More Microsoft Crap- Buy a new motherboard, buy a new license

[BriGy86]

so how about if i buy computer parts to put together form new egg and also get an OEM copy

when i 1st activate it does it send info about my mobo to MS?

how would they enforce this in that particular case?

 

[engineereeyore]

Sounds like just another excuse to never, ever, purchase a legitimate copy of Windows. I get them free now from MSDN through my university, but after that, if they're going to pull crap like this, they'll never get my money.

 

[RebateMonger]

Originally posted by: BriGy86
so how about if i buy computer parts to put together form new egg and also get an OEM copy
when i 1st activate it does it send info about my mobo to MS?
how would they enforce this in that particular case?

This thread isn't really technical, but here's the deal:

When you Activate Windows XP, it saves a record of your hardware cofiguration and sends an identical copy to Microsoft. The information is "hashed" and isn't really an exact listing of hardware, but that's good enough for this discussion.

If your Windows installation on your hard drive detects that your computer has changed "significantly", it requires you to re-activate. Additionally, if you re-install Windows, then there's no local record of your hardware, so Windows, again, requires you to re-activate.

When you re-activate, Microsoft compares its record of your old hardware to the new hardware. If they are significantly different, then Microsoft may ask you why your hardware has changed so much. If you own a Retail version, then you are entitled to move your Windows XP to a different computer, as long as you delete it from the old computer. If it's an OEM version, then you may have more difficulty explaining why the PC has changed so much.

In summary, there are records of your hardware configuration on your PC's hard drive and in Microsoft's database. Windows and Microsoft's Activation Center use these records to look for changes in the PC's hardware. Historically, both the local record and the Microsoft record reset themselves every 120 days. But that's subject to change. And, historically, Microsoft was very "lenient" about changes to OEM hardware. As long as you didn't openly admit you were installing the same OEM copy on two computers simultaneously, they'd usually let you re-activate.

 

[Hyperblaze]

Originally posted by: squirrel dog
The harder MS pushes the public at large on this issue,I feel the worse for MS from a pr standpoint.I see so many bright young people in IT,its just a matter of time before open source goes point and click/plug and play.Once most anyone can use it,MS will have to rethink its marketing structure/strategy.Just my 2 cents.

open source is mostly there already.

MS is just losing it's stronghold on a market it has had by force.

 

[gsellis]

Originally posted by: engineereeyore
Sounds like just another excuse to never, ever, purchase a legitimate copy of Windows. I get them free now from MSDN through my university, but after that, if they're going to pull crap like this, they'll never get my money.

Use Linux then. But, if you continue to use Windows OS', this is a poor justification for stealing.

 

[ding5550123]

Good God! I was getting a new MOBO soon. I was barley going to pay the $150 for a MOBO and $150 for a P4. And now I hav to pay $70 To get a new liscence from the people that load my OS's.

 

[stash]

open source is mostly there already.

MS is just losing it's stronghold on a market it has had by force.

Not sure what numbers you've been looking at, but in the desktop space (which is what we're talking about here), Microsoft isn't losing anything.

Fact is, this policy (which isn't anything new) affects a very small number of customers. 90% (!) of Windows users buy from an OEM. How many of that percentage do you think will ever want to replace their motherboards? If it's more than 2% I would be surprised.

 

[Genx87]

Originally posted by: TechnoPro

Originally posted by: Genx87
Uh these are OEM licenses, not volume or retail.

OEM licenses are by nature not transferrable.

So Dell PCs that are sold from one individual to another are in violation should the seller leave the OS on the system and include the OS CD?

How are Dell PCs that are sold from one to another in violation? The License goes with the computer.

 

[Matthias99]

Originally posted by: smack Down

I think that "using a license key you didn't pay for breaks no law" is gonna be a tough sell in court. "Distributing my license key freely breaks no law" is also something I would have to violently disagree with.

"transferring a license key to/from someone else breaks no law" might fly, but freely redistributing or downloading and using someone else's license keys is equivalent to stealing or giving away copies of the OS.

Well your wrong. What law could be violated by posting numbers on line. It isn't a trade secert. And you can't copyright it because it is not artisitic.

Just because MS doesn't like something doesn't make it illegal.

It would potentially cause enormous financial damage to the company; you are effectively giving away copies of the operating system by copying and freely distributing your license key. Since you are not entitled to copy or redistribute the OS, this is a violation of copyright.

Attempting to run an end-around by claiming that you never actually copied the operating system files themselves is exactly the sort of reason that copyright law needs to be changed (again, IMO).

Trying to find some bizarre legal justification doesn't make it "right", and like I said, good luck finding a court that would not treat this as a violation of copyright law. I can't find the exact link now, but one of the cases linked to earlier included some description of how a copyright violation was determined. Whether an action was technically ruled a violation by the letter of the law was not the only determining factor; something could be ruled a violation due to other factors (such as causing singificant monetary damages to the copyright owner).

