Bruce Chambers wrote:
Michael C wrote:
Last night I upgraded a customers machine with new motherboard, cpu,
memory, video card, netcard and soundcard. The only thing that was
the same was the HDD, dvd drive, tape backup and scsi card. I was
having trouble with the internet so I phoned MS to activate XP
again. After it activated I asked him what the limit is to hardware
change before XP won't activate. He said that XP oem has to always
remain on the same PC to be activated. In return I asked "what
constitutes the same PC?". He kept going around in circles and not
answering my question and just stating that it has to always remain
on the same PC. He never gave me a definition of what "same PC"
means. In the end I asked if it was more of a policy than a
technical limitation and he said "thank you for calling microsoft to
activate your software" and hung up!



According to the EULA, an OEM license may not be transferred from
one distinct PC to another PC. However, this most emphatically does
not prohibit one from repairing or upgrading the PC on which an OEM
license is installed.

Now, some people believe that the motherboard is the key
component that defines the "original computer," but the OEM EULA does
not make any such distinction. Others have said that one could
successfully argue that it's the PC's case that is the deciding
component, as that is where one is instructed to affix the OEM CoA
label w/Product Key. Again, the EULA does not specifically define
any single component as the computer. (Licensed Microsoft Systems
Builders, who are allowed to distribute
OEM licenses with computers they sell, are contractually obligated to
"define" the computer as the motherboard, but this
limitation/definition can't be applied to the end user until the EULA
is re-written.)

Microsoft has, to date, been very careful _not_ publicly to
define when an incrementally upgraded computer ceases to be the
original computer. The closest I've ever seen a Microsoft employee
come to this definition (in a public forum) is to tell the person
making the inquiry to consult the PC's manufacturer. As the OEM
license's support is
solely the responsibility of said manufacturer, they should determine
what sort of hardware changes to allow before the warranty and support
agreements are voided. To paraphrase: An incrementally upgraded
computer ceases to be the original computer, as pertains to the OEM
EULA, only when the *OEM* says it's a different computer. If you've
built the system yourself, and used a generic OEM CD, then _you_ are
the "OEM," and _you_ get to decide when you'll no longer support your
product.


I suspect that means that it can be installed on a completely new
machine and will activate ok. Is that true?




That depends on the type of OEM installation CD provided. Major OEMs
frequently design the CDs so that the license *cannot* be installed on
other hardware. OEM Recovery/Restore CDs are the same. Further,
Microsoft has just tightened the activation policy in regards to OEM
licenses distributed by the major OEMs.

A generic OEM CD, however, will install on any compatible computer.
So, can an OEM license be moved to a completely different computer?
Yes, if CD isn't locked to a specific BIOS, if the second computer is
compatible, and if the license holder lacks the integrity to abide by
the terms of the EULA, to which he has already agreed to respect. (If
you have such a customer, insist that he pay in cash. You won't be
able to trust his checks or his credit.)

Bruce your explanation of OEM support of Windows XP was very enlightening
You got to the actual point of limiting the OEM to the first machine. So I
found it odd that you summed up that brilliant and rational explanation with
a simplistic statement as to the morals of a person who moves OEM XP to
another computer. They are not violating the MS intent of freeing the OEM
from supporting an OS on a computer the OEM did not build! Are you devoutly
religious, by any chance?