Thinkpads Forum

I have a serial number for WinXP Prof OEM Edition stuck under my Thinkpad.

Is this serial number applicable to any language version of WinXP Prof OEM? This serial I have was issued by Lenovo,Singapore (stated on the sticker) and I bought this laptop in Germany with a preinstalled german version of WinXP Prof OEM. Will that count?
I have paid for this Serial... isn't it?

Is it possible for me to use this Serial with a WinXP Prof RETAIL Edition? I haven't tried it till now.

No. The licence on the case is for the OEM version that was pre-installed. The licence lives and dies with the computer.
... JD Hurst

Unless you get an OEM reinstall disc from lenovo, it is next to impossible to use this key with any win XP disc. It will NOT work on a standard retail XP disc.

There's a reasonable chance your serial number will work with a generic Windows XP Professional OEM CD though.

I have used the i386 directory to install XP on a ATA HD while using the serial number printed on the bottom and booting from a win98 bootup floppy.

Have also used a supplied (win2000) serial number with a generic Win2000 install CD.

Unfortunately the newer SATA HD does not seem to work with my version of Win98SE.

Peter

jdhurst wrote:No. The licence on the case is for the OEM version that was pre-installed. The licence lives and dies with the computer.
... JD Hurst

I beg to differ.

If the computer dies then I see no reason why I would not be allowed to use the serial number on another PC.

Similarly if I buy a PC and it is supplied with let's say XP Professional and I decide to run Kubuntu only on that machine then I see no reason why I cannot use the license on another machine as long as I am using it only once.

I have yet to see any information that tells me that a license is tied to a particular piece of hardware.

Peter

I believe all recent XP COAs on the bottom of the thinkpads (and alot of other manufacturers) have been blocked from activating.

This is to prevent people from pulling the COAs from machines and selling them. The OEM COAs are supposed to stay with the machine.

However, if you need to reinstall XP from scratch and you have an OEM CD and the COA on the bottom of your machine you can call Microsoft and speak to someone to have them activate it for you. Its a pain but I have done it with an X31 with an XP Home COA when I didn't have the recovery CDs but did have an OEM CD.

P-Meyer wrote:I beg to differ. If the computer dies then I see no reason why I would not be allowed to use the serial number on another PC. (...)

I have yet to see any information that tells me that a license is tied to a particular piece of hardware.

If you read the OEM licence agreement, you will see that it is indeed tied to that specific hardware.

However, I do believe that you would be able to install another language version of Windows XP using that licence code as long as you have the OEM installation CD (ie not a standard Windows CD).

P-Meyer wrote:

jdhurst wrote:No. The licence on the case is for the OEM version that was pre-installed. The licence lives and dies with the computer.
... JD Hurst

I beg to differ.

If the computer dies then I see no reason why I would not be allowed to use the serial number on another PC.
<snip>
Peter

You can differ as you wish. The Microsoft Licensing provisions on this point (OEM) are exceedingly clear. Use the license as you wish, but realize to use it on a different computer is illegal. That is why OEM licensing is so attractively cheap.

... JD Hurst

jdhurst wrote:

P-Meyer wrote: I beg to differ.

If the computer dies then I see no reason why I would not be allowed to use the serial number on another PC.
<snip>
Peter

You can differ as you wish. The Microsoft Licensing provisions on this point (OEM) are exceedingly clear. Use the license as you wish, but realize to use it on a different computer is illegal. That is why OEM licensing is so attractively cheap.

... JD Hurst

OK, I stand corrected then.

Cannot help it but see it as another form of extortion. It was quite suprising to see how MicroS@#t can suddenly adapt their pricing in Thailand and in Munich when the locals went to Linux.

Peter

Those are the legalities of licensing for you; Linux could up and do the same thing if they ever wished to, as could anybody else with a viable software product or OS. Their IP, they control the way it is used, excluding the obvious Fair Use conditions.

Linux could up and do the same thing if they ever wished to

I'm not sure that's quite true. I'm no lawyer, but there is some obscure agreement back from the days of Unix that it all has to remain open source.


The thing we all have to remember is, that OEM software completely changes the customer's rights in most cases. The customer is not buying Microsoft, he's buying IBM or HP or whatever. IBM, etc, is who you must argue with.

440roadrunner wrote:I'm not sure that's quite true. I'm no lawyer, but there is some obscure agreement back from the days of Unix that it all has to remain open source.

Open source means they have to provide the source code for free. They are well within their rights to charge for the compiled code and whatever customizations they made.

There are "pay for" distros out there right now, in fact I am using one right now.

carbon_unit, maybe I didn't state that very well. What I'm getting at, is that I believe that no Linux distro could be "locked up" in the same way that the Windows OS is locked up, and most especially now that this "one shot" transfer is being touted with Vista.

I agree with you. Even the pay for linux I use allows installing it on one more than one computer.
From the License Agreement:

You may install Xandros Desktop on an unlimited number of computers within your home for non-commercial use, and up to one commercial-use computer.

But you can not just give it to everyone. It is not a free distro although the source code is free and you are free to compile it yourself.

You can not do any of this in the windows world.

[/quote]

You can differ as you wish. The Microsoft Licensing provisions on this point (OEM) are exceedingly clear. Use the license as you wish, but realize to use it on a different computer is illegal. That is why OEM licensing is so attractively cheap.

... JD Hurst[/quote]

According to European law if a computer comes with an oem license the same license can be transferred to any other computer as long as the original computer is not running the software anymore because it is scrapped or running different software.
So it depends where you live if you can use the license or not.
So Microsoft can differ as they wish.

B wrote:<snip>
According to European law if a computer comes with an oem license the same license can be transferred to any other computer as long as the original computer is not running the software anymore because it is scrapped or running different software.
So it depends where you live if you can use the license or not.
So Microsoft can differ as they wish.

The European lawmakers seem intent not only on breaking Microsoft, but also on making my North American life more difficult by telling me what I can and cannot use. I am surprised by the content of your post. I was thinking only in terms of North America when I posted. Thanks for your input. ... JD Hurst

Well, regardless of agreements before or after, intelluctual property still remains bound to the holder and the original creator. Copyright comes along with that by default, in the US anyway. So somebody can come up with all sorts of wacky and wild things you can and can't do with the product should they ever feel the urge to do so. That is really unlikely for Linux on the whole....just something that can happen in general and is legal.

...But I suspect that this thread has drifted Off-Topic long enough.