Legality of buying a pc with just the XP Pro sticker

  • Thread starter Thread starter Michael C
  • Start date Start date
M

Michael C

I've been buying a few machines for friends and family from an auction site.
They PCs always come with the winxp pro or home oem sticker on them but no
cds. I make a copy of my original xp cd and use that to install it on their
machine using the license key on the sticker. It activates every time no
problems and I give them the burnt cd with the PC. Is this technically
legal? I'm not overly fussed, just curious really. I'm presuming the PCs are
purchased under some corporate license where media is not supplied.

Thanks
Michael
 
Brend name computers come with image file of HD on cd. It is cheeper: no win
cd no drivers and so on.
Boba Vancouver
 
I've been buying a few machines for friends and family from an auction site.
They PCs always come with the winxp pro or home oem sticker on them but no
cds. I make a copy of my original xp cd and use that to install it on their
machine using the license key on the sticker. It activates every time no
problems and I give them the burnt cd with the PC. Is this technically
legal? I'm not overly fussed, just curious really. I'm presuming the PCs are
purchased under some corporate license where media is not supplied.
Click to expand...


No they're purchased under an OEM license if it's an OEM
sticker. The license is not tied to the media... it's tied
to the certificate. If it is a genuine certificate
"sticker" on the box, it matters not whether you have a CD
or burn one, BUT you should be clarifying with the auction
site what has happened to the accompanying discs for these
systems, as just about anything does come with *some kind*
of discs when there's a sticker on the box, even if they're
not original Micrsoft-produced OS discs.

The issue might be one of your convenience but also whether
there's any chance of another party still using the license
by copying down the key and using it on another system.
 
kony said:
No they're purchased under an OEM license if it's an OEM
sticker.
Click to expand...

That's correct, one sticker says "windows xp professional oem" and one says
"windows xp home hewlette packard".
The license is not tied to the media... it's tied
to the certificate. If it is a genuine certificate
"sticker" on the box, it matters not whether you have a CD
or burn one, BUT you should be clarifying with the auction
site what has happened to the accompanying discs for these
systems, as just about anything does come with *some kind*
of discs when there's a sticker on the box, even if they're
not original Micrsoft-produced OS discs.
Click to expand...

They probably just don't collect them I guess.
The issue might be one of your convenience but also whether
there's any chance of another party still using the license
by copying down the key and using it on another system.
Click to expand...

So far they've all activated fine but I guess it's the same with any second
hand copy of xp, someone could be out there with a copy of the serial no and
have activated it.

Michael
 
So far they've all activated fine but I guess it's the same with any
second hand copy of xp, someone could be out there with a copy of the
serial no and have activated it.
Click to expand...

I believe software serial numbers are tied to the machine they are first
installed on, so if you are selling the PC, then the licenses go with it,
but you can't (aren't supposed to) move a license to a different machine.
 
GT said:
I believe software serial numbers are tied to the machine they are first
installed on, so if you are selling the PC, then the licenses go with it,
but you can't (aren't supposed to) move a license to a different machine.
Click to expand...

This was discussed at length here when I asked here about oem versions of
xp. I believe the outcome was that microsoft themselves can't agree on what
constitutes another pc. Some staff say that a new motherboard means a new PC
while others don't. I actually phoned MS and asked them what their
definition of a new pc was and they became very evasive and wouldn't give me
any sort of answer, basically because I don't think they have one. Although
what you say is true in that moving it to a completely different machine is
not allowed, but they wouldn't be able to tell it wasn't an upgraded machine
in the same case.

One other thing that came out of the discussion was that all records of
activation are reset after 2 months so you can install and activate XP on a
new machine every 2 months.

Michael
 
Michael C said:
This was discussed at length here when I asked here about oem versions of
xp. I believe the outcome was that microsoft themselves can't agree on
what constitutes another pc. Some staff say that a new motherboard means a
new PC while others don't. I actually phoned MS and asked them what their
definition of a new pc was and they became very evasive and wouldn't give
me any sort of answer, basically because I don't think they have one.
Although what you say is true in that moving it to a completely different
machine is not allowed, but they wouldn't be able to tell it wasn't an
upgraded machine in the same case.

One other thing that came out of the discussion was that all records of
activation are reset after 2 months so you can install and activate XP on
a new machine every 2 months.

Michael
Click to expand...

Every 120 days, not two months.

Cody
 
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