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#1
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Question of licensing/legality
My wife and I have some four desktops and one laptop, Four computers
have XP mounted on them, all are off-lease corporate computers and the ones with XP are "refurbished," with what was a clean install of XP . Anyhow, one computer (wife's desktop) had its Cmos battery die and for some reason this caused XP to malfunction (MS help died, I couldn't get into system settings in the control panel, wouldn't even open) I was trying to set up her new dsl/lan modem and needed to get into the system to see what was going on so I could load the driver. I whipped out my trusty "WXPsp3 for refurbished PCs" (says so right on the label) I first tried the "repair" options and it seemed to be working, fed it the license number from the sticker on the desktop case and it was happy with that. BUT it didn't fix anything. Tried again and ditto. So I reformatted the drive and reinstalled. It didn't accept the license number so I used the disk product number and it loaded with that. Everything was hunky-dory I thought and went home (wife and I live 120 miles apart) and put a new drive in my own box and formatted and loaded from the disk and now neither computer wants to "activate." Both boxes hers and mine, are identical case mother board etc. Came from the same source. Both have XP (and Vista underneath) license stickers on them and came from "directron.com." as refurbished with XP pro SP-3 (same as the disk I have) the disk is genuine (part number X14-66865), 2008. Holograms and packaging etc. is real MS. The telephone robot activation tells me I have an illegal copy. I haven't tried getting a human on the phone... is what I'm doing illegal? (a clean install of XP on a computer licensed for XP) What are my options? I have my wife able to "reactivate" the 30 day limit but that is pushing the envelope as far as her geek skills go. Thankfully the laptop allows us to email. I'm a retired electrical engineer and not wealthy. I want to keep XP and not "upgrade" to another OS. I can use Linux, but would rather not, and my wife wouldn't adapt as easily. I can't be there to hold her hand. Needless to say I don't want to give MS money... |
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#2
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Question of licensing/legality
On 01/15/2013 09:51 AM, default wrote:
My wife and I have some four desktops and one laptop, Four computers have XP mounted on them, all are off-lease corporate computers and the ones with XP are "refurbished," with what was a clean install of XP . Anyhow, one computer (wife's desktop) had its Cmos battery die and for some reason this caused XP to malfunction (MS help died, I couldn't get into system settings in the control panel, wouldn't even open) I was trying to set up her new dsl/lan modem and needed to get into the system to see what was going on so I could load the driver. I whipped out my trusty "WXPsp3 for refurbished PCs" (says so right on the label) I first tried the "repair" options and it seemed to be working, fed it the license number from the sticker on the desktop case and it was happy with that. BUT it didn't fix anything. Tried again and ditto. So I reformatted the drive and reinstalled. It didn't accept the license number so I used the disk product number and it loaded with that. Everything was hunky-dory I thought and went home (wife and I live 120 miles apart) and put a new drive in my own box and formatted and loaded from the disk and now neither computer wants to "activate." Both boxes hers and mine, are identical case mother board etc. Came from the same source. Both have XP (and Vista underneath) license stickers on them and came from "directron.com." as refurbished with XP pro SP-3 (same as the disk I have) the disk is genuine (part number X14-66865), 2008. Holograms and packaging etc. is real MS. The telephone robot activation tells me I have an illegal copy. I haven't tried getting a human on the phone... is what I'm doing illegal? (a clean install of XP on a computer licensed for XP) What are my options? I have my wife able to "reactivate" the 30 day limit but that is pushing the envelope as far as her geek skills go. Thankfully the laptop allows us to email. I'm a retired electrical engineer and not wealthy. I want to keep XP and not "upgrade" to another OS. I can use Linux, but would rather not, and my wife wouldn't adapt as easily. I can't be there to hold her hand. Needless to say I don't want to give MS money... Was the cd one you already had or did it come with the computers you purchased? If it was not the one that came with the machines. contact the vendor and see if they can supply media. Otherwise call the MS number and talk to a real person -- https://www.createspace.com/3707686 |
#3
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Question of licensing/legality
On Tue, 15 Jan 2013 11:13:40 -0600, philo* wrote:
