Windows XP upgrade options

[Muse]

I'd like a copy of Windows XP Pro to run on my desktop, my laptops have COA's, but I bought Windows 2000 Pro with the parts for my desktop. I already have an XP install disk (XP Pro, SP2) but no license. What are my upgrade options? Do I only need a key? Maybe someone to sell and send me an actual certificate? Aren't there a lot of people out there who have licensed versions of XP Pro who aren't using them? Can I become a legally licensed user by buying from them? I put a post in For Sale/Trade here, am getting some replies, nothing solid yet. What's the deal? I need to be able to support the OS, maybe run MSE on the box, do updates, etc. Thanks for help.

PS I know I can pay MS $100 or something, but I'm hoping I can do it cheaper if I buy someone's who isn't using it. Is that possible?

 

[MrChad]

How old is your desktop?

 

[seepy83]

Windows XP Retail "Full Purchased Product" (FPP) licenses are transferable from 1 owner/PC to another, as long as it is uninstalled from the original PC before it is installed on the new one. So, yes, if someone has an old retail copy of XP that they no longer want, they can sell it to you without breaking any of Microsoft's licensing terms.

 

[Muse]

How old is your desktop?

I have several motherboards, I guess 3 that would work in the machine. The one in there now is Gigabyte GA-K8n Pro motherboard, probably from around 2005, I guess. Gigabyte's page for it doesn't show the date, at least I didn't see it:

http://ee.gigabyte.com/products/page/mb/ga-k8n_pro/overview/

 

[Muse]

Windows XP Retail "Full Purchased Product" (FPP) licenses are transferable from 1 owner/PC to another, as long as it is uninstalled from the original PC before it is installed on the new one. So, yes, if someone has an old retail copy of XP that they no longer want, they can sell it to you without breaking any of Microsoft's licensing terms.

A guy PMed me and said he would PM me the key and send me the COA. Said it's XP Pro, that's all I know. I think he was saying he'd do this for free. I thanked him and PMed my address. Whether it's FPP, I don't know...

 

[Ferzerp]

"Full Purchased Product"

full packaged product a.k.a a retail boxed copy

 

[Lemon law]

Yes its a technique one can use but its not always that simple. If you bought XP pro full or get it off a PC you bought used, its always transferable to a new PC. Simple because you own the OS. And that was the Microsoft terms when the OS was purchased. Which binds Microsoft legally also. Even if the original OS was purchased before SP1 came out.

However I have found, especially in the case of older copies off the original install disk, typing in the correct 16 alphanumeric COA will not be always accepted by Microsoft as they arbitrarily and illegally decided to cancel the key. In which case, I had to call Microsoft under the terms of is it genuine, escalate things up to a real live human being, stick to your legal rights, and Microsoft will finally send you a new 16 digit install disk. But it usually takes a little bit of a unpleasant fight.

Of course that won't work if you have a Coa for XP home or pro, that was originally less than full.

 

[Ferzerp]

or get it off a PC you bought used, its always transferable to a new PC.

No, OEM licenses are never transferable to a new PC. This difference is reflected in the price (which also reflects that MS provides 0 support for it as your hardware vendor must provide support at that point).

 

[Muse]

OK, so I just read the responses and I gather that the issue is whether it's an OEM license or a "full" license. So, this guy could have an OEM license with COA and I wouldn't be able to convince MS that I'm entitled to it. I'll PM him and ask. I figure I'm up to calling MS and wrangling their acquiescence if it comes to that, assuming I have a full copy, not OEM that's conditional to being used on a particular machine.

Edit: My benefactor PMed me this:


it is from a system that is no longer in use, parted it out and re-used the case and installed win7 pro, so it is no longer in use, and hasnt been for probably 1+ years

[ key was here ]

worst case in activating it is you would have to call in, but i am 99.9% sure it will activate online.

going to put it in the mail now.
- - - -
I PMed him back:

Um, is this an OEM license? If so, MS might not accept it on my machine. Is it a full copy? Thanks again!
- - - -
He PMs me back:

its oem, (not a dell or another company, but what you would buy from newegg). i have used other ones in the past on machines and they worked. sometimes i had to call in and use the automated, only once did i have to tell a person i upgraded my machine and they activated it for me, but 90% of the time they activated online. like i said this one hasnt been in use for well over 1 year.
- - - -
Is this gonna work? - Muse

 

[Ferzerp]

From a technical standpoint, it will function and activate after you call them up.

It is not a valid license from a legal standpoint though.

edit: When he bought it, it was valid with what he installed it on, and then that was it. Upgrades are a grey area and a judgement call (upgrading a single part sure, upgrading all the guts in the same case? well, not so much), but giving it to someone else is pretty cut and dry outside the license terms.

