Windows XP Legality Question

[Rainsford]

I have a question about Windows XP. Suppose I went out and bought a Professional copy from Newegg or something. I'd have a license, right? Then could I get a corporate copy from work or something and use that to install on my computer. I know a lot of people are doing this, but I was wondering if it was legal to do or not. I'd rather just avoid activation if at all possible, but I think paying for stuff you use is the right thing to do, and I'd rather not have Bill Gates kick down my door for "pirating" XP (ok, so it's more the first part ). Anyone know?

 

[kurt454]

I see nothing wrong with that personally, since you have paid for your copy of XP. It might be a hassle in the future though.

 

[cleverhandle]

Definitely not legal (as in "licensed by the books" - the real legality of all this is not well established), though it's moral enough. The licensing for corporate versions are quite explicit that they are to be used only by authorized Volume Licensing Partners (or whatever the term du jour is).

That being said, I can't imagine you could get in too much trouble. As an individual puchaser, it's unlikely MS would ever find out, and if they did, and you produced a valid retail/OEM license, they would certainly not waste money and risk bad publicity prosecuting you. At the worst, you'd just have to transfer over your settings to a new installation. Of course, rumors occasionally surface that the widely copied corporate editions will be locked out of Windows Update, but we'll see...

But, honestly, it's just not that hard to activate a legit copy. The MS people on this won't ask questions about your date of purchase, computer hardware, sexual orientation, or anything else you don't want to reveal. Last time I reactivated, it took less than two minutes, including time on hold. Not worth the trouble of worrying about the legalities of the alternatives.

 

[Rainsford]

Thanks cleverhandle. The corprate copy I would have would be from the company I work for, not a well known key. However, as you said, it is illegal to do that (just asked my boss). I think I'll probably just get a regular copy and activate it since I don't change my hardware too often.