On 01/15/2013 09:51 AM, default wrote: My wife and I have some four desktops and one laptop, Four computers have XP mounted on them, all are off-lease corporate computers and the ones with XP are "refurbished," with what was a clean install of XP . Anyhow, one computer (wife's desktop) had its Cmos battery die and for some reason this caused XP to malfunction (MS help died, I couldn't get into system settings in the control panel, wouldn't even open) I was trying to set up her new dsl/lan modem and needed to get into the system to see what was going on so I could load the driver. I whipped out my trusty "WXPsp3 for refurbished PCs" (says so right on the label) I first tried the "repair" options and it seemed to be working, fed it the license number from the sticker on the desktop case and it was happy with that. BUT it didn't fix anything. Tried again and ditto. So I reformatted the drive and reinstalled. It didn't accept the license number so I used the disk product number and it loaded with that. Everything was hunky-dory I thought and went home (wife and I live 120 miles apart) and put a new drive in my own box and formatted and loaded from the disk and now neither computer wants to "activate." Both boxes hers and mine, are identical case mother board etc. Came from the same source. Both have XP (and Vista underneath) license stickers on them and came from "directron.com." as refurbished with XP pro SP-3 (same as the disk I have) the disk is genuine (part number X14-66865), 2008. Holograms and packaging etc. is real MS. The telephone robot activation tells me I have an illegal copy. I haven't tried getting a human on the phone... is what I'm doing illegal? (a clean install of XP on a computer licensed for XP) What are my options? I have my wife able to "reactivate" the 30 day limit but that is pushing the envelope as far as her geek skills go. Thankfully the laptop allows us to email. I'm a retired electrical engineer and not wealthy. I want to keep XP and not "upgrade" to another OS. I can use Linux, but would rather not, and my wife wouldn't adapt as easily. I can't be there to hold her hand. Needless to say I don't want to give MS money... Was the cd one you already had or did it come with the computers you purchased? If it was not the one that came with the machines. contact the vendor and see if they can supply media. Otherwise call the MS number and talk to a real person CD came with the laptop not the desktops. Of course the laptop is fine... It somehow transferred ownership to my wife, in dealing with this. For Christmas I got her a bag so she can take it with her (she travels more than I ) I'm resigned to speaking to a MS person next time I see her, but this sucks because it limits my hardware tinkering ability - big hassle every time I change/format a drive. |
#4
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Question of licensing/legality
On 01/15/2013 12:28 PM, default wrote:
snip Otherwise call the MS number and talk to a real person CD came with the laptop not the desktops. Of course the laptop is fine... It somehow transferred ownership to my wife, in dealing with this. For Christmas I got her a bag so she can take it with her (she travels more than I ) I'm resigned to speaking to a MS person next time I see her, but this sucks because it limits my hardware tinkering ability - big hassle every time I change/format a drive. I see that making a phone call to ms won't help you as you were attempting to use an already used product number. -- https://www.createspace.com/3707686 |
#5
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Question of licensing/legality
"default" wrote:
My wife and I have some four desktops and one laptop, Four computers have XP mounted on them, all are off-lease corporate computers and the ones with XP are "refurbished," with what was a clean install of XP . Does "off-lease" mean your company sold off their old hardware to its employees? If so, did they actually include a *license* for Windows? That's not always the case. They don't wipe the hard drives and are really only selling off the hardware. They are NOT allowed to slice out instances from their volume license when they sell off the hardware. ALL instances of a volume license are to remain with the same entity or organization that purchased the volume license. Not only do some companies screw this up and think they can dole out licenses from their volume license but you'll see boob/scammers doing the same at eBay. The instance of Windows that was installed on those computers which were the company's property were likely from a volume license. That means when they sell off that old hardware that NONE of them come with a legit license for Windows. The buyer has to get their own license. Only if your company gave you your own COA (certificate of authority) and only if it was for a SINGLE license (not part of their volume license) did you get a legit license for Windows. Sometimes when I hire onto a new company, I'll add a perk into the deal that I get a copy of Windows, Office, or any other software that will facilitate me working at home to do work for them. While I have sometimes used their laptop with their software to work from home, any software that goes on *my* home computers is my property, not theirs. That means either they give me the hardware/software platform to work from home, if needed, or they get me a SINGLE-user license for the software (i.e., they have to go buy a single license). I whipped out my trusty "WXPsp3 for refurbished PCs" (says so right on the label) And where did you BUY that from? Did it come with the old hardware your company sold/gave