Two days ago I was telling one of my nephews about the almost assured cracked / bogus / illegal copy of Windows XP Professional and general Restore Disks that I was sent by RestoreDisks.com recently. He then said that he was ALMOST sure that a copy of genuine Windows can be used on TWO computers and that therefore, IF I had a genuine copy of Windows that was being used on only ONE computer currently, I could use it on that 2nd computer that I’m trying to get up and running.
Is this true? CAN I use the genuine Windows XP CD that is for my HP Pavilion … to legally install Windows on my Dell Optiplex GX270? Or is this BS? I did my best to read and TRY to interpret the Info in the documentation that goes with genuine copy of Windows XP Home for my Pavilion. I didn’t see anything in there that remotely indicated that that copy of Windows XP Home could be used on TWO computers.
It would be great if it could. It would solve my problem. But, I’m NOT optimistic that my nephew’s thought / suggestion isn’t just too good to be true … and legal.
Hmmm??? If that were true and the more I think about this, I wonder …
WHY then was it pointed out very strictly by the RestoreDisk.com instructions and by a Tech a Geeks to Go that if the computer I was going to restore with those disks had a new / different Motherboard than what original came with that computer … I could NOT use those disks?
It was pointed out that every Windows license corresponds specifically to a specific Motherboard or something like that.
There is a limitation and that is based on the type of windows you have, OEM or Retail copy.
If you have a retail copy that might well be correct as it isn’t limited to one PC (at a time), as the copy hast to be verified. So you may have to jump through some hoops.
If you have an OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) version of windows, then that is limited to the system on which it was installed, you can’t swap it over to another system.
It is linked to more than just the MB - If you change too many major components on a system windows will think you are installing on a new system and may block it until you get verification from MS. Some have found that after a motherboard failure, replacing that and perhaps upgrading the CPU and RAM at the time might just kick that verification required process off.
So this isn’t a simple question, and for a non-legit version all bets are off.
If it is an OEM version it will only work on that brand and only on specific models. OEMs are not transferable.
HP went one step further and tatooed the software to the mother board. If it doesn’t find what it’s looking for it won’t install.
Retail versions also have a built in security feature which will not allow the OS to run on a computer it was not installed on. For example you can not take a hard drive which has XP installed on it and put it in another computer, it won’t boot. Care needs to be taken also when upgrading a computer. Make too many hardware changes in a short period of time the OS will think it a different computer. Sometime just changing the motherboard will result in a call to MS to get a reactivication number.
Whew! Wow! Okay, David … oldman, I more or less get it now.
Well, that is, that it is NOT a simple issue, a simple answer.
Bottom line, it certainly appears that it all boils down to that I’m gonna have to call Dell again. Grrrrrrr!
My 1st experience with them didn’t go too well.
Hopefully I get better results the 2nd time around.
More or less by accident, I got this machine to accept an install disc from a Compaq laptop. Motherboard is different, peripherals are different, had to jump through hoops to find drivers, etc., but much to my surprise, it worked. (I went to Dell to download needed drivers.)
These were OEM discs, and restore discs for the laptop were given to me by a friend, useless of course, for the machine os now installed. Laptop died three years prior, and I was then trying to fix it for a client, and as they did not have a disk imaging program, they just gave the system to me. I got the laptop working again by using the restore discs for a time. Then it died. The A/C Plug adapter broke.
I think it key that some time elapsed between the PID key being used again is a pertinent factor.