Are these copies of XP legit?
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tripcrow
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- Joined: Sun Nov 07, 2004 7:54 pm
Are these copies of XP legit?
My wife’s friend recently had computer problems with a couple year old Gateway. They took it to a local shop where the guy reformatted and put in a new install of XP with a new number and charged them $150. The computer came to me a few days later to have some of their other programs put back in. I’d like to use their now unused XP Home number with my XP disk in a machine made with old spare parts that are just laying around. Is this legit? Do Dell, HP, or Gateway XP codes work in other machines? How about using the number from an old broken HP laptop in a desktop? Do certain codes cause a search for a particular piece of hardware?
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ChrisGrenard
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egrudzin
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- Location: Mentor, OH
It may allow you to register it online but I don't think it is legal to use that license on another PC. I think that Microsoft licenses are non-transferrable. That means once you put it on one PC, that license is only good for that PC forever. That's why they have the little sticker with the product key stuck on every PC. According to the license agreement it has to be stuck there, and cannot be moved to anther PC.
For Dell PCs, I'm pretty sure the Dell branded XP CD will only install on a machine with a Dell BIOS. I've never tried it (my university has a volume license key) I heard this was the case. This very well may be the case with the other major manufacturers as well.
Also I don't think all of the XP keys are the same. I think there are different keys for OEM, Retail, Upgrade and Volume License. At least this is the way it has worked in past versions. You probably can't mix and match (i.e. use a key from an upgrade license to install from an OEM CD). Of course it wouldn't hurt to try it. Worst case is that it just wouldn't work.
Keep in mind that when you buy a PC with the OS included, you're getting Windows at a drastically reduced price (probably < $50) so I don't feel the non-transfer of the license is that big of a deal.
Just out of curiosity, why did the repair shop install a new Windows license? The one that came with the PC originally should have worked fine right?
For Dell PCs, I'm pretty sure the Dell branded XP CD will only install on a machine with a Dell BIOS. I've never tried it (my university has a volume license key) I heard this was the case. This very well may be the case with the other major manufacturers as well.
Also I don't think all of the XP keys are the same. I think there are different keys for OEM, Retail, Upgrade and Volume License. At least this is the way it has worked in past versions. You probably can't mix and match (i.e. use a key from an upgrade license to install from an OEM CD). Of course it wouldn't hurt to try it. Worst case is that it just wouldn't work.
Keep in mind that when you buy a PC with the OS included, you're getting Windows at a drastically reduced price (probably < $50) so I don't feel the non-transfer of the license is that big of a deal.
Just out of curiosity, why did the repair shop install a new Windows license? The one that came with the PC originally should have worked fine right?
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Wholly Schmidt
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I think egrudzin is probably right about the Dell licenses not likely being transferable (since you're getting it at a reduced cost), but I'm pretty sure a normal XP license is transferable.
I used to be running a not-exactly-legal version of XP on my primary computer. When I got enough hardware lying around to build a second computer, I bought a full, legal copy of XP (though it was at a discount through school) and installed that on the new secondary machine since I didn't feel like reformatting my main machine at the time. When I heard Service Pack 2 would require a legit version of Windows, I shut off my secondary PC and installed my legit copy of XP on my primary machine. When it came time to authenticate it, it told me that authentication number was already in use and gave me an 800 number to call. I called and explained--truthfully--that this version of XP had been previously installed on a different machine, I was removing it entirely from that machine* and putting it on my current machine. They gave me the number XP required and reauthorized me for that machine, so it was transferable.
*I didn't physically remove the copy of XP from that machine at the time, but I didn't power it up again until I was reformatting it with a second recently purchased legit copy of XP.
I used to be running a not-exactly-legal version of XP on my primary computer. When I got enough hardware lying around to build a second computer, I bought a full, legal copy of XP (though it was at a discount through school) and installed that on the new secondary machine since I didn't feel like reformatting my main machine at the time. When I heard Service Pack 2 would require a legit version of Windows, I shut off my secondary PC and installed my legit copy of XP on my primary machine. When it came time to authenticate it, it told me that authentication number was already in use and gave me an 800 number to call. I called and explained--truthfully--that this version of XP had been previously installed on a different machine, I was removing it entirely from that machine* and putting it on my current machine. They gave me the number XP required and reauthorized me for that machine, so it was transferable.
*I didn't physically remove the copy of XP from that machine at the time, but I didn't power it up again until I was reformatting it with a second recently purchased legit copy of XP.
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tripcrow
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“Just out of curiosity, why did the repair shop install a new Windows license? The one that came with the PC originally should have worked fine right?”
They didn’t know, that’s what they told me, they had a copy of XP to take to the repair shop. When they brought the machine and plastic tub of software over to us, I found their original XP still wrapped. When I checked the activation number it is different from the one on the computer’s sticker. I tried using their new number on a fresh install, figured I’d just change them back to their original, but it won’t go. Guess the code was from a XP SP2 and I only have an original Home edition. So, so far Billy Gates was paid for an extra copy of XP.
Thanks for the answers people. It does seem to make sense that the stickers mean that that copy of XP is for use only with that machine. While the bought separate XPs can be transferred to different machines.
They didn’t know, that’s what they told me, they had a copy of XP to take to the repair shop. When they brought the machine and plastic tub of software over to us, I found their original XP still wrapped. When I checked the activation number it is different from the one on the computer’s sticker. I tried using their new number on a fresh install, figured I’d just change them back to their original, but it won’t go. Guess the code was from a XP SP2 and I only have an original Home edition. So, so far Billy Gates was paid for an extra copy of XP.
Thanks for the answers people. It does seem to make sense that the stickers mean that that copy of XP is for use only with that machine. While the bought separate XPs can be transferred to different machines.
