Transfer MS OEM license

[KWestos]

I am replacing 50 PC's and wanted to know if I could purchase the machines without an operating system on and just use the previously purchased licenses on these.

[powdarrmonkey]

OEM licenses can't be transferred between physical machines.

[IanT]

You shouldnt be using OEM on 50 machines really, Volume Licensing?

[KWestos]

You shouldnt be using OEM on 50 machines really, Volume Licensing?

 

We have a Microsoft Schools agreement for our desktops but I thought that only entitled you to have upgrades to the software you license, including the OS.

 

I thought, seeing as how we had already purchased the PC's from Misco with a OS on, we could just continue using the schools agreement on the new ones.

[DMcCoy]

You shouldnt be using OEM on 50 machines really, Volume Licensing?

 

All Desktop VL licenses are upgrades only and have been for a great many years, they require a qualifying base OS license on the machine.

 

As they are new machines then you will still need an OEM or full packaged product liense for all the new machines and a VL upgrade license if you wish to use something that would need the upgrade (vista home to vista business etc).

[tarquel]

Hi KWestos

 

This is from a oldish School's Agreement doc, but I think [tho MS licensing does tend to change every now and then] it still applies:

 

1.When a school or institution enters into a Microsoft Volume Licensing agreement (Campus Agreement, School Agreement, Academic Open, Academic Select), does that mean it is licensed for a full Microsoft® operating system (OS), such as Windows?

ANSWER: No. Microsoft Volume Licensing only licenses a school or institution for an upgrade for Windows, and sometimes for a downgrade to an earlier version of Windows. There are only three ways for an education institution to obtain a full operating system:

Acquire the Full-Packaged Product from a retail store.

Acquire a new PC with an OEM version of the operating system preinstalled.

Acquire an OEM license with additional hardware from your system builder.

 

http://download.microsoft.com/download/4/e/3/4e3eace0-4c6d-4123-9d0c-c80436181742/OSLicQA.doc

 

Although you already have the Schools Agreement, there's also this in the pipeline too it seems:

Microsoft UK Education - Types of Educational Licence - SESP agreement

 

A bit more info on it here:

Microsoft UK Schools News Blog : UK Pilot of new Microsoft licensing scheme for schools

 

To be 100% definate though, give either your MS Schools Agreement reseller a call, or call the MS Edu team on 0870 60 70 800

 

Hope that helps.

Nath.

[dhicks]

I am replacing 50 PC's and wanted to know if I could purchase the machines without an operating system on and just use the previously purchased licenses on these.

 

You could just replace the innards of the machine - motherboard, RAM - and re-use the license still on the case.

 

--

David Hicks

[Ignatius]

You could just replace the innards of the machine - motherboard, RAM - and re-use the license still on the case.

An interesting philosophical question:

 

I know that a motherboard, hard drive, RAM or CPU can go bad and may need to be replaced in an OEM PC. One of these (primarily the motherboard) may be unavailable and a "next best but compatible" piece of kit might have to be sourced. Sometimes the OS installation and activation process will whinge because of hardware change(s). Is there any logical way of determining how much of the hardware can be changed before MS considers it to be a new PC, and therefore be in contravention of the OEM licence? I know that it's possible to activate by calling MS and they'll almost certainly provide the relevant code if it won't activate over the internet.

 

It strikes me as a rather fuzzy area. I suppose that the extreme would be a complete replacement of the original innards for new hardware but housed in the same case bearing the sticker. Surely that would be in contravention of the licence?

[rayfleming]

Hi KWestos

 

This is from a oldish School's Agreement doc, but I think [tho MS licensing does tend to change every now and then] it still applies:

 

 

 

http://download.microsoft.com/download/4/e/3/4e3eace0-4c6d-4123-9d0c-c80436181742/OSLicQA.doc

 

Although you already have the Schools Agreement, there's also this in the pipeline too it seems:

Microsoft UK Education - Types of Educational Licence - SESP agreement

 

A bit more info on it here:

Microsoft UK Schools News Blog : UK Pilot of new Microsoft licensing scheme for schools

 

To be 100% definate though, give either your MS Schools Agreement reseller a call, or call the MS Edu team on 0870 60 70 800

 

Hope that helps.

Nath.

 

Nath is right - your Schools Agreement gives you the upgrade to Windows 7 Enterprise; but you need a Windows operating system licence (normally the OEM licence) which arrives with your hardware. These OEM licences aren't transferrable between computers (and I'm not skilled enough to work out the finesses of the last two posts!).

 

For others, a handy hint:

- Buy a new PC with pre-installed Windows Professional (ie OEM version), and you cannot transfer the licence to another.

- Buy a new PC with pre-installed Windows Home Premium, and then buy an upgrade to Windows Professional/Enterprise via Select or School Agreement, and you can transfer the Upgrade bit of the licence.

This is because although OEM licences cannot be transferred between computers, volume licences can be, so the 'upgrade' bit is transferrable.

In many cases it can be cheaper to do the second option, as well as giving you more flexibility.

[localzuk]

An interesting philosophical question:

 

I know that a motherboard, hard drive, RAM or CPU can go bad and may need to be replaced in an OEM PC. One of these (primarily the motherboard) may be unavailable and a "next best but compatible" piece of kit might have to be sourced. Sometimes the OS installation and activation process will whinge because of hardware change(s). Is there any logical way of determining how much of the hardware can be changed before MS considers it to be a new PC, and therefore be in contravention of the OEM licence? I know that it's possible to activate by calling MS and they'll almost certainly provide the relevant code if it won't activate over the internet.

