Thinkpads Forum

My wife and I both bought the t61p. THough when we bought her computer lenovo's site didn't offer it in XP flavor. When I ordered mine I was able to get a XP version. Initially installed XP on her computer, but it seems to have some wierd problems now and then. Now that I have my computer I was wondering if I could use my recovery discs from my computer and install it on her computer.

TIA, Mark

legally? No.

If it came with Vista Business or Ultimate then it would be legal to do this, the license is backwards compatible and Microsoft don't strictly care where you get the install media from.

Is it legal to do this if I have unused valid XP licenses that aren't being used?

You shouldn't need to use them - if you have a vista license on the machine, this would cover the use of XP without an additional license being required.

snife wrote:You shouldn't need to use them - if you have a vista license on the machine, this would cover the use of XP without an additional license being required.

Sir, I would appreciate if you provide the source of this information as it's very contradictory to what lenovo receives from MS.

There is much confusion about licensing the various Windows OS's; and it appears that is exactly the way Microsoft likes it. For all those would be legal experts (not me!) who think they understand Microsoft licensing legalese without a ruling from the bench here is a document from the source about Windows Vista Downgrade Rights. Knock Yourselves Out!!
http://download.microsoft.com/download/ ... esheet.pdf

PS...If I have interpreted this document correctly (hah!!) Ryengineer would appear to be correct and snife incorrect as a valid XP license(any type: oem, retail, etc) would be acceptable and required for the downgrade.

ryengineer wrote:

snife wrote:You shouldn't need to use them - if you have a vista license on the machine, this would cover the use of XP without an additional license being required.

Sir, I would appreciate if you provide the source of this information as it's very contradictory to what lenovo receives from MS.

Lets be clear here.

There are two questions in play here - this should answer them both.

Can he use XP recovery media for a t61 on a t61 system that shipped with a Vista COA? Answer - yes - and that is according to both MS and Lenovo. - For a while there it was a moving target, seems to have been figured out by the two of them.

Now.... If you are making and selling copies of recovery media, then that is indeed illegal regardless of what rights any ThinkPad owner thinks they have to that media.

Also... If you are trying to get the Vista Preload for a system that shipped with XP, then Lenovo can not legally send you a set, nor can you legally obtain a set from anyone- on top of the vista bios tagging that will prompt an "illegal copy" message should you run a Vista restore on a box that shipped with xp....

2nd -Downgrade rights are fuzzy but pretty plain when it comes to who why when...... Downgrade rights are pretty much aimed at volume license holders, NOT small businesses or individual purchasers. So you should consider yourself lucky that MS now lets you use the Lenovo XP recovery on a personal purchase.

Isn't licensing fun?

wackydan wrote:snip.........Can he use XP recovery media for a t61 on a t61 system that shipped with a Vista COA? Answer - yes - and that is according to both MS and Lenovo. - For a while there it was a moving target, seems to have been figured out by the two of them.........snip

Well, if this were true then lenovo would've been accommodating requests of Vista customers of providing them with Windows XP Product Recovery disks...

ryengineer wrote:

snife wrote:You shouldn't need to use them - if you have a vista license on the machine, this would cover the use of XP without an additional license being required.

Sir, I would appreciate if you provide the source of this information as it's very contradictory to what lenovo receives from MS.

I have no source I can link - i have had discussions with Microsoft various times about this as they dont seem to want to have this written clearly on their site and every time (whether it be XP>2000 or Vista>XP) they confirm that it is legal to downgrade, and that it does not really matter where the install media comes from but neither Microsoft or the OEM will supply it for this purpose.

The document linked by steveg47 is confusing (and I agree Microsoft want licensing to remain so) but if you genuinely required an individual valid XP license then this would not be a downgrade right, it would simply be purchasing another product so it would not really be called a downgrade.

The point is that Lenovo (or more specifically Modus Media) are, due to the agreement with MS, not allowed to ship anything other than the version which shipped with the machine - this includes changes in OS and language. So if your system shipped with Vista in English, you are legally allowed to Run XP in any language or Vista in any other language but Lenovo cannot supply you with the media to do so.

Thanks for all the replies.

So the bottom line is I should be ok to downgrade becuase a) either it's fine cause I have a vista license or b) cause I have valid licenses anyways.

Mark

ryengineer wrote:

wackydan wrote:

Yes and no.... Support is trained to only provide the media it shipped with. Hence, reluctance to send xp for a machine that shipped with Vista. I'm now told that you will be able to get a xp recovery set from lenovo by calling - but that's not for a few weeks, and there will be a charge to offset the cost of shipping. MS is allowing Lenovo to do this.

snife wrote:

ryengineer wrote:

In a few weeks they will be able to or so I'm told by Lenovo. Like I said in thos post or another --- this downgrade mess is a moving target, and how it is leveraged seems to be morphing.