XP Pro on a second computer

[Grumble69]

I've purchased XP Pro and installed it on my primary computer. I've
got an "older" computer that I would like to upgrade to XP Pro as
well. There's no way in hell I'm going to spend another $190 for a
second copy of XP Pro. Does Microsoft sell keys at a discounted
price? I could justify say another $50.

Worse case scenario, the second computer stays with Windows 98SE (and
I'll withhold my opinion as to whether cracks are written by pirates
or modern day Robin Hoods).

 

[Jim Macklin]

Try www.pricewatch.com But I'm afraid you won't find a
legal XP Pro for less than about $120 for an upgrade.


| I've purchased XP Pro and installed it on my primary
computer. I've
| got an "older" computer that I would like to upgrade to XP
Pro as
| well. There's no way in hell I'm going to spend another
$190 for a
| second copy of XP Pro. Does Microsoft sell keys at a
discounted
| price? I could justify say another $50.
|
| Worse case scenario, the second computer stays with
Windows 98SE (and
| I'll withhold my opinion as to whether cracks are written
by pirates
| or modern day Robin Hoods).

 

[Bruce Chambers]

Greetings --

Just as it says, right on the box, you'll need to purchase a
separate WinXP license for each computer on which you install it.

As it has *always* been with *all* Microsoft operating systems,
it's necessary (to be in compliance with both the EULA and U.S.
copyright law http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/117.html), if not
technically) to purchase one WinXP license for each computer on which
it is installed. (Consult an attorney versed in copyright law to
determine final applicability in your locale.) The only way in which
WinXP licensing differs from that of earlier versions of Windows is
that Microsoft has finally added a copy protection and anti-theft
mechanism, Product Activation, to prevent (or at least make more
difficult) multiple installations using a single license.

You can buy additional licenses, assuming you have a retail
license. Naturally, Microsoft cannot sell additional OEM licenses. Be
aware, however, that you'll probably pay more this way than you would
if you were to buy a second copy of WinXP from a discount retailer;
Microsoft will only offer you a 15% discount off their MSRP.

Additional Licenses for Windows XP Home Edition
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/home/howtobuy/addlic.asp

Additional Licenses for Windows XP Professional
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/howtobuy/addlic.asp


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

 

[Grumble69]

Damn, the extra keys are more than the software I bought!

....this is just the kind of thing that fosters anti-MS feelings. It
would be nice if MS could just give families a break and include a
second license in the cost (or at least grossly discounted). Their
piracy war isn't with us.

I'm not against giving MS their fair due, but DAMN they're really
sticking it to the consumer.

 

[Alias]

Damn, the extra keys are more than the software I bought!

...this is just the kind of thing that fosters anti-MS feelings. It
would be nice if MS could just give families a break and include a
second license in the cost (or at least grossly discounted). Their
piracy war isn't with us.

I'm not against giving MS their fair due, but DAMN they're really
sticking it to the consumer.

Yep, they sure are. Typical of monopolies. Of course, the ONLY people who
benefit are the so-called pirates. MS loses customer confidence and the
customers have to put up with the activation process and, naturally, paying
through the nose to have their family computers updated. The pirates, OTOH,
have such a price spread, making cracked versions of XP is a very profitable
business.

Alias

 

[Ken Blake]

In

I've purchased XP Pro and installed it on my primary computer. I've
got an "older" computer that I would like to upgrade to XP Pro as
well. There's no way in hell I'm going to spend another $190 for a
second copy of XP Pro. Does Microsoft sell keys at a discounted
price? I could justify say another $50.

If yours is a retail version, not an OEM one, yes you can buy
extra licenses (see
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/howtobuy/addlic.asp). But
it's not generally a good deal. The problem is that Microsoft
sells additional licenses at only a small savings over the list
price. You're almost certainly better off just buying a complete
second copy from a discount source.

It would be more than $50 (around $100), but you might want to
consider buying an upgrade version of XP Home for your second
computer.

 

[Tom]

Yep, they sure are. Typical of monopolies. Of course, the ONLY people who
benefit are the so-called pirates. MS loses customer confidence and the
customers have to put up with the activation process and, naturally, paying
through the nose to have their family computers updated. The pirates, OTOH,
have such a price spread, making cracked versions of XP is a very profitable
business.

In what way does it cost through the nose for families, or whomever, to update their systems? You think software should be written so bloated that it should have 10+ years of legacy support? I wouldn't want an OS that would fail just from that aspect alone! XP does very well at supporting many apps and hardware peripherals from as far back as 7 years. I still use my 6 year old scanner, as it is great, because the maker made drivers for XP

MS isn't responsible for hardware makers that don't offer support for newer OSes, and they are the ones that really lose when it isn't that difficult to write driver for newer OSes. Hell, even newer software won't work on systems over 6 years old, because of the RAM and video requirements! I think you had better learn what advancing technology means.

By the way, if by "updating" you perhaps mean the OS, MS does this free of charge as long as the OS is supported by them. Even though Windows 98 is no longer supported through Windows Updates, you can still get all the fixes for it at MS.

