Install XP on multiple computers

  • Thread starter Thread starter mike gray
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M

mike gray

I have purchased and installed XP Pro (not upgrade). Can I use this same
disk to upgrade my laptop from XP Home as installed by the vendor (HP)?

tia
m
 
Windows XP requires an individual license (Product Key) for
each installation on a different computer. Therefore, you will
need to purchase a new license for each additional installation
of Windows XP. However, you can use the same Windows XP
CD to install with a new Product Key.

In case you overlooked it:

On the back of the Windows XP box, please read the statement:

"For installation and use on one computer"
(see License Agreement for license terms).

Go to Start >Run box type: WINVER , and hit enter. Then click on the
"End-User License Agreement" and read it. Your answer
lies in that agreement.

You can also open XP's "Help and Support" and type: EULA
and hit enter. Click on "Questions and answers about the EULA".

How to obtain additional licenses for Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;814175&Product=winxp

--
Carey Frisch
Microsoft MVP
Windows XP - Shell/User

Be Smart! Protect Your PC!
http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/protect/default.aspx

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

:

| I have purchased and installed XP Pro (not upgrade). Can I use this same
| disk to upgrade my laptop from XP Home as installed by the vendor (HP)?
|
| tia
| m
 
In
mike gray said:
I have purchased and installed XP Pro (not upgrade). Can I use
this
same disk to upgrade my laptop from XP Home as installed by the
vendor (HP)?
Click to expand...


No. The rule is quite clear. It's one copy (or one license) for
each computer.

There's nothing new here. This is exactly the same rule that's
been in effect on every version of Windows starting with Windows
3.1. The only thing new with XP is that there's now an
enforcement mechanism.

If yours is a retail version, not an OEM one, you can buy extra
licenses (see
<http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/howtobuy/addlic.asp>).
But it's not generally a good deal. The problem is that Microsoft
sells additional licenses at only a small savings over the list
price. You're almost certainly better off just buying a complete
second copy from a discount source.

By the way, why do you want to upgrade to Professional? Are you
aware that XP Professional and XP Home are exactly the same in
all respects, except that Professional has a few features (mostly
related to networking and security) missing from Home. For most
(but not all) home users, these features aren't needed, would
never be used, and buying Professional instead of Home is a waste
of money.

For details go to

http://www.winsupersite.com/showcase/windowsxp_home_pro.asp

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/whichxp.asp

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/home/howtobuy/choosing2.asp

Also note that Professional allows ten concurrent network
connections, and Home only five.
 
I have to nitpick. This has been bugging me for a while, so I got Win 1.03 and 2.03 to see if they had an eula.txt, they don't. But I'm sure it's since Windows 1 and Dos 1.
 
David said:
I have to nitpick. This has been bugging me for a while, so I got Win
1.03 and 2.03 to see if they had an eula.txt, they don't. But I'm
sure it's since Windows 1 and Dos 1.
Click to expand...


Well that's where you'd be wrong. 3.1 was the first version to have such
restrictions.
 
In
David Candy said:
I have to nitpick. This has been bugging me for a while, so I
got Win
1.03 and 2.03 to see if they had an eula.txt, they don't. But
I'm
sure it's since Windows 1 and Dos 1.
Click to expand...


My canned message used to just say "every version of Windows"
(which was what I thought, too) until someone in one of the
newsgroups pointed out that it's only been since Windows 3.1. So
I changed it.

If you can come up with documentation that it's always been the
case, I'd be happy to change it back. I don't think it matters a
whole lot either way--the essential point remains--but I always
like to be as accurate as possible.
 
I'm slowly getting ready to run Win 1.03 setup (I don't have a floppy and stuff like this is really hard without one) just to see if there is a license agrement. I just got a copy of my Dos 3.3 but I need a floppy to use it (as it's OEM if it is the same license as now then my license has expired but the dos files are from my OEM). I'll play around in VirtualPC in the next few weeks. I've been slowly working at this for months.
 
mike said:
I have purchased and installed XP Pro (not upgrade). Can I use this same
disk to upgrade my laptop from XP Home as installed by the vendor (HP)?

tia
m
Click to expand...


No, of course not. Just as it says, right on the box, you'll need
to purchase a separate WinXP license for each computer on which you
install it.

This isn't new, as it has *always* been with *all* Microsoft
operating systems, it's necessary (to be in compliance with both the
EULA and U.S. copyright law
http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/117.html), if not technically) to
purchase one WinXP license for each computer on which it is installed.
(Consult an attorney versed in copyright law to determine final
applicability in your locale.) The only way in which WinXP licensing
differs from that of earlier versions of Windows is that Microsoft has
finally added a copy protection and anti-theft mechanism, Product
Activation, to prevent (or at least make more difficult) multiple
installations using a single license.

If you have a retail license, you can buy additional licenses,
assuming one already has a retail license. Naturally, Microsoft cannot
sell additional OEM licenses. Be aware, however, that you'll probably
pay more this way than you would if you were to buy a second copy of
WinXP from a discount retailer; Microsoft will only offer you a 15%
discount off their MSRP.

Additional Licenses for Windows XP Home Edition
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/home/howtobuy/addlic.asp

Additional Licenses for Windows XP Professional
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/howtobuy/addlic.asp

--

Bruce Chambers

Help us help you:



You can have peace. Or you can have freedom. Don't ever count on having
both at once. - RAH
 
Ken said:
By the way, why do you want to upgrade to Professional? Are you
aware that XP Professional and XP Home are exactly the same in
all respects, except that Professional has a few features (mostly
related to networking and security) missing from Home. For most
(but not all) home users, these features aren't needed, would
never be used, and buying Professional instead of Home is a waste
of money.
Click to expand...



A few years ago, I bought the home version of XP to upgrade the PC, but
it would not install. In desperation, I loaded a bootleg copy which
worked fine (!).

I then bought the laptop with the intent of having a clone of the PC to
take on the road.

I've had a lot of trouble getting my laptop and pc to talk to one
another. I've been told that the problem is that the versions of XP are
incompatable. Result is that everything is moved back nd forth on floppies.

I had a major hack to the PC, and decided to restart with a clean
machine. I bought Pro because the box advertises better networking
features. I saw the "single machine" caveat, but assumed, naively, that
I could also upgrade the laptop with the same disk, anc could finally
network easily.

As more folks move into a multiple-machine environment, MS should
recognize the need to license users, not machines.

m
 
In
mike gray said:
A few years ago, I bought the home version of XP to upgrade the
PC,
but it would not install. In desperation, I loaded a bootleg
copy which
worked fine (!).

I then bought the laptop with the intent of having a clone of
the PC
to take on the road.

I've had a lot of trouble getting my laptop and pc to talk to
one
another. I've been told that the problem is that the versions
of XP
are incompatable.
Click to expand...


Are you saying that you've been told that XP Professional and
Home are incompatible?

If so, you've been told wrong. That's completely false. XP
Professional and can Home can be networked together in a
peer-to-peer network just as easily and just as well as two XP
Professionals or two XP Homes. As a matter of fact, that's
exactly the configuration I have here: XP Professional and XP
Home networked together.

Whatever your problem was, that wasn't it.

Result is that everything is moved back nd forth on
floppies.
I had a major hack to the PC, and decided to restart with a
clean
machine. I bought Pro because the box advertises better
networking
features.
Click to expand...


That's unfortunately very misleading. The better networking
feature is pretty much that Professional can be used to join a
domain and Home can not. Home users rarely need to join domains
(domains are most used in large corporations and some colleges).
 
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