to you? Did you ask them if it was part of their volume license or a single-user license? Companies don't like to buy single-user licenses (too expensive, they don't need multiples of the installation media, they don't want to have to track single license on which workstations). Both boxes hers and mine, are identical case mother board etc. Came from the same source. Both have XP (and Vista underneath) license stickers on them and came from "directron.com." as refurbished with XP pro SP-3 (same as the disk I have) the disk is genuine (part number X14-66865), 2008. Holograms and packaging etc. is real MS. But you also said they came "off-lease" from your employer. Unless you BOUGHT the Windows to install it, or there was stipulation in the "sale" from whomever pre-built the computers for you that a single-user license was included with each computer, you don't know that any of those instances of Windows are legitimate. The telephone robot activation tells me I have an illegal copy. I haven't tried getting a human on the phone... The sysprep image used in a corporation to build their workstations uses the product key for the volume license purchased by the company. Volume license, all instances of them, are to remain with the SAME entity. They can't go "floating" out somewhere outside the organization that purchased the volume license. Individual licenses cannot be sold off (even if the price is free) from a volume license. It is suspect that you have a legit license for any of those instances of Windows. Because the product key used in a sysprep image used to build multiple workstations is different than the sticker slapped onto a host, there is a mismatch on the product keys. You don't have the product key for the volume license. Even OEMs that are fabbing thousands of computers use an image. The instance of Windows that they install is already validated (i.e., their consumers don't have to go through the validation process after buying the pre-built computer); however, the product key on the sticker won't match the one for the pre-validated copy of Windows that the OEM put on thousands of computers. You can get Microsoft's Genuine Advantage Diagnostics tool at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=52012. It generates a report showing the license of an installed instance of Windows. You might be able to tell if you have a single-user license from its report. I haven't used this on a workstation (i.e., company host) to see what it says when a volume license is involved. I believe you want to see "Windows License Type: Retail" to know you have your own legit license to Windows. If it says OEM, that instance of Windows cannot be installed on any other computer. OEM licenses permanently stick to the first computer on which they are installed. Doesn't matter if the computer is stolen, lost, burned up, or lost in a divorce settlement. You can't use an OEM version on any other computer; however, that doesn't obviate you so upgrading the computer that it becomes basically a new computer. It's "Windows License Type: Volume" that you do NOT want to see. If you see Volume, you never got a legit license of Windows when your company pawned off their old hardware on its employess rather than pay a jobber to haul it away. Unless you are working for a very small company, like 20 employees or less, it is very likely they bought a volume license to install Windows on all their computers. It's cheaper to buy and easier to manage. Only very small companies might buy multiple single-user licenses but that's because they don't know about buying volume licenses (5 instances, an up). Talk to your employer or from whomever is the "corporate" entity to which you refer from where you obtained the computer. Even some not-so-small companies phuck up the handling when getting rid of their old hardware and mislead the recipients to believe they're getting software with it. If it was a "corporate" workstation as you stated, most likely all you got was hardware. No software was included. You got only hardware that included a polluted hard disk. They were too lazy or ignorant to wipe the hard disk before redistribution. Contact them to find out if they indeed included a SINGLE-user license of Windows with the hardware or if they left an instance of Windows that is part of their volume license on their workstations (i.e., they sold off polluted hardware). What are my options? I have my wife able to "reactivate" the 30 day limit but that is pushing the envelope as far as her geek skills go. Thankfully the laptop allows us to email. There is no "reactivation" of the 30-day trial period. If you don't validate an instance of Windows, it will remain full functional during the first 30 days after installation but thereafter will cripple or disable itself. You don't reactivate. You use a self-expiring trial version that you have to activate before the 1-month trial expires. I'm a retired electrical engineer and not wealthy. I want to keep XP and not "upgrade" to another OS. I can use Linux, but would rather not, and my wife wouldn't adapt as easily. I can't be there to hold her hand. Needless to say I don't want to give MS money... Contact whomever sold you the computers. Find out if they truly included a SINGLE-USER license of Windows with EACH computer. If you got them from a