attached to the both
of the laptop, then there is no question but what the Product Key
belongs to an OEM license; a license that is legally, if not
technically, permanently bound to that laptop.

1 XP Pro OEM CD without SP1 and without SP2.

1 Old desktop with an XP Pro installation with the 1 XP Pro OEM CD
without SP1 and without SP2.

--

Bruce Chambers

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[jeolmeun]

I would expect Microsoft to store the hardware ID of the old laptop (or
some way of identifying the laptop) and the Product Key so activation
and genuine validation would not be possible over the Internet and that
a telephone call with installation ID would be required.

 

[Shenan Stanley]

I would expect Microsoft to store the hardware ID of the old laptop
(or some way of identifying the laptop) and the Product Key so
activation and genuine validation would not be possible over the
Internet and that a telephone call with installation ID would be
required.

That would be quite the database - not to mention that everytime a single
person updated their hardware profile, that database would have to change,
even if they did not have to re-activate (which is possible.)

In other words - that is NOT the way it is.

 

[jeolmeun]

Microsoft sets up this whole new activation system spending how much
money and inconvenience all these legal users and want to fight piracy,
but can't spend a bit more for a couple TB hard disk drives to store
pairs of hardware IDs and Product Keys?

Microsoft makes database software! This would be trivial for them.

If anything, maybe they don't do it because OEM licenses can be
transferred or something?

 

[Shenan Stanley]

Microsoft sets up this whole new activation system spending how much
money and inconvenience all these legal users and want to fight
piracy, but can't spend a bit more for a couple TB hard disk drives
to store pairs of hardware IDs and Product Keys?

Microsoft makes database software! This would be trivial for them.

If anything, maybe they don't do it because OEM licenses can be
transferred or something?

Personally - I know I would not do it (despite having the resources) because
the cost could not be justified and such a thing would limit and
inconvenience the legal users even more than they may already be. Why
Microsoft doesn't do it - I don't know - but I bet it is something similar
to that.

OEM licenses can't be transferred in accordance with the EULA -
technically - it can be.

 

[Bob I]

Maybe you should volunteer to assist them with setting oup the copy
protection scheme!

 

[jeolmeun]

I think they already have it set up and they just have to scale up to
store keys longer.

 

[Bob I]

IIRC it was a case of balancing long enough to be effective in the
prevention of casual pirating vs. short enough to allow for hardware
upgrades by "enthusiasts".