Installing OEM software on non-OEM machine.

[sparkle]

I was wondering if anyone knows a way to install an OEM version of Office 2003 on a non-OEM machine. I imagine it is checking my system bios to determine that I do not have the system it was sold for (long story)

There has to ba a way to unlock it, so I can use it.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[johnjkr1]

Is it giving you an error when you try to install it? also, what brand was it from?

 

[sparkle]

Yeah, it tells me that I cannot install because my computer is not a Gateway.

 

[johnjkr1]

wow, i can't say I have ever heard of that one before

 

[sparkle]

Yeah, I was kinda shocked too. I have checked th ini files and such, looking for something I can edit, but with no luck...

Anyone?

 

[mbackof]

That stinks. I've definitely seen Windows OS disks tied to the OEM computer, but usually the OEM Windows Office disks are portable to any machine. If this is a new trend, I don't like it. At my last company we had product machines that came with OEM office software, but since we wiped the OS on the machines and didn't reinstall the Office software, we used it on our office machines for upgrades.

Mike

 

[Fern]

Hmm. I've seen this on HP's with the OS (they have a built-in chip on the mobo to enable the OS to start). If you have your Gateway documentation I'd be curious if you actually owned the program or merely licensed it. That's how HP gets away with it. You don't actually own the OS on those HPs