corporation, most likely no license was included. They still own the volume license used to install those instances of Windows. They are not permitted to slice out instances of licenses from their volume license. All instances remain within the entity that purchased the volume license. You could try calling Microsoft to get telephone activation of your install of Windows. They will ask for the old product key (the one on the sticker). If it's a volume license, they'll reject your request to get a new product key. In the case of Dell or any OEM using the same image to lay onto thousands of computers, and because the product key on the sticker doesn't match the one in the image, you get stuck having to call the OEM to get a new product key instead of using the one on the sticker if you use their same image to restore your computer. You could call Microsoft to find out what they say but you should first call whomever you got the computers to find out what they say. If it's an OEM license, you get the product key from the OEM'er. If retail, you get it from Microsoft. If it is a volume license, YOU had to buy the volume license. The corporation from whom you got the hardware is not allowed to dole out instances of Windows from their volume license. |
#6
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Question of licensing/legality
On Tue, 15 Jan 2013 19:43:14 -0600, VanguardLH wrote:
"default" wrote: My wife and I have some four desktops and one laptop, Four computers have XP mounted on them, all are off-lease corporate computers and the ones with XP are "refurbished," with what was a clean install of XP . Does "off-lease" mean your company sold off their old hardware to its employees? If so, did they actually include a *license* for Windows? That's not always the case. They don't wipe the hard drives and are really only selling off the hardware. They are NOT allowed to slice out instances from their volume license when they sell off the hardware. ALL instances of a volume license are to remain with the same entity or organization that purchased the volume license. Not only do some companies screw this up and think they can dole out licenses from their volume license but you'll see boob/scammers doing the same at eBay. The instance of Windows that was installed on those computers which were the company's property were likely from a volume license. That means when they sell off that old hardware that NONE of them come with a legit license for Windows. The buyer has to get their own license. Only if your company gave you your own COA (certificate of authority) and only if it was for a SINGLE license (not part of their volume license) did you get a legit license for Windows. Sometimes when I hire onto a new company, I'll add a perk into the deal that I get a copy of Windows, Office, or any other software that will facilitate me working at home to do work for them. While I have sometimes used their laptop with their software to work from home, any software that goes on *my* home computers is my property, not theirs. That means either they give me the hardware/software platform to work from home, if needed, or they get me a SINGLE-user license for the software (i.e., they have to go buy a single license). I whipped out my trusty "WXPsp3 for refurbished PCs" (says so right on the label) And where did you BUY that from? Did it come with the old hardware your company sold/gave to you? Did you ask them if it was part of their volume license or a single-user license? Companies don't like to buy single-user licenses (too expensive, they don't need multiples of the installation media, they don't want to have to track single license on which workstations). Both boxes hers and mine, are identical case mother board etc. Came from the same source. Both have XP (and Vista underneath) license stickers on them and came from "directron.com." as refurbished with XP pro SP-3 (same as the disk I have) the disk is genuine (part number X14-66865), 2008. Holograms and packaging etc. is real MS. But you also said they came "off-lease" from your employer. Unless you BOUGHT the Windows to install it, or there was stipulation in the "sale" from whomever pre-built the computers for you that a single-user license was included with each computer, you don't know that any of those instances of Windows are legitimate. The telephone robot activation tells me I have an illegal copy. I haven't tried getting a human on the phone... The sysprep image used in a corporation to build their workstations uses the product key for the volume license purchased by the company. Volume license, all instances of them, are to remain with the SAME entity. They can't go "floating" out somewhere outside the organization that purchased the volume license. Individual licenses cannot be sold off (even if the price is free) from a volume license. It is suspect that you have a legit license for any of those instances of Windows. Because the product key used in a sysprep image used to build multiple workstations is different than the sticker slapped onto a host, there is a mismatch on the product keys. You don't have the product key for the volume license. Even OEMs that are fabbing thousands of computers use an image. The instance of Windows that they install is already validated (i.e., their consumers don't have