 

[Alias]

Yep, they sure are. Typical of monopolies. Of course, the ONLY people who
benefit are the so-called pirates. MS loses customer confidence and the
customers have to put up with the activation process and, naturally, paying
through the nose to have their family computers updated. The pirates, OTOH,
have such a price spread, making cracked versions of XP is a very profitable
business.

In what way does it cost through the nose for families, or whomever, to
update their systems? You think software should be written so bloated that
it should have 10+ years of legacy support? I wouldn't want an OS that would
fail just from that aspect alone! XP does very well at supporting many apps
and hardware peripherals from as far back as 7 years. I still use my 6 year
old scanner, as it is great, because the maker made drivers for XP

MS isn't responsible for hardware makers that don't offer support for newer
OSes, and they are the ones that really lose when it isn't that difficult to
write driver for newer OSes. Hell, even newer software won't work on systems
over 6 years old, because of the RAM and video requirements! I think you had
better learn what advancing technology means.

By the way, if by "updating" you perhaps mean the OS, MS does this free of
charge as long as the OS is supported by them. Even though Windows 98 is no
longer supported through Windows Updates, you can still get all the fixes
for it at MS. <<<

When I said, "updating", I meant new hardware and new software. A second
copy of software -- any software -- for a family -- not a business because
they get to write it off -- should be free or very cheap. If that were done,
very few private and family users would switch to Linux or Apple and MS
would have happy customers, and not like today where illegal copies of
software are socially acceptable in many circles. I've had clients proudly
tell me that all their software is pirated and saw nothing whatsoever wrong
with it. I'm talking lawyers and doctors, not some shadowy pirate in the
dark. Check out www.mocosoft.com if it's still up an running. I maintain
that piracy of software -- or music for that matter -- is due to the high
cost of same and billions of people who can't pay that much but can pay
nothing or very little for a copy if they get it on the black market.
Markets cannot exist unless there is a demand, you know. Insisting that
only the rich can benefit from the computer revolution is looked down upon
in some circles except, perhaps, Bush's "base".

Alias

 

[Bruce Chambers]

Greetings --

Why does this inevitably foster anti-Microsoft feelings? Such a
reaction is completely unrealistic. Does Ford offer a substantial
discount for a second car if you already own one Ford? With the
exception of so-called "sales" (in which the price of the first item
is surreptitiously marked up to cover the costs) does any retailer or
manufacturer or service provider provide a second or third identical
product/service to be included in the price of the first? No company
could stay in business long if it were to do so on a regular or
on-going basis.

I do agree that it would be nice if Microsoft were to offer some
sort of "family" or "household" licensing that offered a substantial
discount to consumers, especially now that multiple-PC households are
becoming much more common. However, in a free enterprise society,
Microsoft, just like any other business, is entitled to sell their
product as they wish. Further, since the overwhelming majority of
home users buy their PCs with the OS pre-installed, there's really
very little business incentive for Microsoft to develop and manage yet
another retail licensing scheme. Personally, though, I think
Microsoft should do so for no other reason than it's "the right thing
to do."


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

 

[Bruce Chambers]

Greetings --

Utterly ridiculous. The root cause of software piracy, or any
other kind of theft, is *NOT* the cost of the item being stolen. It
is, quite clearly, the result of a lack of integrity on the part of
the thief. An honest person will not steal, regardless of how badly
he wants something, irrespective of the item's price. And a thief
will always steal when he feels there's a reasonable chance of his
getting away with it.

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

 

[Alias]

Greetings --

Utterly ridiculous. The root cause of software piracy, or any
other kind of theft, is *NOT* the cost of the item being stolen. It
is, quite clearly, the result of a lack of integrity on the part of
the thief. An honest person will not steal, regardless of how badly
he wants something, irrespective of the item's price. And a thief
will always steal when he feels there's a reasonable chance of his
getting away with it.

Bruce Chambers

I beg to differ. If there is no price spread, there is no profit. No profit,
no piracy. If music cds, for example, went for 4.95, music piracy would all
but disapear.

Alias

 

[Alex Nichol]

I've purchased XP Pro and installed it on my primary computer. I've
got an "older" computer that I would like to upgrade to XP Pro as
well. There's no way in hell I'm going to spend another $190 for a
second copy of XP Pro. Does Microsoft sell keys at a discounted
price? I could justify say another $50.

You can get a discount, but it is small, and buying a second copy at a
discount store is usually cheaper. You could consider an Upgrade CD of
XP Home (there are no extra Pro-only facilities that you would be
likely to want on such a machine). But make sure it is powerful enough
to warrant upgrading anyway

 

[CS]

Damn, the extra keys are more than the software I bought!

...this is just the kind of thing that fosters anti-MS feelings. It
would be nice if MS could just give families a break and include a
second license in the cost (or at least grossly discounted). Their
piracy war isn't with us.

I'm not against giving MS their fair due, but DAMN they're really
sticking it to the consumer.

Read about fair use of the copy you purchased:

www.microscum.com

Then decide what to do.

