Is this legal?

[busmaster11]

Got a new Dell laptop with XP home. Formatted, installed a purchased copy of XP Pro.

Took the XP home recovery CD, which appears to be nothing more than a relabeled oem XP home CD unmodified, and installed onto an old Pentium 3 box, with no problems. Activated with the key from the laptop XP Home sticker and registered without issue....

Is this legal? Is the xp home license legal enough to sell prior to activation?

TIA

 

[jlbenedict]

No.

That XP Home license is tied to that Dell machine. I believe it follows the same licensing as an OEM license.


Someone correct me, if I'm wrong (which I usually am) 🙂

 

[RebateMonger]

What you are doing is in violation of the license agreement between you and Dell. I'm surprised that Microsoft let you activate the XP Home on a non-Dell computer. Normally, online activation would be denied. You'd have to call Microsoft and explain why you are installing a Dell OEM version of XP Home on a non-Dell computer.

And, yes, selling your XP Home license is ALSO a violation of your license agreement. It has to be accompanied by the original Dell PC that it came with.

 

[busmaster11]

Originally posted by: RebateMonger
What you are doing is in violation of the license agreement between you and Dell. I'm surprised that Microsoft let you activate the XP Home on a non-Dell computer. Normally, online activation would be denied. You'd have to call Microsoft and explain why you are installing a Dell OEM version of XP Home on a non-Dell computer.

And, yes, selling your XP Home license is ALSO a violation of your license agreement. It has to be accompanied by the original Dell PC that it came with.

The Dell CD had no problems with the hardware I put it on... In any case, how's this different than buying an oem XP CD from newegg along with a mouse or keyboard to satisfy the hardware requirements?

I never sold anything but could an argument be made that since Dell won't sell you hardware without an M$ OS installed on it that you have the right to sell that license that you never wanted to begin with?

I know that there are these disclaimers with the software that might say otherwise, but I'd like to see how well the M$ strongarming tactics hold up in a court of law.

 

[RebateMonger]

You can read several hundred postings on this topic here on AnadTech.

 

[mordantmonkey]

only the courts could decide if it was truely illegal, or a violation of any contract. And since MS isn't going to come after you about re-using an individual OEM license on a different box, why are you worrying?
Is it a violation of your EULA? probably. Will it really matter? no.
I suppose you could make some kind of ethical argument about it, but the truth is you currently own both copies and licenses. If MS wants to raise a stink about what you're doing with them they probably could, but they won't.

 

[RebateMonger]

Originally posted by: busmaster11
The Dell CD had no problems with the hardware I put it on... In any case, how's this different than buying an oem XP CD from newegg along with a mouse or keyboard to satisfy the hardware requirements?

There is no difference. Your EULA won't permit you to move a Newegg-purchased OEM version to a second PC, either.

...since Dell won't sell you hardware without an M$ OS installed on it that you have the right to sell that license that you never wanted to begin with?

Dell will happily sell you a PC with no OS. Check out Dell Small Business.

I know that there are these disclaimers with the software that might say otherwise, but I'd like to see how well the M$ strongarming tactics hold up in a court of law.

For most people, the only "strongarming tactic" that's required is Microsoft's refusal to allow online activation of BIOS-locked OEM software.

 

[busmaster11]

Originally posted by: RebateMonger

Originally posted by: busmaster11
The Dell CD had no problems with the hardware I put it on... In any case, how's this different than buying an oem XP CD from newegg along with a mouse or keyboard to satisfy the hardware requirements?

There is no difference. Your EULA won't permit you to move a Newegg-purchased OEM version to a second PC, either.

A second PC isn't the issue. My XP home was never activated on the Dell laptop, so it would only be installed on a first PC. I'm not exactly an enthusiast who likes to move OS's around....

...since Dell won't sell you hardware without an M$ OS installed on it that you have the right to sell that license that you never wanted to begin with?

Dell will happily sell you a PC with no OS. Check out Dell Small Business.

Hmm... I wonder if Dell's Small Business will allow me to combine coupon codes and rebates to get my 600m for under 800 a year and a half ago... I wonder why that option wasn't there to save me more money...

I know that there are these disclaimers with the software that might say otherwise, but I'd like to see how well the M$ strongarming tactics hold up in a court of law.

For most people, the only "strongarming tactic" that's required is Microsoft's refusal to allow online activation of BIOS-locked OEM software.

I believe its a strong-armed tactic to promote prevalence of their OS by selling it for a fraction of the cost to oems and forcing them to package it with nearly everything, and in doing so, slow down the trend of low-cost PCs with low-cost alternative OS'es... And of course, implicitly, to force people to buy extra copies of their software when they no longer use the hardware its installed on to begin with.

As far as BIOS locking, its' always been but a rumour to me, though admittedly, I was very surprised how easy it was to install the OS on the other box.

 

[RebateMonger]

busmaster11,

You originally asked the question, "Is this legal?"

You now know the answer, at least in the opinion of Dell and Microsoft. If you don't like the answer, you should take it up with them.

 

[jhu]

do you ever drive faster than the posted speed limit? same thing. are you worried about something?

 

[magomago]

The way I see it is technically yeah they say you can't. But you legally own both copies, and they are on both of your own pcs (laptop and PC). I doubt it matters that much. Microsoft got their business either way. If Microsoft were to actually prosecute people you would probably be last in line.
Anyways it is like jhu said...you are driving faster than the speed limit, so its your choice if you want to worry