to go through the validation process after buying the pre-built computer); however, the product key on the sticker won't match the one for the pre-validated copy of Windows that the OEM put on thousands of computers. You can get Microsoft's Genuine Advantage Diagnostics tool at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=52012. It generates a report showing the license of an installed instance of Windows. You might be able to tell if you have a single-user license from its report. I haven't used this on a workstation (i.e., company host) to see what it says when a volume license is involved. I believe you want to see "Windows License Type: Retail" to know you have your own legit license to Windows. If it says OEM, that instance of Windows cannot be installed on any other computer. OEM licenses permanently stick to the first computer on which they are installed. Doesn't matter if the computer is stolen, lost, burned up, or lost in a divorce settlement. You can't use an OEM version on any other computer; however, that doesn't obviate you so upgrading the computer that it becomes basically a new computer. It's "Windows License Type: Volume" that you do NOT want to see. If you see Volume, you never got a legit license of Windows when your company pawned off their old hardware on its employess rather than pay a jobber to haul it away. Unless you are working for a very small company, like 20 employees or less, it is very likely they bought a volume license to install Windows on all their computers. It's cheaper to buy and easier to manage. Only very small companies might buy multiple single-user licenses but that's because they don't know about buying volume licenses (5 instances, an up). Talk to your employer or from whomever is the "corporate" entity to which you refer from where you obtained the computer. Even some not-so-small companies phuck up the handling when getting rid of their old hardware and mislead the recipients to believe they're getting software with it. If it was a "corporate" workstation as you stated, most likely all you got was hardware. No software was included. You got only hardware that included a polluted hard disk. They were too lazy or ignorant to wipe the hard disk before redistribution. Contact them to find out if they indeed included a SINGLE-user license of Windows with the hardware or if they left an instance of Windows that is part of their volume license on their workstations (i.e., they sold off polluted hardware). What are my options? I have my wife able to "reactivate" the 30 day limit but that is pushing the envelope as far as her geek skills go. Thankfully the laptop allows us to email. There is no "reactivation" of the 30-day trial period. If you don't validate an instance of Windows, it will remain full functional during the first 30 days after installation but thereafter will cripple or disable itself. You don't reactivate. You use a self-expiring trial version that you have to activate before the 1-month trial expires. I'm a retired electrical engineer and not wealthy. I want to keep XP and not "upgrade" to another OS. I can use Linux, but would rather not, and my wife wouldn't adapt as easily. I can't be there to hold her hand. Needless to say I don't want to give MS money... Contact whomever sold you the computers. Find out if they truly included a SINGLE-USER license of Windows with EACH computer. If you got them from a corporation, most likely no license was included. They still own the volume license used to install those instances of Windows. They are not permitted to slice out instances of licenses from their volume license. All instances remain within the entity that purchased the volume license. You could try calling Microsoft to get telephone activation of your install of Windows. They will ask for the old product key (the one on the sticker). If it's a volume license, they'll reject your request to get a new product key. In the case of Dell or any OEM using the same image to lay onto thousands of computers, and because the product key on the sticker doesn't match the one in the image, you get stuck having to call the OEM to get a new product key instead of using the one on the sticker if you use their same image to restore your computer. You could call Microsoft to find out what they say but you should first call whomever you got the computers to find out what they say. If it's an OEM license, you get the product key from the OEM'er. If retail, you get it from Microsoft. If it is a volume license, YOU had to buy the volume license. The corporation from whom you got the hardware is not allowed to dole out instances of Windows from their volume license. As I already said, the computers came from directron, a reseller of used computers, surplus hardware, etc... It is supposed to be a single license. I did some on line investigating and found the (small niche) company that assembled it originally sells to schools. Big, too loud,extra fan, Intel mobo, better than average video card, high quality case, etc.. Not a branded bios or OS. I won't buy Dell for that reason. OK, call I will (for wife's machine) Plan B letter to FTC |
#7
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Question of licensing/legality
"default" wrote:
