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Windows license question

M

Mojoed

Diamond Member
I recently purchased two used Dell Optiplex systems. I have not received them yet. One an Optiplex 755 and the other a 780. The 755 will have Windows 7 Home Premium and the 780 will have no OS.

If I decommissioned the 755 and installed it's hard drive into the 780, would it boot without issue? Would that even be legal? Would the different hardware cause it to not work? I have no problem buying another copy of Windows, but it would be preferable if I could easily and legally avoid doing so.

I'm asking because I just may return the 755 if this isn't going to work.

Thanks in advance!
 
If the hardware is similar then it should work, I've done it before with Windows 7.

Here's what MS says regarding OEM licenses:

Q. My customer bought a new PC and wants to move the OEM software from the old PC to the new one. Can't users do whatever they want with their software?

A. No, the OEM software is licensed with the computer system on which it was originally installed and is tied to that original machine. OEM licenses are single-use licenses that cannot be installed on more than one computer system, even if the original machine is no longer in use. The Microsoft Software License Terms, which the end user must accept before using the software, state that the license may not be shared, transferred to, or used concurrently on different computers. System builders must provide end-user support for the Windows license on computers they build, but cannot support licenses on computers they didn’t build. This is a fundamental reason why an OEM System Builder License can't be transferred.
 
Since you are going Dell to Dell, I believe there is a chance. What I looked at shows a slight variation in Chipsets, so a flag is possible here. I ran into this years ago on an HP when I had to replace a dead motherboard with a slightly different chipset, and I had to call, but they were ok with it. Will you be able to test once they arrive?

But getting to MustISO's post, the SHOULD part of it may get you here.
 
Last edited:
Thanks for the reply guys. The difference in hardware could be significant unfortunately. The 755 has the Q35 Express Chipset, while the 780 sports the Q45 Express.

I'm hoping the Dell to Dell thing will make things kosher.
 
Hah, well the systems arrived today and guess what? BOTH systems had Win7 installed! Lucky me I guess. I was all prepped to swap hard drives.

Thanks for all the responses.
 
A DELL SLIC Certificate should work on another DELL computer so I see no issues.

It's like I have an Alienware 18 Laptop, if I use the Windows 7 (Alienware Edition) disc on any Alienware computer, the moment it's installed it would be activated since it detects it's an Alienware motherboard (SLIC OEM Activation)
 
berryracer said:
A DELL SLIC Certificate should work on another DELL computer so I see no issues.

It's like I have an Alienware 18 Laptop, if I use the Windows 7 (Alienware Edition) disc on any Alienware computer, the moment it's installed it would be activated since it detects it's an Alienware motherboard (SLIC OEM Activation)
Click to expand...

His situation is different, because the license from the source pc would be trying to activate on the second, which presumably would not have had a license upon arrival.
 
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