XP Product Key

[mike]

I purchased XP Pro and I installed it on my computer a
while ago. I then installed it on an older computer just
to try some things (i never use this computer and only
planned to use it for a day or two so I thought that I
didnt activate windows). So now i just built a new
computer and I tried to activate it and talked to a guy
and he said that I had used up the product key. I
thought that you got to install it on two computers with
one CD key. So is it just one computer and what I heard
was a lie, or can i have 2 computers installed, in which
case is there a way to de-activate that old old computer
that I never really used.

thanks

 

[Chris Lanier]

Windows has NEVER allowed you to install it on two PC. PC = One copy of
Windows. Solution to your problem: Buy another copy.

 

[Mike Brannigan [MSFT]]

One license for one computer.
You were incorrectly advised.
You need to go and purchase another copy of Windows XP.
This is no different to the licensing for Windows since version 31. all
those years ago.

--
Regards,

Mike
--
Mike Brannigan [Microsoft]

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no
rights

Please note I cannot respond to e-mailed questions, please use these
newsgroups

 

[Steve C. Ray]

You may have been thinking of MS Office. You are allowed to install it on
your desktop and laptop.

 

[Guest]

The solution is to call the automated number and re-
activate it. No big deal, no reason to buy another one.

 

[Chris Lanier]

Not true. One Copy per PC. calling the number will get you no help.

 

[Chris Lanier]

Yes

 

[Guest]

thats crap and you know it. every 120 days you can install
it on another computer and activate on-line. I am up to 11
install of one, just to see if i can........lol

 

[Ron Martell]

You may have been thinking of MS Office. You are allowed to install it on
your desktop and laptop.

Retail and some volume licensed versions only.

OEM versions of Office are one machine only.


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."

 

[Steve C. Ray]

That just means you are a thief 10 times.

 

[Guest]

Like I care.....lol , Go ask MS what they have done!!!!

 

[Bruce Chambers]

Greetings --

Certainly.

Let's apply a little common sense to the question, shall we? Does
your local department of motor vehicles allow you to drive two cars on
a single set of license plates? So where in the world did you ever
get the idea that software manufacturers would sell their product
licenses any differently? In real life, it doesn't matter whether the
product being purchased is a physical item, a service, or a software
license - if all you buy is one, that's all you get.

As it has *always* been with *all* Microsoft operating systems,
it's necessary (to be in compliance with both the EULA and copyright
laws, if not technically) to purchase one WinXP license for each
computer on which it is installed. 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) the sort of multiple installations you're asking about.


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

 

[=?ISO-8859-15?Q?Sti=A9ky?=]

Not true. One Copy per PC. calling the number will get you no help.

Then what is the difference between the retail version and OEM? Isn't
an OEM version locked to one computer whereas the retail can be
installed on an unlimited number of computers (but _only one_ at any
given time)?

 

[Ron Martell]

Then what is the difference between the retail version and OEM? Isn't
an OEM version locked to one computer whereas the retail can be
installed on an unlimited number of computers (but _only one_ at any
given time)?

That is one of the major differences - OEM licenses are permanently
locked to the first computer they are installed on and cannot be
transferred to another machine under any circumstances, including the
destruction or theft of the original computer. Retail licenses can
be transferred from machine to machine to machine provided it is only
installed on a single machine at any given moment.

There are additional differences in terms of product support and
warranty as well. See http://onlinehelp.bc.ca/oem_software for a
detailed discussion of OEM software.


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."

 

[Alex Nichol]

I purchased XP Pro and I installed it on my computer a
while ago. I then installed it on an older computer just
to try some things (i never use this computer and only
planned to use it for a day or two so I thought that I
didnt activate windows). So now i just built a new
computer and I tried to activate it and talked to a guy
and he said that I had used up the product key. I
thought that you got to install it on two computers with
one CD key.

No - one copy to one machine. You can have it briefly on a second one,
for trial, as long as you never try to activate it

If you *remove* it from the former machine you can transfer a retail
copy to the new one (but not one of the OEM ones, licensed solely to the
first machine and no other). When it comes to activation, you may find
it will go through on the net anyway - if more than 120 days since you
last did it certainly will. If not, you will have to phone a toll-free
number that will be given, to explain and swap one long number for
another to check back as you type it in

 

[=?ISO-8859-15?Q?Sti=A9ky?=]

That is one of the major differences - OEM licenses are permanently
locked to the first computer they are installed on and cannot be
transferred to another machine under any circumstances, including the
destruction or theft of the original computer. Retail licenses can
be transferred from machine to machine to machine provided it is only
installed on a single machine at any given moment.

There are additional differences in terms of product support and
warranty as well. See http://onlinehelp.bc.ca/oem_software for a
detailed discussion of OEM software.


Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada

That's what I thought.