What to do with a used OEM Windows XP license ?

[Didou]

A friend of mine bought a shiny new Windows Vista Home Premium OEM license & gave me his previous OS which was a Windows XP Home OEM which he has uninstalled on his computer.

Is it even possible to reinstall that OEM license on another computer without any trouble (by that I mean not having to disable Windows Genuine Advantage, etc.) ?

 

[zipperman]

https://www.techspot.com/vb/showthread.php?p=500937#post500937

 

[Didou]

Unless you linked the wrong thread, that doesn't answer my question.

 

[k.jacko]

You 'can' install it in practice. But it would require activation and you'd have to lie when you ring up MS. Its against the OEM EULA to install it on any other machine than the one it was originally installed on.

 

[Didou]

It's on the limit, I agree but worth a shot I guess. I suppose the online activation will fail forcing me to have to call MS on the phone.

 

[Cinders]

Hi, I have an OEM version of Windows XP Home I've used several times. What has happened is the computer that it was originally installed on was retired because it got old and slow, and I built a new computer using a different OEM serial of XP Pro. I built a third computer at least six months later and because I ran out of money I used the old XP Home serial and ran into no problems at all. It seems that Microsoft dosen't have a problem with recycled OEM serials if the serial hasen't been active for a least six months. But I don't know that for sure. If you can, just let the serial rest for a while.

 

[k.jacko]

I wish i could condone that...

 

[SNGX1275]

I have a copy of VHP Upgrade OEM and installed that on a machine, then I switched motherboards, harddrives, graphics card, network MAC address (with mobo swap), ect. It failed online activation, but I called up Microsoft. The only question I was asked was whether or not this was installed on another computer currently. I said no, they gave me the big activation thing I had to type in, and it worked.

So... If they allowed me to do this with Vista, I'm sure its ok in XP.

 

[k.jacko]

Well yeah that happens. The main problem is even MS staff don't fully know the EULA's of their own products.
It might pay to play dumb and try it and see.

 

[SNGX1275]

You aren't even playing dumb. You just answer the question of whether it is currently installed on another computer.

 

[Phenique]

According to the license, an OEM is only supposed to be given out with a new computer. Which means that if you try to install it on another computer, it will problem give you a problem.

 

[Cinders]

How? Serial numbers don't describe computers. Yes a serial number can be attached to a description of a computer but that's it.

Edited by Moderator: Removed quote. There`s no need to quote the post directly above your own, unless you`re only replying to a specific section, in which case you would only quote that section.

 

[ravisunny2]

According to the license, an OEM is only supposed to be given out with a new computer.

You just answer the question of whether it is currently installed on another computer.

So where is the contradiction ?

What SNGX has said, seems perfectly logical.

 

[howard_hopkinso]

I have an oem copy of Windows, which I`ve had for many years.

Currently I am running it on a completely different system to that which I originally had.

A quick phone call to Microsoft, was all that was necessary to get things sorted.

I simply told them that my previous system had been decommissioned(the truth) and there wasn`t a problem.

Regards Howard

 

[Didou]

I guess it's still possible to use that Windows XP License then. Thanks for the information guys.