The Official OcUK Vista Licencing Questions FAQ Thread
- Thread starter Burnsy2023
- Start date
Soldato
lordedmond said:
MS will Know.
With the XP Cracks, even the ones that work fully, and allow full updates etc, there was no checking of the source other than to know what is needed for your PC to gte the right updates.
With Vista its different as it will be sending all information such as what updates that PC has already had in the past, your licence will also be sent over, and MS will be ( on the nice side if things ) working out why it had this update and that update in order to improve things in future, but, it will also verify your licence with every other licence that has already been used, so as with XP, you can still use one serial licence number and crack as many copies as you like and still have full updates etc, this cannot happen with Vista, as MS themselves check it out.
So, when you do anything with the licence of Vista, MS will see that the licence is being used for both 32 and 64 bit versions and will disable your PC for you ( Another one of MS lovely little tricks ) until you can prove that you are only using one PC... After all, its very possible for you to have 2 identical PCs one with Vista 32 and one with Vista64 isnt it?
I mean, when I knocked up a couple of PCs for my 2 boys, I gave them identical bits ( Stops *** arguements as much as anything ) and in a few experiments I copied the WPA files over and it went on just fine and was happy that it had been activated, even though it was not.
So, no, it is my understanding that you iwl not be able to get away with it anymore, purely because when you do anything like updates etc ( Even the automatic ones ) then your PC details are all sent to MS
So in theory
You buy a pc and stick Vista OEM on it. You can change all your hardware except motherboard. However if your motherboard breaks and you get another under warrenty or a different motherboard under warrently , your still allowed to use your original OEM(or get sent another activation key?).
So whats stopping me from going, hmm I fancy a new motherboard, ringing up MS and saying "yeah my old one broke so can I have another activation key"?
This is wrong ofc, but what is stopping the average Joe blogs doing it if I have to shell out on another £100
You buy a pc and stick Vista OEM on it. You can change all your hardware except motherboard. However if your motherboard breaks and you get another under warrenty or a different motherboard under warrently , your still allowed to use your original OEM(or get sent another activation key?).
So whats stopping me from going, hmm I fancy a new motherboard, ringing up MS and saying "yeah my old one broke so can I have another activation key"?
This is wrong ofc, but what is stopping the average Joe blogs doing it if I have to shell out on another £100
Soldato
FrK` said:
Then MS will probably ask you to prove that you have been giving a different motherboard as a replacement... At least they probably could and this is ok for the first 12 Months I suppose?
What about after the original guarantee runs out though?
Hmm...
I know they are now checking the IP that the Pc is on, so perhaps they will just make sure that you only have the one licence from that IP perhaps?
I know that with Vista they have done a lot of very sneaky tricks to protect their software... I do know that, but of course they also must allow for things such as you needing to use a totally different Motherboard.
I think though to be fair, they would allow this if it is jus tthe motherboard, and everythign else stays the same, but if you say go from Intel to AMD or vice-versa, then thats a different story and you saying that you just replaced the Mobo simply wouldnt wash. ( Although I have done that with XP... I just told them that the PSU fried the whole system and the yaccepted it - which was thick of me cos I still bought a new XP and used that on my older PC, whci hwhen you think of it is just me being a nipple )
Unless that want proof then you could make some story up. Even if they wanted to proof you could still talk your way around it?
Im sure that wouldnt work as you can offically changing everything bar the motherboard, so unless the ip is stored on the motherbored somehow. ( im not to clue up on this).
Thats what I mean, id rather make up some story then have to pay another £100
d.chatten said:
Yes, but I think it'll depend on the version of Vista you want to upgrade to. Home Premium would be fine.
Burnsy
Energize said:
To the first question: Yes your perfectly legal as long as the desicion was from the manufacturer.
To the second question, No, Microsoft are very specific on this and the say it must as part of a manufacturer warrenty claim. You would not be licensed in this case.
Burnsy
I've just thought of something - seeing as you are the one who breaks the seal on the System Builders Pack, and then become the System Builder, if you replace the motherboard yourself (making a warranty claim against yourself, in effect), does that not count as the OEM replacing a failed board?
As opposed to selling the machine you built to an end user and them doing it themselves.
I just can't see why the board manufacturer specifically has to change the board - since I doubt Dell / other large OEMs bother dealing with the manufacturers as opposed to just throwing the faulty boards out.
As opposed to selling the machine you built to an end user and them doing it themselves.
I just can't see why the board manufacturer specifically has to change the board - since I doubt Dell / other large OEMs bother dealing with the manufacturers as opposed to just throwing the faulty boards out.
Soldato
What hardware component(s) would you need to buy in order to buy an OEM copy of Vista? In the past I've been able to get hold of a copy of XP OEM plus a hard drive, I'm assuming this was legal because the shop delivered it 
but is it the same with Vista or does a motherboard or other components need to appear on the invoice too?
but is it the same with Vista or does a motherboard or other components need to appear on the invoice too?
Whitewater said:What hardware component(s) would you need to buy in order to buy an OEM copy of Vista? In the past I've been able to get hold of a copy of XP OEM plus a hard drive, I'm assuming this was legal because the shop delivered it
Have a read of the thread, the answer is in this thread.
Burnsy
Caged said:
That's an interesting perspective. You might have a point, I shall check.
Burnsy
Soldato
Rebelius said:
A lot of such naff makers do use other makes of boards.
I know that with such makers, its possible to update the BIOS to turn the board into a REAL PC.
I have come across a few NEC PCs, and they had their own "Special" Little BIOS, and would not accept the windows installation CDs, they had to use their own ones...
I found out, that the board was made by gigabyte, and I tried to update the BIOS, and it failed massively to even try... I looked and found an older BIOS, that went in, and then I re-tried the newer one, and that went in this time...
I was then able to install XP properly, and also to use the Drivers too! - where previously they also had to be NEC specific.
This is the case for a lot of these boards.
Good news and the bad news however, is that the original CDs will no longer work, but then who cares? they are full of junk anyway.
Caged said:
Right, I've just got off the phone from MS. They have basically said that if you are a system builder you may replace the motherboard under warrenty and may choose which board goes in, however, they said the new motherboard would have to be a similar make/model with similar features. Basically as similar as the market allows.
They stressed it must be with the intention of replacing a faulty component and NOT for upgrade purposes.
Burnsy
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All this licencing chit chat is doing my head in. I sent a webnote to OcUK changing my order from ultimate oem to ultimate upgrade, and now I'm going to send another webnote changing it to full retail instead.
This leads onto my next question:-
What can I do with my xp oem 64 bit licence? Whenever I sell my mobo can I just say that it comes with xp and offload it that way?
This leads onto my next question:-
What can I do with my xp oem 64 bit licence? Whenever I sell my mobo can I just say that it comes with xp and offload it that way?
