NWA-PCUG Newsletter Article, June 2005
Another Annoyance: Windows Licensing
by Ed Bott, author of Windows XP Inside Out


I recently received an e-mail with a gnarly question.
“I’m buying an OEM copy of Windows for a new PC I’m building. I’m thinking of buying it along with my DVD drive. What’s the licensing model for an OEM version of Windows? Specifically, if I buy it, will MS try to assert that the license is bound to my DVD drive? Or to the PC which I am building? I’m also worried that I won’t be able to freely transfer the license to some other PC that I might build in the future.”

I spent lots of time researching the issue and you’re going to be surprised at the complex answer.

OEM copies must be sold either as part of a new computer or with a "non-peripheral computer hardware component," for the license to be valid. Qualifying products include memory, internal drives, mice, keyboards, and power supplies/cords. This type of OEM license includes a CD, a Certificate of Authenticity, and a product key. And it requires activation.

As an end-user, your license would be locked to a particular system only if the OEM copy of Windows had been pre-installed on that system. By purchasing the OEM copy individually with a qualifying piece of hardware, you retain the right to install it on any computer. You will have to activate Windows within 30 days after you first install it.

If you later use the same product key to install Windows on another computer, or if you upgrade the first computer so extensively that it is essentially a new computer, you will have to go through the activation process again.

Unfortunately, you may be unable to complete activation over the Internet in this scenario, because it would appear that you're trying to install a second, unlicensed copy using the same key. To complete activation on the new PC, you may have to make a phone call.

You'll find some useful links in “Everything you always wanted to know about Windows Product Activation,” an article available on my blog located at http://snipurl.com/bottblog.

Copyright 2005 by Ed Bott. All rights reserved. Reproduced with permission. Ed Bott is the author of numerous books including the best selling Windows XP Inside Out (Microsoft Press, 2004) available on Amazon at http://snipurl.com/insideout. Article reproduction coordinated by Steve Bass, author of PC Annoyances: http://snurl.com/annoy2.

Click here to return to top



==================================================================