 

[hermes]

Greetings --

Why does this inevitably foster anti-Microsoft feelings? Such a
reaction is completely unrealistic. Does Ford offer a substantial
discount for a second car if you already own one Ford? With the
exception of so-called "sales" (in which the price of the first item
is surreptitiously marked up to cover the costs) does any retailer or
manufacturer or service provider provide a second or third identical
product/service to be included in the price of the first? No company
could stay in business long if it were to do so on a regular or
on-going basis.

I do agree that it would be nice if Microsoft were to offer some
sort of "family" or "household" licensing that offered a substantial
discount to consumers, especially now that multiple-PC households are
becoming much more common. However, in a free enterprise society,
Microsoft, just like any other business, is entitled to sell their
product as they wish. Further, since the overwhelming majority of
home users buy their PCs with the OS pre-installed, there's really
very little business incentive for Microsoft to develop and manage yet
another retail licensing scheme. Personally, though, I think
Microsoft should do so for no other reason than it's "the right thing
to do."


Bruce Chambers

Yes Bruce, Ford does give better incentives and discounts to repeat
customers tan M$ does. But I think your analogy with an auto maker is
not a good one. OK, so you picked it, let's follow this anaolgy a bit
further. M$ makes you pay out the nose for each and every copy of Xp
one purchases. Ford, OTOH competitively prices their product. M$ does
not give nearly the warranty or free support that Ford does for their
respective products. M$ is a virtual monopoly, Ford isn't.

--
hermes
DRM sux! Treacherous Computing kills our virtual civil liberties!
http://protectfreedom.tripod.com/index.html
http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/~rja14/tcpa-faq.html
http://anti-dmca.org/
http://www.eff.org/IP/DMCA/unintended_consequences.php

Windows XP crashed.
I am the Blue Screen of Death.
No one hears your screams

 

[hermes]

Read about fair use of the copy you purchased:

www.microscum.com

Then decide what to do.

Good advice, CS! Let me add to it by suggesting a few more sites:

http://protectfreedom.tripod.com/
http://www.windows-sucks.com

--
hermes
DRM sux! Treacherous Computing kills our virtual civil liberties!
http://protectfreedom.tripod.com/index.html
http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/~rja14/tcpa-faq.html
http://anti-dmca.org/
http://www.eff.org/IP/DMCA/unintended_consequences.php

Windows XP crashed.
I am the Blue Screen of Death.
No one hears your screams

 

[Star Fleet Admiral Q]

Yeah but they make you pay for the repairs - hence the name Fix Or
Repair Daily, or Found On Road Dead, as it is rarely First On Race
Day, and if it is you are back to the other two for the next month.

 

[hermes]

Yeah but they make you pay for the repairs - hence the name Fix Or
Repair Daily, or Found On Road Dead, as it is rarely First On Race
Day, and if it is you are back to the other two for the next month.

Not if the vehicle is under factory warranty. Sure they would make you
and your insurance company pay if you were in an accident, but that is
different.

--
hermes
DRM sux! Treacherous Computing kills our virtual civil liberties!
http://protectfreedom.tripod.com/index.html
http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/~rja14/tcpa-faq.html
http://anti-dmca.org/
http://www.eff.org/IP/DMCA/unintended_consequences.php

Windows XP crashed.
I am the Blue Screen of Death.
No one hears your screams

 

[Ron Martell]

I beg to differ. If there is no price spread, there is no profit. No profit,
no piracy. If music cds, for example, went for 4.95, music piracy would all
but disapear.

Balderdash. Hogwash. Malarkey.

Check the crack sites. There are cracks available for $10 shareware
packages.

A thief is a thief is a thief.


Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada
--
Microsoft MVP
On-Line Help Computer Service
http://onlinehelp.bc.ca

"The reason computer chips are so small is computers don't eat much."

 

[Alias]

Balderdash. Hogwash. Malarkey.

Check the crack sites. There are cracks available for $10 shareware
packages.

A thief is a thief is a thief.


Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada

It's true that some people like to share or give a copy away. It is also
true that the blanket street sellers sell them at a profit. I guess you
don't have that phenomena in Canada but in Europe, you can find anything
from a copy of Julio Iglesias latest CD to phony Rolexes to Microsoft XP Pro
for sale by these people who are controlled by large mafias that have
nothing whatsoever to do with your example. Now, if we include China and
Venezuela that don't recongize "EULAs" or copyright law, your example
becomes even more absurd as the very country is promoting piracy. The whole
world is not a suburb in the USA or Canada.

Alias

 

[Bruce Chambers]

Greetings --

It's true that some people like to share or give a copy away. It is also
true that the blanket street sellers sell them at a profit. I guess you
don't have that phenomena in Canada but in Europe, you can find anything
from a copy of Julio Iglesias latest CD to phony Rolexes to Microsoft XP Pro
for sale by these people who are controlled by large mafias that have
nothing whatsoever to do with your example. Now, if we include China and
Venezuela that don't recongize "EULAs" or copyright law, your example
becomes even more absurd as the very country is promoting piracy. The whole
world is not a suburb in the USA or Canada.

What have the above ramblings got to do with the subject under
discussion? Are you injecting completely tangential irrelevancies in
the hopes of changing the subject?


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