Question about OS reinstallation CD shipped with Dell Laptop

My Dell 5100 shipped with Windows XP Home edition. Can I install it on
another computer, or is it aware of the service tag number or serial number
of the hardware it shipped with?
Of course I am aware that this is illegal from a licensing standpoint. But I
am just curious what is the difference between the Dell OS reinstallation CD
and one I would buy from a store.

TIA

"MissLivvy was:Curly" wrote in message
ink.net...
My Dell 5100 shipped with Windows XP Home edition. Can I install it on
another computer, or is it aware of the service tag number or serial
number
of the hardware it shipped with?
Of course I am aware that this is illegal from a licensing standpoint. But
I
am just curious what is the difference between the Dell OS reinstallation
CD
and one I would buy from a store.

TIA



What I've read is that you could install it on another machine, but it would
require activation at some point through Microsoft. A retail copy of that
OS can be had for as little at $80-90 retail now, btw....

Stew

"MissLivvy was:Curly" wrote:

My Dell 5100 shipped with Windows XP Home edition. Can I install it on
another computer, or is it aware of the service tag number or serial number
of the hardware it shipped with?
Of course I am aware that this is illegal from a licensing standpoint. But I
am just curious what is the difference between the Dell OS reinstallation CD
and one I would buy from a store.

It is "tied" to your Dell in that reinstallation on your Dell, or
another Dell AIUI, will not require reactivation with MS, . When
you install it on a non-Dell computer, you will be required to
reactivate it with MS as the Dell install disk will not find the
expected Dell Bios. Since MS computers already show it as
activated on your Dell, you will be instructed to call MS to sort
things out. So go into silver-tongued devil mode and prepare
your explanation beforehand, and practice it until you've got it
down pat.
--
OJ III
[Email sent to Yahoo address is burned before reading.
Lower and crunch the sig and you'll net me at comcast.]

that is my understanding as well... and, since it is an oem copy, it can
only be activated with an oem serial number (like that which is on your
dell). retails copies require retail serial numbers for activation. you
can purchase an oem serial number, a certificate of authenticity (coa)
sticker (like which appears on your dell) for little money... about $60 for
xp home and $85 for xp professional. you need the windows cd to install
(which you have) and can use the coa to activate legally.

"Ogden Johnson III" wrote in message
...
"MissLivvy was:Curly" wrote:

My Dell 5100 shipped with Windows XP Home edition. Can I install it on
another computer, or is it aware of the service tag number or serial
number
of the hardware it shipped with?
Of course I am aware that this is illegal from a licensing standpoint.
But I
am just curious what is the difference between the Dell OS reinstallation
CD
and one I would buy from a store.

It is "tied" to your Dell in that reinstallation on your Dell, or
another Dell AIUI, will not require reactivation with MS, . When
you install it on a non-Dell computer, you will be required to
reactivate it with MS as the Dell install disk will not find the
expected Dell Bios. Since MS computers already show it as
activated on your Dell, you will be instructed to call MS to sort
things out. So go into silver-tongued devil mode and prepare
your explanation beforehand, and practice it until you've got it
down pat.
--
OJ III
[Email sent to Yahoo address is burned before reading.
Lower and crunch the sig and you'll net me at comcast.]

require activation at some point through Microsoft. A retail copy of that
OS can be had for as little at $80-90 retail now, btw....


Where can I find that? Buy.com has it selling for twice that.

No, they sell the upgrade version for less, but still in the high 90s.
All you need is a cd from 98/me/2k to use it.

Check newegg, they sell an OEM version in that price range.

"MissLivvy was:Curly" wrote in message
nk.net...
require activation at some point through Microsoft. A retail copy
of that
OS can be had for as little at $80-90 retail now, btw....


Where can I find that? Buy.com has it selling for twice that.

i believe that stew was referring to the cost of the oem version of the
software.... oem version of windows xp home (including software cd and coa)
is about $85 and pro is about $130. this is one source:
http://hmcomputer.com other places sell just the coa for even less. see my
other post.

"MissLivvy was:Curly" wrote in message
nk.net...
require activation at some point through Microsoft. A retail copy of
that
OS can be had for as little at $80-90 retail now, btw....


Where can I find that? Buy.com has it selling for twice that.