Windows OEM tied permanently to motherboard?

[adsmith82]

Are Windows XP and Vista OEM's tied permanently to the motherboard they are first installed on? I was considering changing out a motherboard on a PC, but I probably won't if I have to buy a new OS for it.

 

[postmortemIA]

yes they are. you can argue that your old motherboard broke and you needed new and the old model doesn't sell anymore.

 

[glorygunk]

i've been searching for the answer to this question as well. it seems to be hit or miss, but you'll need to call MS and argue your case. anecdotal evidence that this isn't too hard.

see this thread:
http://forums.anandtech.com/me...=2198212&enterthread=y

 

[thegorx]

why not just sell the old computer, building a new computer is much more fun than upgrading anyway. I wonder if they get requests from users to use old OEM xp installations to be used as virtual install on a new machine to smoothe the transition to vista. I've heard speakers suggest this but they never mention the fact about the restrictions of oem which most home users or even small business would have.

 

[kurt454]

I have changed my motherboard many times with an OEM XP Home CD. I have always been able to activate online as well.

 

[Scotteq]

Originally posted by: adsmith82
Are Windows XP and Vista OEM's tied permanently to the motherboard they are first installed on? I was considering changing out a motherboard on a PC, but I probably won't if I have to buy a new OS for it.

They're tied to the *system* they're installed on, and you are perfectly within your rights to 'repair' your computer as you see fit. Feel free to interpret the word 'repair' as you will.

Call MSFT and tell them you had to fix your comp. They'll give you a new licence over the phone.

 

[Nothinman]

I have changed my motherboard many times with an OEM XP Home CD. I have always been able to activate online as well.

Yes it'll probably work just fine but it's still against the license.

 

[Ryland]

I had no problems getting an XP installatino that was originally on a Gateway to activate on both a Dell and an MSI motherboard (always moving the same harddisk). MS didn't care, they just allowed the activation with a simple phone call.

 

[Buffalolake]

I replaced my motherboard and CPU last month. A week later, Windows (XP Pro x64) informed me that it had detected a system change and re-activation was required. I let it re-activate online, it just took a few seconds and didn't give me any problems.

 

[ViRGE]

Originally posted by: Ryland
I had no problems getting an XP installatino that was originally on a Gateway to activate on both a Dell and an MSI motherboard (always moving the same harddisk). MS didn't care, they just allowed the activation with a simple phone call.

Yep, the long & short of the situation is that they generally don't care. But (and this is a big but) they're under no obligation to allow a new activation if they believe you are moving it to a new system.