VanguardLH wrote: "default" wrote: My wife and I have some four desktops and one laptop, Four computers have XP mounted on them, all are off-lease corporate computers and the ones with XP are "refurbished," with what was a clean install of XP . Does "off-lease" mean your company sold off their old hardware to its employees? If so, did they actually include a *license* for Windows? That's not always the case. They don't wipe the hard drives and are really only selling off the hardware. They are NOT allowed to slice out instances from their volume license when they sell off the hardware. ALL instances of a volume license are to remain with the same entity or organization that purchased the volume license. Not only do some companies screw this up and think they can dole out licenses from their volume license but you'll see boob/scammers doing the same at eBay. The instance of Windows that was installed on those computers which were the company's property were likely from a volume license. That means when they sell off that old hardware that NONE of them come with a legit license for Windows. The buyer has to get their own license. Only if your company gave you your own COA (certificate of authority) and only if it was for a SINGLE license (not part of their volume license) did you get a legit license for Windows. Sometimes when I hire onto a new company, I'll add a perk into the deal that I get a copy of Windows, Office, or any other software that will facilitate me working at home to do work for them. While I have sometimes used their laptop with their software to work from home, any software that goes on *my* home computers is my property, not theirs. That means either they give me the hardware/software platform to work from home, if needed, or they get me a SINGLE-user license for the software (i.e., they have to go buy a single license). I whipped out my trusty "WXPsp3 for refurbished PCs" (says so right on the label) And where did you BUY that from? Did it come with the old hardware your company sold/gave to you? Did you ask them if it was part of their volume license or a single-user license? Companies don't like to buy single-user licenses (too expensive, they don't need multiples of the installation media, they don't want to have to track single license on which workstations). Both boxes hers and mine, are identical case mother board etc. Came from the same source. Both have XP (and Vista underneath) license stickers on them and came from "directron.com." as refurbished with XP pro SP-3 (same as the disk I have) the disk is genuine (part number X14-66865), 2008. Holograms and packaging etc. is real MS. But you also said they came "off-lease" from your employer. Unless you BOUGHT the Windows to install it, or there was stipulation in the "sale" from whomever pre-built the computers for you that a single-user license was included with each computer, you don't know that any of those instances of Windows are legitimate. The telephone robot activation tells me I have an illegal copy. I haven't tried getting a human on the phone... The sysprep image used in a corporation to build their workstations uses the product key for the volume license purchased by the company. Volume license, all instances of them, are to remain with the SAME entity. They can't go "floating" out somewhere outside the organization that purchased the volume license. Individual licenses cannot be sold off (even if the price is free) from a volume license. It is suspect that you have a legit license for any of those instances of Windows. Because the product key used in a sysprep image used to build multiple workstations is different than the sticker slapped onto a host, there is a mismatch on the product keys. You don't have the product key for the volume license. Even OEMs that are fabbing thousands of computers use an image. The instance of Windows that they install is already validated (i.e., their consumers don't have to go through the validation process after buying the pre-built computer); however, the product key on the sticker won't match the one for the pre-validated copy of Windows that the OEM put on thousands of computers. You can get Microsoft's Genuine Advantage Diagnostics tool at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=52012. It generates a report showing the license of an installed instance of Windows. You might be able to tell if you have a single-user license from its report. I haven't used this on a workstation (i.e., company host) to see what it says when a volume license is involved. I believe you want to see "Windows License Type: Retail" to know you have your own legit license to Windows. If it says OEM, that instance of Windows cannot be installed on any other computer. OEM licenses permanently stick to the first computer on which they are installed. Doesn't matter if the computer is stolen, lost, burned up, or lost in a divorce settlement. You can't use an OEM version on any other computer; however, that doesn't obviate you so upgrading the computer that it becomes basically a new computer. It's "Windows License Type: Volume" that you do NOT want to see. If you see Volume, you never got a legit license of Windows when your company pawned off their old hardware on its employess rather than pay a jobber to haul it away. Unless you are working for a very small company, like 20 employees or less, it is very likely they