>>> That is the rub of product activation. Usually you can talk the microsoft activation rep of out india into resetting the key.

Actually, with Windows XP if you wait 4 months, the product resets and activation will complete successfully without having to call MS by phone! With Vista, MS was going to make it ONE installation only, but last I heard, there was such an uproar from the community that they went back to the Windows XP EULA, so the resetting should apply to that version of Windows too. Setting up a new Win XP or Vista computer every 4 months is possible, but not legal.

[Linked Image from i3.iofferphoto.com]

The Dell and Gateway OEM disks sold on eBay for $20 or so can be used as substitutes for lost disks as long as you have the original Windows information on the computer box that matches the type of Windows on the OEM disk purchased on eBay. That is, if the Dell computer is set to run WinXP Pro, and you buy a replacement Win XP Pro disc, you should be OK. Heck, on resetup the installation doesn't even ask you for the installation password. Now, the EULA states that the OEM discs can't be sold without hardward, so you will get a broken hard drive, ram memory chip, or whatever to comply with Microsoft's EULA.

The statements above on software licenses in a business situation are true- if you are unlucky enough to be audited, you need to demonstrate that you purchased the right license, and have used it according to the EULA. There was an article that I read during my recent trip to Greece from PC World: http://www.pcworld.ca/news/column/85c33b600a01040801adc12203c97635/pg1.htm.


Last edited by alborg; 07/11/2008 5:47 AM.