MS Student Select

[Bateluer]

My college has a student purchase agreement with MS, selling MS products at vastly discounted rates.

I could use some of the software they sell, however, there is something in the FAQ that makes me hesitant.

Each product includes one license and one media kit. The license gives you the right to install the product on one computer. The media kit bundled with the license is protected by Microsoft's Office Registration Wizard (ORW). The ORW technology allows a user to install the product up to two times on a single computer.


When a student purchases a product under this program, the product becomes the property of the student. The product will not terminate or expire simply by virtue of the termination, suspension, or other interruption of the student's status as a matriculated student.

Each student is limited to one copy of each product.

Suppose, I buy a copy of XP Student Select, install it, then 3 months down the line, I reformat and install it again on the same computer. Then, another 3 months down the line, I reformat and need to reinstall again, can I? They make it sound like you cannot.

Edit - I do have a legal copy of WinXP Pro at the moment, I was just using XP Pro as an example. They offer a full range of MS Office products that I don't have. And, the possibilty of purchasing Vista for a cheaper price has some appeal as well.

 

[bruceb]

If you do it the smart way and use either Ghost or Acronis Tru Image to make a Backup
of your computer drive after everything is installed, tested & working properly, then you
will not need to reinstall ... just restore your Image in the event of problems .. the only
thing you need concern yourself with, is Weekly or Monthly Backups of your Personal Files

 

[Bateluer]

So nobody knows?

Thanks for the tip bruceb, but that takes way too many DVDs.

 

[nweaver]

Originally posted by: Bateluer
So nobody knows?

Thanks for the tip bruceb, but that takes way too many DVDs.

no such thing as too many DVD's for a backup....unless you don't care about your data.

An image is going to take probably 2-3 DVD's tops

 

[ProviaFan]

Student licensing offers a ridiculously limited number of activations, at least for XP Pro (as I discovered to much cursing after a recent failed activation - and I reformat nowhere near as frequently as every few months). If it weren't for the world's / university's dependency on Windows+Office, I'd just switch to Linux; on the other hand, I'd like to buy a Retail copy of XP to rid myself of this hassle, but I don't want to encourage them. :|

 

[Looney]

Have you actually tried calling into MS to activate it? MS call center is very lenient on things... whether it's activations or warranty issues.

 

[Bateluer]

Originally posted by: Looney
Have you actually tried calling into MS to activate it? MS call center is very lenient on things... whether it's activations or warranty issues.

Actually, I just had to do that on my retail version of XP Pro. After I built my X2 system, XP told me that I had reached my maximum amount of installations with my CD key. I called the 800 number they gave me, got routed to India, read the rep a 30+ digit number, entered a 30+ digit number, which activated my copy again.