 

[sm625]

You can get XP Home Upgrade Retail on ebay for $45. What do you need Pro for?

 

[Muse]

From a technical standpoint, it will function and activate after you call them up.

It is not a valid license from a legal standpoint though.

edit: When he bought it, it was valid with what he installed it on, and then that was it. Upgrades are a grey area and a judgement call (upgrading a single part sure, upgrading all the guts in the same case? well, not so much), but giving it to someone else is pretty cut and dry outside the license terms.

So it may not work when I enter the key and I'll have to call and wrangle with MS? And they may say I'm SOL? :|

 

[Muse]

You can get XP Home Upgrade Retail on ebay for $45. What do you need Pro for?

I don't know. I'm used to XP Pro, never have used Home. I read stuff online yesterday about the differences, and yes, I don't use that stuff. I guess I can map drives even with Home. I may never really miss any of the Pro features. Day could come when I do, but I don't know that now.

 

[Muse]

Is there a chance that the install will validate when I enter the key he PMed me even though it's OEM? He said he hasn't used it for over a year.

 

[Muse]

I just saw this listing on ebay:


For Sale: One Never used Windows XP Professional with SP3 (Service Pack 3) and unused COA 0EM. It is a Dell CD but will install on any machine and the COA will activate the item on any machine if installed as a full, fresh install. This item is not meant to upgrade or be installed over an existing operating system. If you are planning on formatting your hard drive to install a fresh copy of Windows XP, this is the item for you. There will be No Returns allowed unless item is Defective or Damaged. No exceptions.
- - - -
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Microsoft-Windows-XP-Professional-SP3-Service-Pack-3-Pro-COA-CD-Full-Version-/140738808329?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item20c4afca09
- - - -
Seller says it'll work but admits it's OEM (Dell). Should I be skeptical? It's BIN at $30, free shipping.

 

[Muse]

No, OEM licenses are never transferable to a new PC. This difference is reflected in the price (which also reflects that MS provides 0 support for it as your hardware vendor must provide support at that point).

The particular OEM version that I'm getting is not designated for a manufacturer of PCs such as HP or Dell. I believe it's for a home built system, so AFAIK there's no way the install disk knows what the system is supposed to look like. I bought a similar disk from the same vendor, Newegg, around 2000 that was for the system I built completely from parts bought at Newegg, my disk was for Windows 2000 Professional. Windows 2000 didn't have any system involved where you needed corroboration for your license from Microsoft, such as they instituted for XP.

I suppose that Microsoft has records of the XP disk having been installed previously and if I tell them that I got the disk from the party that bought it they may say I'm not entitled to install from it. However, I suppose I could instead tell them that I got the computer from that guy and in that case I suppose they must feel obliged to honor the license. It's a thought. How would they know whether or not I got his system instead of just the install disk. He tells me he parted out the system. I know, it's not the most honest thing I could do but I don't know that it's so bad either. What do you guys think?

 

[seepy83]

Will Microsoft know if you re-use the OEM Installation Media and Key that's being sent to you? Probably not.

Are you illegally pirating software? Yes.

This is an Ethics issue.

 

[Ferzerp]

You will be able to get them to activate it yes, but like I said, it's technically against the licensing terms to re-use that. Just because they give you a code to activate, doesn't mean that it's legit. The pretty much don't ask any questions when you call. If your code is valid, they just have you give the challenge code and they give the response (The last time I did it on a win7 one, it was completely automated, never talked to a live person. In that case, it was a FPP license that I moved from one PC to another). Doesn't make it right though.

 

[VirtualLarry]

I once had to re-install Windows 7, onto a PC that had a mobo swap (from an IP35-E - died, or at least wouldn't work anymore for me at the time, to an IP35 vanilla), and when I called and got a human, he didn't even make me read the challenge code off to him, he just gave me an activation code.

I suspect, that it was some sort of generic bypass activation code. Stupidly, I clicked "Next", instead of pausing to write down the code. Could probably have enabled an army of illicit activations. (Or at the very least, would have enabled me to re-activate my own software when I moved it between machines, without having to call MS and waste 20 minutes on the phone for each machine.)

 

[ViRGE]

Muse, I'm afraid you're going about this all the wrong way.

It's 2012, you can't get a "new" or otherwise unused copy of XP. You haven't been able to do that for years. Even those Dell copies are used; they're taken from Dell machines that were shipped with XP preinstalled. And it's extremely rare to see a used retail copy of XP go up for sale.

What you need to be doing is buying a copy of Windows 7 and exercising your downgrade rights. Once you buy Win7 MS will let you activate a no longer used OEM copy of XP in lieu of using Windows 7. This will allow you to get XP in a fully legitimate manner.