bought a volume license to install Windows on all their computers. It's cheaper to buy and easier to manage. Only very small companies might buy multiple single-user licenses but that's because they don't know about buying volume licenses (5 instances, an up). Talk to your employer or from whomever is the "corporate" entity to which you refer from where you obtained the computer. Even some not-so-small companies phuck up the handling when getting rid of their old hardware and mislead the recipients to believe they're getting software with it. If it was a "corporate" workstation as you stated, most likely all you got was hardware. No software was included. You got only hardware that included a polluted hard disk. They were too lazy or ignorant to wipe the hard disk before redistribution. Contact them to find out if they indeed included a SINGLE-user license of Windows with the hardware or if they left an instance of Windows that is part of their volume license on their workstations (i.e., they sold off polluted hardware). What are my options? I have my wife able to "reactivate" the 30 day limit but that is pushing the envelope as far as her geek skills go. Thankfully the laptop allows us to email. There is no "reactivation" of the 30-day trial period. If you don't validate an instance of Windows, it will remain full functional during the first 30 days after installation but thereafter will cripple or disable itself. You don't reactivate. You use a self-expiring trial version that you have to activate before the 1-month trial expires. I'm a retired electrical engineer and not wealthy. I want to keep XP and not "upgrade" to another OS. I can use Linux, but would rather not, and my wife wouldn't adapt as easily. I can't be there to hold her hand. Needless to say I don't want to give MS money... Contact whomever sold you the computers. Find out if they truly included a SINGLE-USER license of Windows with EACH computer. If you got them from a corporation, most likely no license was included. They still own the volume license used to install those instances of Windows. They are not permitted to slice out instances of licenses from their volume license. All instances remain within the entity that purchased the volume license. You could try calling Microsoft to get telephone activation of your install of Windows. They will ask for the old product key (the one on the sticker). If it's a volume license, they'll reject your request to get a new product key. In the case of Dell or any OEM using the same image to lay onto thousands of computers, and because the product key on the sticker doesn't match the one in the image, you get stuck having to call the OEM to get a new product key instead of using the one on the sticker if you use their same image to restore your computer. You could call Microsoft to find out what they say but you should first call whomever you got the computers to find out what they say. If it's an OEM license, you get the product key from the OEM'er. If retail, you get it from Microsoft. If it is a volume license, YOU had to buy the volume license. The corporation from whom you got the hardware is not allowed to dole out instances of Windows from their volume license. As I already said, the computers came from directron, a reseller of used computers, surplus hardware, etc... It is supposed to be a single license. I did some on line investigating and found the (small niche) company that assembled it originally sells to schools. Big, too loud,extra fan, Intel mobo, better than average video card, high quality case, etc.. "all are off-lease corporate computers" "came from directron.com" Very few companies (not involved with hardware or software development) are going to have their employees build the computers that the companies use. They have someone ELSE build those computers. Directron has corporate sales, too. So it appeared you were talking about some company's computers which happened to have been fabbed by Directron. Someone had to build them for that company. It looked like you said you got the computers from a company and they got them from Directron. If you didn't mean to imply that you got the computers from some corporation then simply saying they were refurbished computers would've properly identified in what state they were when you obtained them. It wouldn't matter if the computers were some "off-lease corporate" (company disposed property) or some home user's trade-in. In fact, you really can't be sure what was the source of a refurbished computer. Look at http://search.directron.com/newsearc...nd=refurbished to see that they don't tell you who was the prior owner. They're not tracking that in Sales. There would probably also be a privacy issue if they told you. Alas, depending on who does the refurbishing dictates whether you get cleaned or polluted hardware. Even for refurbished computers where a legit license of Windows is provided, you should've received the COA sticker, COA paper, installation media for Windows, and the sales receipt should show a license was included in the sale. If the computers were made by Directron, sold/leased to some company, and then the company divested themself of old hardware to sell or give to you then my prior post stands regarding the license. In this case, yep, they were "off-leased corporate" units