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How many installs of Windows 10 do you get from the retail CD ?

Annisman*

Annisman*

Golden Member
I am talking about a legitimate purchased copy of Windows 10 Pro on CD-ROM. I am asking because I remember each copy of Windows 7 I bought would let you install on 1 or 2 other computers and need to know if Windows 10 is the same or different.

Thanks.
 
Annisman* said:
I am talking about a legitimate purchased copy of Windows 10 Pro on CD-ROM. I am asking because I remember each copy of Windows 7 I bought would let you install on 1 or 2 other computers and need to know if Windows 10 is the same or different.

Thanks.
Click to expand...

It has always been one license per machine.

The Win7 Family Pack was three licenses / activations, but only one key.
 
VirtualLarry said:
It has always been one license per machine.

The Win7 Family Pack was three licenses / activations, but only one key.
Click to expand...

IDK man I've got a number of computers that would disagree with that. I've re-used each license a number of times and have never had a problem.

Edit: Well one time it asked me how many machines the copy was installed on and I think I said 2, which it was, and it installed fine.
 
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I moved my licence of Win81 Pro retail from one laptop to another a week or so ago and it required manual activation because Windows reckoned that the licence was still active on another computer. That licence had only been used once until the swap.

Retail licences, AFAIK, are meant to be only used on one computer at a time, but you can move it around as many times as you like.
 
mikeymikec said:
I moved my licence of Win81 Pro retail from one laptop to another a week or so ago and it required manual activation because Windows reckoned that the licence was still active on another computer. That licence had only been used once until the swap.

Retail licences, AFAIK, are meant to be only used on one computer at a time, but you can move it around as many times as you like.
Click to expand...

How does it know how many it is active on at once ? Online checks I imagine ?
 
Annisman* said:
IDK man I've got a number of computers that would disagree with that. I've re-used each license a number of times and have never had a problem.
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You can move retail licenses (Upgrade or Full) between PCs, but only on one at a time. (Family Pack licenses can be installed on three PCs at a time.)
Edit: Well one time it asked me how many machines the copy was installed on and I think I said 2, which it was, and it installed fine.
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Good for you. I've tried moving Family Pack licenses between machines, and the automatic voice activation said that I would have to purchase another copy of Windows, when I told it it was installed on three PCs. Speaking to a live person worked without a problem, though.
 
VirtualLarry said:
You can move retail licenses (Upgrade or Full) between PCs, but only on one at a time. (Family Pack licenses can be installed on three PCs at a time.)


Good for you. I've tried moving Family Pack licenses between machines, and the automatic voice activation said that I would have to purchase another copy of Windows, when I told it it was installed on three PCs. Speaking to a live person worked without a problem, though.
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I've never purchased family packs before hmmm
 
Annisman* said:
How does it know how many it is active on at once ? Online checks I imagine ?
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Basically yes. When a machine activates Windows, some (hardware) identifying information is sent. I don't know exactly what information is sent, but for example one can see in C:\WINDOWS\WINDOWSUPDATE.LOG that the manufacturer name and board name are sent, so I would expect similar info during the activation sequence. MS are quite specific about OEM licences revolving around the board that they were activated with.
 
When ms denied me my retail version of vista ultimate saying that I'd abused it that stopped me from buying retail. I've got a retail version of 7 ultimate x64 that I already had when the vista thing happened and that will be the last retail os I buy from them. When ms can arbitrarily decide how many installs a person can perform on their retail software, regardless of circumstances, then I don't need it when oem is cheaper and does the same thing
 
Just because it allowed you to install to multiple machines with a retail Win 7 key does not mean it was legal to do so.

Windows OEM licensing has always been one key = tied to the first PC it's installed on.
Windows Retail licensing has always been one key = one PC, transferable to a new PC if removed from the old.
Things like family packs, student versions, VLSC licensing, Dreamspark/Technet, etc all have their own specific exemptions.

Nothing's changed, and what will pass the technical check when you type it in is irrelevant to the legality of it. So to answer the OP's question, Retail Windows 10 is legally good for a single PC with transfer rights.
 
mikeymikec said:
How many times did you install it (and/or on how many machines was it installed on)?
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It was installed on 1 machine at any given time. Being retail was supposed to allow me to upgrade my hardware at any time. Vista even required reactivation after flashing the motherboard bios on more than one occasion. I had drive failures, hardware failures and upgraded builds along the way when MS said that I'd activated it 22 times. When they blocked the key in their servers I called them up and went round and round for hours with multiple people as each passed me off to another department. In the end they flat out denied me my own retail software which still doesn't sit well with me. After that happened I stopped caring about the eula and will swap oem software around as I see fit. I currently have legitimate copies of xp, xp 64, 7, 8.1 and 10 so I'm not exactly without an operating system.
 
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