Win XP Home Question

[noxidjkram@hotm]

If i have a PC with a Win XP Home COA, but i can't find the CD, is it ok to download a copy of WinXP Home and install using the key on the COA??

Will this work, and is it legal?

Cheers,

M

 

[Scythe]

If i have a PC with a Win XP Home COA, but i can't find the CD, is it ok to download a copy of WinXP Home and install using the key on the COA??

Will this work, and is it legal?

Cheers,

M

I was about to ask this as I need to do a repair install. (my machine is OEM)

 

[Gandalf501]

Fully legal and legitimate way would be to phone MS and tell them your windows disk got scratched/destroyed/ etc. They will send you out a replacement.

Remember your buying the license not the disk. So if you have a legit copy I cant see what the problem is about going round to a friends and making a copy
until MS sends you out your replacement

(OEM copies are a grey area... Last thing I heard was that MS were stopping companies selling OEM windows... But companies were getting round this by selling a peice of hardware with the disk as well.... All I know is that OEM are a grey area if you buy it as a full product as the end user...)

I dont recommend downloading from P2P site for obvious reasons. MS slapped a few law suites on P2P sites offering Vista Beta 2. Despite the MS servers being overloaded.

 

[Buffalo2102]

(OEM copies are a grey area... Last thing I heard was that MS were stopping companies selling OEM windows... But companies were getting round this by selling a peice of hardware with the disk as well.... All I know is that OEM are a grey area if you buy it as a full product as the end user...)

It seems to have gone the other way - they seem to have removed the requirement to buy hardware with OEM Windows now.

 

[Slam62]

you can istall xp home oem on any machine you like whenever you like, its much better than retail and you dont have to buy any hardware with it.

 

[stoofa]

you can istall xp home oem on any machine you like whenever you like, its much better than retail and you dont have to buy any hardware with it.

I am assuming that you've read through the whole of the OEM license to make that decision - the one where you say it's better than retail?
It is just I personally cannot see how it is better than retail - maybe you are spotting something I'm not?

Anyway, the part of the OEM license which maybe a problem to many is that the license cannot be trasferred and this means transferred from the machine it is first installed on.
If this is a brand new build from say Dell or wherever that means the license remains with that machine for ever more.
If you are building your own machine and then install OEM WinXP Home then the copy is tied to the motherboard.
So if in a years time you decide it's MB, CPU & RAM upgrade time then you do actually have to buy a new Windows license.

For this reason I buy retail upgrades.
They are very similar in price (Well WinXP Home is, you do pay a bit of a premium with XP Professional retail).
This license can be transferred any number of times between any number of machines so long as it is only ever installed on one.

That clause alone in my eyes makes the retail license better than the OEM one.
What makes the OEM license better than the retail one other than the initial cost saving?
Upgrade your PC MB, CPU & RAM once and you make that money back.

 

[Slam62]

what a load of tosh, it doesnt say that in any eula i've read you can install it as many times as you like on any old hardware ms are very good in that respect, very flexible, you wasted your cash getting retail... but then if you need the helpline because you dont understand stuff then fair enough.

 

[stoofa]

what a load of tosh, it doesnt say that in any eula i've read you can install it as many times as you like on any old hardware ms are very good in that respect, very flexible, you wasted your cash getting retail... but then if you need the helpline because you dont understand stuff then fair enough.

LOL
How typical.
Yet somebody else who has simply installed something on their machine without first checking the license agreement they have agreed to.
You do not know what you are talking about.
If you think that the ONLY differences between the retail and OEM versions are the package and the fact that the retail version ships with a number of technical incidents via MS then you are so mis-guided.
Please don't give advice to other people when the advice you are giving them is incorrect.
OEM licenses cannot be moved from machine to machine.

I work with MS licensing on a daily basis (I'm an IT manager and no, I didn't just get given the position one day, I've worked through the ranks starting off as a showroom sales guy).

 

[Slam62]

just because you work in it doesnt mean you know any more than me about anything, i could have got your job but i couldnt stand the rubbish pay and working conditions.

You're just a typical it manager/salesman making up facts so you can rip of more innocent people with your 'hi tech' rubbish.

You lot give it and pcs a bad name

we all know eulas are never read by anybody

 

[noxidjkram@hotm]

{snip}we all know eulas are never read by anybody

Seems they are by you

{snip}it doesnt say that in any eula i've read{snip}

No arguments please chaps - it aint worth it over a poxy question like mine...

M

 

[Slam62]

you got me doh!

some people are just too sharp

 

[JayMax]

what a load of tosh, it doesnt say that in any eula i've read you can install it as many times as you like on any old hardware ms are very good in that respect, very flexible, you wasted your cash getting retail... but then if you need the helpline because you dont understand stuff then fair enough.

10 out of 10 for the funniest post I've read on here for ages.

just because you work in it doesnt mean you know any more than me about anything, i could have got your job but i couldnt stand the rubbish pay and working conditions.

You're just a typical it manager/salesman making up facts so you can rip of more innocent people with your 'hi tech' rubbish.

You lot give it and pcs a bad name

we all know eulas are never read by anybody

11 out of 10, this just gets better, do please continue posting

btw, I like your sig