Windows XP - COA

Weldingblues

Weldingblues

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Colin
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This might seem a silly question, but I have 2 Windows XP - COA's stuck to scrap computers are they worth anything?

Regards
 
I'm sure you could get something for them but in this day and age it's quite easy to find them on the Internet for nothing.
 
Neil is right about the eula. I dont see any harm in using them again though.
 
neil_g said:
usually that means theyre OEM licences which cannot be transferred under the EULA anyway.
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It's up to the OEM to say whether they can or can't be transferred. It is their say so what the license is supported on as they are liable for the support, not MS.

I know this as I checked the EULA differences between a standard retail Win 7 and OEM Win7 when I upgraded my home built PC. As the OEM, it was up to me to state what I'd be happy supporting it on...
 
arad85 said:
It's up to the OEM to say whether they can or can't be transferred. It is their say so what the license is supported on as they are liable for the support, not MS.

I know this as I checked the EULA differences between a standard retail Win 7 and OEM Win7 when I upgraded my home built PC. As the OEM, it was up to me to state what I'd be happy supporting it on...
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bit of a grey area to be honest, do home builders count as OEMs officially?

but yes youre right the EULA would need reading to be 100% sure on legalities.
 
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arad85 said:
Yes, you're right.

Staff edit: we do not condone posts advising on breaking EULA's
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Apparently not even when reverified by the software manufacturers own license server........
 
It is a grey area though as if you ring up Microsoft they will reactivate
 
"Back in the day" to purchase a OEM copy of windows it had to be brought with a peice of hardware. As long as that hardware was still present in the system it was classed as an upgrade not a seperate pc (although it was a grey area)

Nowadays anyone can buy a OEM copy just as is. Technially it IS tied to the hardware it was originally installed on.
 
darkman said:
Do the licenses state they are OEM. If not they should be reusable
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If they come on something like a Dell laptop, they are OEM. If you buy them from somewhere like ebuyer, they will say in the product description. They currently have Win 7 OEM 64bit Home Premium for £70, whilst the non OEM version (described as complete package) is £110. You can also tell as if you look in Control Panel->System it will have a Product ID like: xxxxx-OEM-xxxxxxx-xxxxx
 
unplugged said:
Nowadays anyone can buy a OEM copy just as is. Technially it IS tied to the hardware it was originally installed on.
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The OEM link pointed to states everything apart from the motherboard can be changed and it's still "the same" PC.

At a guess, MS would probably rather let hobbyists (as they put it) buy a cheaper copy of Win7 and move it to another machine rather than push people towards trying to pirate software.
 
arad85 said:
The OEM link pointed to states everything apart from the motherboard can be changed and it's still "the same" PC.

At a guess, MS would probably rather let hobbyists (as they put it) buy a cheaper copy of Win7 and move it to another machine rather than push people towards trying to pirate software.
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my thoughts exactly, which is why theyll generally let you reactivate on another machine.

reselling those OEM licences (if they are OEM) might be another issue though.
 
OEM licences are non transferable. Microsoft even consider 4 hardware changes as a new PC, no longer the original PC and the licence is no longer valid. Microsoft won't allow an automatic activation after 4 component changes. The fact Microsoft allow you to activate a licence over the phone is irrelevant as if you tell them the truth about why it won't activate they won't activate it for you. There is the genuine one where a retail product can be transfered so they have the manual activation method.

The whole OEM software sales is a different matter, the companies selling them are only supposed to sell with a significant piece of hardware hard drive, motherboard, CPU and possibly memory thats a grey area as it is considered an upgrade. But they do as its far easier to just sell it than try to explain Microsoft licencing to people who don't care and just want to save money.
 
Little John said:
The fact Microsoft allow you to activate a licence over the phone is irrelevant as if you tell them the truth about why it won't activate they won't activate it for you.
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When I activated over the phone (for a replacement mobo due to the bug found earlier in the year) they didn't ask why I was reactivating. In fact, I didn't speak to anyone at all - it was automated...
 
Little John said:
Its unusal the automated system works for board swaps, I always end up speaking to someone
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I've swapped mobos 2 times. First swap (socket 1156->socket 1155) was a mouse click, second swap (and this was to a new rev of the mobo as the first was affected by the Cougar Point bug), required an automated telephone call.
 
Thanks for all the information, I have used the telephone to activate as well with no questions being asked, or I just said I have upgraded the hard disk.

One is on a Dell Latitude laptop,in bits as the motherboard is scrap, no hard disk or ram. The other is an old case with nothing in, so will probably try to sell? the laptop for spares/repair and think about the other one.

I am having a clearout so lots of items are appearing that I thought had been thrown away a long time ago.

Regards
 
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