 

[IdaGno]

Ask not for whom the cash register tolls. It tolls for M$.

 

[IdaGno]

~

 

[TechnoPro]

Originally posted by: Genx87

Originally posted by: TechnoPro

Originally posted by: Genx87
Uh these are OEM licenses, not volume or retail.

OEM licenses are by nature not transferrable.

So Dell PCs that are sold from one individual to another are in violation should the seller leave the OS on the system and include the OS CD?

How are Dell PCs that are sold from one to another in violation? The License goes with the computer.

As I have already stated in this thread, my question was rhetorical in nature. Your statement of "OEM licenses are by nature not transferrable.", lacking any further clarification, is not correct and is subject to being misconstrued. The OEM license IS transferred along with the hardware during a private sale.

Had you said that a standalone OEM license, lacking any "paired" hardware, is not transferable under the EULA, I would have agreed.

 

[squirrel dog]

Ask not for whom the cash register tolls. It tolls for M$.

Bill Gates , the worlds richest man.




And there in lies the rub,young yorick.

 

[Staples]

I am a little late to the thread but this is no surprise to me. Whenever I upgrade, I guess the number I give them changes significantly and they always give me a hard time activating it. I'd have to say that their unofficial policy was always buy a new version of windows whenever you upgrade or hell, even reinstall it for that matter.

 

[RebateMonger]

Originally posted by: Staples
I'd have to say that their unofficial policy was always buy a new version of windows whenever you upgrade or hell, even reinstall it for that matter.

I've NEVER heard of anybody actually being DENIED re-activation when they phoned in. Even with the intensified enforcement of OEM-license-transfer-rules, I see reports here on Anandtech Forums that Microsoft's telephone activation center is allowing activation even under circumstances where Microsoft could justifiably deny re-activation.

 

[badboyeee]

funk dat shiznit

 

[feelingshorter]

AHHH! microsoft!!

 

[spyordie007]

Originally posted by: RebateMonger

Originally posted by: Staples
I'd have to say that their unofficial policy was always buy a new version of windows whenever you upgrade or hell, even reinstall it for that matter.

I've NEVER heard of anybody actually being DENIED re-activation when they phoned in. Even with the intensified enforcement of OEM-license-transfer-rules, I see reports here on Anandtech Forums that Microsoft's telephone activation center is allowing activation even under circumstances where Microsoft could justifiably deny re-activation.

I've also seen a lot of cases where they could have legitimatly denied reactivation and let it slide. I suppose they figure if you're going through the trouble to call them you arent going to install it on that many machines...

I'm sure there are activations they deny (i.e. blacklisted product keys), just very uncommon.

 

[RebateMonger]

Originally posted by: spyordie007
I'm sure there are activations they deny (i.e. blacklisted product keys), just very uncommon.

Yeah. Not likely that somebody will post here and complain that his stolen Volume License Key was denied Activation.

 

[stash]

Not likely that somebody will post here and complain that his stolen Volume License Key was denied Activation

Especially since VLK's don't require activation on XP.

 

[xtknight]

So what's the verdict?

Can I purchase XP Home OEM online to go with my new home-built PC, then switch to a better motherboard (not because of fault, because I wanted SLI support and built-in firewall), ask for revalidation, and succeed?

 

[SparkyJJO]

:roll:
stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid........... :roll:

My bro has XP pro retail - has had it forever, since it came out and he's reloaded several times (new HD, windows crash due to bad drivers) and never had a problem doing so - but then he hasn't changed his mobo since day 1 of XP either....

Does this mean when I put my new build together my XP pro I'm using (that I just bought actually not that long ago) won't work?!

 

[n0cmonkey]

Originally posted by: SparkyJJO
:roll:
stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid........... :roll:

My bro has XP pro retail - has had it forever, since it came out and he's reloaded several times (new HD, windows crash due to bad drivers) and never had a problem doing so - but then he hasn't changed his mobo since day 1 of XP either....

Does this mean when I put my new build together my XP pro I'm using (that I just bought actually not that long ago) won't work?!

It means that if you are using an OEM version of XP that you cannot transfer the license to the new computer. Didn't you read the EULA?

 

[SparkyJJO]

who reads the EULA??

OK so since my bro has retail he's fine - now I don't know exactly what I've got really because I got it through the university (nice big discount ). It came with the CD and the product key on a sticker on the CD sleeve, but nothing else. It looks basically like what my bro has minus the box. Basically then is it equivalent to retail?

 

[stash]

My bro has XP pro retail

snip...

Does this mean when I put my new build together my XP pro I'm using (that I just bought actually not that long ago) won't work?!

10 pages in this thread, and we're still getting this?

Do they still teach reading comprehension in school? Gah.