Windows XP Pro Upgrade from DOS??

[CM786]

Hi guys,

 

Interesting one.....

 

I have seen a few cheap PCs that come with no OS except DOS? Likes of eBuyer etc.

 

Does a PC that comes with DR DOS 7 from the manufacturer qualify for the the Academic Windows XP Pro Upgrade License?

 

I emailed Ramesys to ask and they said it was fine (aslong as the PC has a previous Microsoft operating system). This seems like a way for schools to save money then, buying Windows XP Pro Academic License for £30 rather then the OEM version for £80+.

 

Now where can I buy DOS from these days?!

[Geoff]

DR DOS is not MS DOS. DR DOS was released by Caldera/Novell IIRC.

[CM786]

Ok sorry Geoff! (Doh!)

 

What about if the PCs had MS DOS then?

[Geoff]

There's no problem upgrading those AFAIK.

[CM786]

So I could in theory instead of buying, build a few PCs from the masses of spare parts we have, install MS DOS and then get an upgrade to XP Pro? Saving the school substantial amounts of money!

 

I doubt their was any "OEM" version of DOS at the time, so how do I proof the install is actually an upgrade? I'll have no COA? Do I just keep a DOS floppy disk for each PC as proof?

 

Thanks,

CM786

[Geoff]

Yes there was an OEM copy of DOS. You'll need the license document. It's in the back page of the manual (a weighty tome of several hundred pages).

[GrumbleDook]

Upgrade under the Select Agreement is from Windows 3.1 upwards ... not DOS ... give whoever it was at Ramesys a slap (and if it was Matt or Gary give them 2 slaps as they should know better). DOS is not a 'windows' operating system ... the upgrade is for windows.

 

If you are ever in any doubt the education team at Microsoft have people that are the bible for education licensing ... do not talk to anyone other part of Microsoft about licensing for education ... you will get different answers.

[john]

Give whoever it was at Ramesys a slap (and if it was Matt or Gary give them 2 slaps as they should know better).

yeah, I agree with the double slaps, Matt and Gary are the SST gurus at Ramesys (I am assuming I am thinking of the same people as you Tony?)

 

Also, whats the best and quickest way of getting hold of a MS Education expert person at MS? I e-mailed them in my last place, so years ago were talking, about some questions about Schools Licence Agreement, and it took them 4 weeks to reply, in the meantime we just went for Select, but it was not helpful it took MS that long to reply.

[GrumbleDook]

I am not overly sure who the best person in the department is to contact ... but I know a man who does ... I'll pass on details as soon as I can.

[GrumbleDook]

No sooner had I typed the email ....

 

There is a generic email address for these enquiries that will get looked at by the Edu team.

 

edulic @ microsoft.com

 

Please use this for any direct enquiries about licensing that cannot be resolved via your normal supplier (or to double check you actually know what you want).

[john]

Great Stuff Tony, thats going in my PDA!

 

Thanks!

[Heebeejeebee]

give whoever it was at Ramesys a slap (and if it was Matt or Gary give them 2 slaps as they should know better).

 

He He, You have to ask three different people for advice then pool the responses and get them to agree on which of the three conflicting answers is correct. I had great difficulty getting a sensible answer about how to licence a new dual core, dual processor SQL server 2005 box and I still haven't had a response on the BackupExec remote service yet.

 

/rant

 

It is correct though that MSDOS does not come under the upgrade rules.

 

HBJB

 

[john]

Please don't mention Veritas, I am still harassing for a price, I now got Auditors on my back as I couldnt prove i had a licence for it, when i said i used it for backup, so they want to see last weeks backup logs, which state:

(Server: "MYSERVER") (Job: "Daily Full Backup") Daily Full Backup -- The job failed with the following error: The software evaluation period has expired.

 

So I'm a bit stuck! GRRR, never mind I got told today that its avalable at last from them after they checked around a bit more for me! Yay! So I can finally get that quoted and ordered on Monday.

[mac_shinobi]

Upgrade under the Select Agreement is from Windows 3.1 upwards ... not DOS ... give whoever it was at Ramesys a slap (and if it was Matt or Gary give them 2 slaps as they should know better). DOS is not a 'windows' operating system ... the upgrade is for windows.

 

If you are ever in any doubt the education team at Microsoft have people that are the bible for education licensing ... do not talk to anyone other part of Microsoft about licensing for education ... you will get different answers.

 

Might want to check section 1.5 here :

 

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/286463

 

It says this with regards to supported operating systems with regards to an upgrade to windows xp pro :

 

You can upgrade to Windows XP Professional from the following operating systems:

 

* Windows 98 (all versions)

* Windows Millennium Edition

* Windows NT 4.0 Workstation (Service Pack 6 and later)

* Windows 2000 Professional (including service packs)

* Windows XP Home Edition

[GrumbleDook]

*sigh* .... Shane ... that is the upgrade of XP Pro ... but not under the Select Agreement.

 

You can still cash in W3.1 and WfW3.11 too ... and this is specifically so schools with old machines can upgrade cheaply.