 

It strikes me as a rather fuzzy area. I suppose that the extreme would be a complete replacement of the original innards for new hardware but housed in the same case bearing the sticker. Surely that would be in contravention of the licence?

 

Your machine is a 'new' machine if you upgrade the motherboard according to the MS OEM license IIRC.

[ajs]

An interesting philosophical question:

 

I know that a motherboard, hard drive, RAM or CPU can go bad and may need to be replaced in an OEM PC. One of these (primarily the motherboard) may be unavailable and a "next best but compatible" piece of kit might have to be sourced. Sometimes the OS installation and activation process will whinge because of hardware change(s). Is there any logical way of determining how much of the hardware can be changed before MS considers it to be a new PC, and therefore be in contravention of the OEM licence? I know that it's possible to activate by calling MS and they'll almost certainly provide the relevant code if it won't activate over the internet.

 

It strikes me as a rather fuzzy area. I suppose that the extreme would be a complete replacement of the original innards for new hardware but housed in the same case bearing the sticker. Surely that would be in contravention of the licence?

 

There was some attempts by MS to clarify this situation about 4-5 years ago but I don't have time to do the necessary googling to find the information (I'm too lazy, our classlists are all wrong and there's a fire drill in 1 minute) but from what I remember you could replace a broken motherboard with a different one and the OEM license would still apply because you were repairing the machine and not replacing it. (How they would really know that the original was/wasn't broken is beyond me though)

 

I could of course be making this all up, it is a Friday and I'm not really thinking straight :-)

 

If I find anything on this I'll post it.

[mb2k01]

I am replacing 50 PC's and wanted to know if I could purchase the machines without an operating system on and just use the previously purchased licenses on these.

 

I'm wondering if we're interperating the question wrongly...

 

If you want to purchase old machines and by "previous licenses" you mean the OEM licenses that they should have arrived to you with, then the answer is yes - just get an OEM copy of XP and do a clean install using the OEM key on the sticker on the side / back of the computer.

 

In that scenario there is no tranfer of licenses as the OEM license applies to the individual hardware, not the person using it.

[localzuk]

There was some attempts by MS to clarify this situation about 4-5 years ago but I don't have time to do the necessary googling to find the information (I'm too lazy, our classlists are all wrong and there's a fire drill in 1 minute) but from what I remember you could replace a broken motherboard with a different one and the OEM license would still apply because you were repairing the machine and not replacing it. (How they would really know that the original was/wasn't broken is beyond me though)

 

It isn't a matter of them physically checking - it is simply down to the terms of the license. Lots of software has limits such as 'only can be run on 5 machines', but has no method to check this. You wouldn't install it on more than 5 machines though, as the license doesn't allow it. Same with the XP OEM license.

[powdarrmonkey]

It isn't a matter of them physically checking - it is simply down to the terms of the license. Lots of software has limits such as 'only can be run on 5 machines', but has no method to check this. You wouldn't install it on more than 5 machines though, as the license doesn't allow it. Same with the XP OEM license.

 

Ack. It's a question of honour.

[mpe]

It strikes me as a rather fuzzy area. I suppose that the extreme would be a complete replacement of the original innards for new hardware but housed in the same case bearing the sticker. Surely that would be in contravention of the licence?

 

The simple answer is that nobody actually knows. Since none of these claims have actually been tested in court, at least in this country. Unlike in Germany where a court decided that the likes of "OEM", "Retail", etc distinctions were meaningless.

[mpe]

It isn't a matter of them physically checking - it is simply down to the terms of the license. Lots of software has limits such as 'only can be run on 5 machines', but has no method to check this. You wouldn't install it on more than 5 machines though, as the license doesn't allow it. Same with the XP OEM license.

There's a difference between "can only be run on (up to) 5 machines at one time" and "can only only ever be used on 5 machines".

Note that "licences" are subject to the "law of the land". You really need to ask the specific question to a lawyer.

[Ignatius]

Your machine is a 'new' machine if you upgrade the motherboard according to the MS OEM license IIRC.

 

It seems very unfair if the motherboard dies and requires replacement with a slightly different one (because the original one isn't produced any longer) the OEM licence *may* be invalidated. It's interesting that another comment here indicated that a new, different motherboard, would be OK!

 

I guess that confusion has been created by MS fomulating licence agreements that the majority of ordinary folks have no chance of understanding! I realise that they want to maximise their profit and stop illegal activity etc. Why not just create a single installation disk which replaces OEM and Retail and is priced somewhere in the middle?

[computer_expert]

i'm pretty sure that MS activation uses the serials of multiple components (HDD, processor, ram , M/B etc) and if too many change, it sets the alarm off.

 

A M/B change shouldn't affect the activation status of the machine

[AHeighton]

Can say for certain that it does affect activation status if the board is very different and comes with new CPU.

 

Replaced the board in my old desktop, formerly a server, P4 HT, with a truly stunning Core2Quad and board and the activation whatsit threw a hissy-fit and DEMANDED that I re-establish my link to the collective (THEY ARE BORG, RESISTANCE IS FUTILE).

 

However, activation and licensing are not the same - you need to re-activate XP when your hardware changes a lot, but it's not counted as a different machine, simply the same one that needs re-activating.

 

I'm fairly sure that after about 2-3 activations, they'll grill you on the phone to find out how many machines it's on, whether you bought it in a shop, all kinds really to try and catch out bad backstreet computer shops selling the same OEM license over and over.

[k-strider]

sounds like Theseus's paradox to me!