that were distributed by Directron (to that company). If you bought refurbished computers directly from Directron then you don't know they were off-leased corporate units or where they came from before Directron refurbished them. Hell, they could be units bought from Direction, found defective, and returned to Directron who then fixes them and resells them. Or the units were defective, returned to the manufacturer, and then Directron got them to sell at a discount. In that case, saying "off-lease corporate" was unfounded (you don't know) and misleading. Saying "came from Directron" doesn't say YOU got them from there. Not the same as saying "I bought them from Directron". A company (inferred by "off-leased corporate") could've bought them from Directron and then the company sold/gave it to you. I went by what you said, not what you meant to say. Not a branded bios or OS. I won't buy Dell for that reason. But you are still buying "pre-builts" that someone else fabbed for you and which you buy on spec rather than knowing what's really inside. Some of those refurbs at Directron are Dell. Seems most of their refurbs are name-brand items. Unless you build your own (not likely for a laptop) to get mobos with a generic BIOS (that's been tweaked to a particular mobo design), you're stuck with branded BIOSes. OK, call I will (for wife's machine) Since now it's evident you bought refurbs from Directron, you'll probably want to start there. It's likely the license you have for Windows is an OEM version which means it's not retail and not Microsoft's responsibility to dole out new product keys when you didn't pay them for support. OEM means no support from Microsoft. OEM means support from the OEM. If the OEM vanishes, you're screwed. In the bill of sale from Directron for your order, is a license of Windows listed? I doubt Directron is selling new or refurb units with polluted hard disks containing used copies of Windows. The refurb process wipes the hard disk and an image of the OS is laid onto the disk and that is a legit license but most likely an OEM version. However, it's possible they didn't remove an old COA sticker so its product key doesn't match with the one for the image Directron or the manufacturer used when refurbishing the unit. Plan B letter to FTC Why would they care? They probably won't take action on a single case unless a loss of over $25K can be proven. If the bill of sale shows a license of Windows was included then the FTC can't be bothered with single-party civil cases that dispute authenticity of goods or services. I suppose if you wanted to pursue the issue that you could file in conciliatory court (small claims) but you'll probably get stuck having to file in the state of [in]corporation for the seller unless you bought from a local outlet for Directron. Besides, if Directron, as the OEM, honors its requirement to support validation of OEM versions of Windows, then what's the beef? Check your sales receipt or go online to their site to check your order. See if a license for Windows was listed. If so, start at Directron. If not, you didn't buy Windows from Directron (and they gave you polluted hardware). |
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Question of licensing/legality
Even back before XP, install CD's are usually set to
only work with a set range of "Product Keys". No issue of install CD works with all Product Keys. Each issue works with some select range of them. AND even if you have a CD/Key that do work together, they might NOT work with hardware they were not originally designed for. Some OEM versions look for their brand of computer hardware, but some do not. If you bought an XP CD/License COA/Key from TigerDirect or some other seller, they got locked to the first hardware somebody installed them on. The CD's and COA Keys Microsoft sold to "official refurbishers" may have some additional quirks that I don't know about but I'm assuming those were similarly locked to the INDIVIDUAL COMPUTER, not just the type of hardware they were set up on. I'm actually quite happy with my fleet of 6 (so far) identical "off lease" Dell computers. I got the original CD's and I can move any bootable drive around from machine to machine, as convenient. These same machines sell with "official refurbisher" CD's but I expected those would NOT allow me to move any bootable drive around among identical hardware. No, I never enter or use the ProductKey from the COA stickers, because if I did, then that install would be locked to that individual computer forever. The install CD's use a built in Product Key that is generic to all 6 computers, it doesn't ask me for a product key anywhere in the install process. I WANTED that kind of interchangeable situation, very much. More than just a model, since there are at least 6 models of main board in this model, I specify the model of mainboard to match my fleet. The short of it is that you really need the proper install CD for the two computers you're having trouble with, AND since you said you don't like OEM's, THAT characteristic means that each install is locked tightly to that individual machine and so bootable drives can NOT be swapped around among your desktop computers. Why is it again that you are so dead set against OEM computers? |
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