XP corporate master install disk

[Redered]

A buddy and his brother work at a pc shop here in townand he tells me that his boss
uses a master install disk. I have never heard such thing or have i ever seen one.
He clames you can install as many copies of XP you want and no activation code needed.

I think he is full of bs and the shop is selling bootleg copies. When i ask him about what disk does the buyer gets and guess what they dont. hmmmm.


Can any one give me a quick list of all the XP vers. I know of Xp home ,xp pro,and mce.
and i know that there is retail and oem. you should be able to but retail on any pc after you take it off the last pc. With oem you are not supposed to do that.

 

[nweaver]

That would be Volume License version, which is upgrade only, and IS limited in your licenses. MS will hammer down if someone is selling PC's with VL installed copies, as well as whomever that VL is licensed to.

 

[timswim78]

Originally posted by: nweaver
That would be Volume License version, which is upgrade only, and IS limited in your licenses. MS will hammer down if someone is selling PC's with VL installed copies, as well as whomever that VL is licensed to.

Agreed. It sounds like that PC shop is breaking the law and ripping off their customers, big time.

 

[jfunk]

It would have to be a volume license. This is exactly like a normal copy of XP Pro, only it does not require activation. It still requires a key to install with. These keys are a lot easier to track than regular retail/oem keys because there are only so many valid ones out there.

This shop is most likely either using generated keys to install, (which will work, but the people using them will not pass validation on MS's website because they key will come up as bad), or they are using a legit key that the guy got from somebody he knows that works at a company that owns it.

Either way, it's illegal. All it's going to take is one person he sells a computer or somebody they have do work on the computer, to report it. If he's using a generated key that won't pass validation, this will likely be one of his own customers calling MS to try to resolve the fact that they can't download something. Otherwise, it will likely be a competetor of his who works on one of those PCs down the road and asks where they got it with that VLK install of Windows.

 

[RebateMonger]

Originally posted by: jfunk
This shop is most likely either using generated keys to install, (which will work, but the people using them will not pass validation on MS's website because they key will come up as bad), or they are using a legit key that the guy got from somebody he knows that works at a company that owns it.

Are there actually keygen programs for XP? I've heard this over the years, but when you look at the number of possible codes versus the number of legitimate ones, it doesn't really seem possible. It seems much more likely that people are using stolen keys.

Unless somebody leaked MS's key-generation algorithm. But I suspect that only Bill Gates and God have access to that safe.

Meanwhile, if you want to get rich:
BSA now offering up to $200,000 in rewards for Qualifying Piracy Reports! (Offer ended April 15th.)

 

[John]

Originally posted by: RebateMonger
Meanwhile, if you want to get rich:
BSA now offering up to $200,000 in rewards for Qualifying Piracy Reports! (Offer ended April 15th.)

Hahaha......

 

[Brazen]

Are the customers getting a license key with the computer? You know, the little multi colored paper that says something like "Genuine Microsoft software" or something like that and has a product key on it. If not, it's illegal. It's usaully either on a little CD sized piece of paper or on a sticker attached to the case.

 

[jfunk]

There have been XP keygens since before it was even released.

In fact, until the recent MS "Genuine Advantage" validation stuff, you could use one without any sort of inconvenience at all. They blacklisted the most commonly used ones with SP1, but hadn't done anything else about it until now.

Originally posted by: RebateMonger

Originally posted by: jfunk
This shop is most likely either using generated keys to install, (which will work, but the people using them will not pass validation on MS's website because they key will come up as bad), or they are using a legit key that the guy got from somebody he knows that works at a company that owns it.

Are there actually keygen programs for XP? I've heard this over the years, but when you look at the number of possible codes versus the number of legitimate ones, it doesn't really seem possible. It seems much more likely that people are using stolen keys.

Unless somebody leaked MS's key-generation algoritym. But I suspect that only Bill Gates and God have access to that safe.

Meanwhile, if you want to get rich:
BSA now offering up to $200,000 in rewards for Qualifying Piracy Reports! (Offer ended April 15th.)

 

[spyordie007]

Are the customers getting a license key with the computer? You know, the little multi colored paper that says something like "Genuine Microsoft software" or something like that and has a product key on it. If not, it's illegal. It's usaully either on a little CD sized piece of paper or on a sticker attached to the case.

Even if the case is coming with a COA it's still illegal to install a VL version of XP on them.

Just to give them the benefit of the doubt are these PCs made by a large OEM (i.e. rebranded/resold Dells)? If they come from a large OEM and they are running the origional BIOS they could be using a SLP pre-activated install/key and by "master install disk" he really just means an XP disc with the key in an unattend file.

Although I think that's unlikely, they're probably pirating it.

Erik

 

[scottws]

Originally posted by: nweaver
That would be Volume License version, which is upgrade only, and IS limited in your licenses.

I have a copy of XP that I got at the university library when XP first came out. I assume is volume licensed since it doesn't ask for activation and the school uses the same CD-key in the labs when you install and play around with Windows XP in a virtual machine.

But it doesn't seem to be upgrade-only because I never had to insert a CD-ROM from a previous version of Windows during the install process, which I've done a handful of times.

 

[nweaver]

by upgrade only, I mean they license itself is to "upgrade" systems with and existing license. The media doesn't make the restriction, like retail upgrades, but It's in the license

 

[Zugzwang152]

No Reward is payable unless BSA pursues a case and, as a direct result of the information provided by you, receives a monetary payment from the reported organization.

http://reporting.bsa.org/usa/rewardsconditions.aspx

 

[jfunk]

Originally posted by: nweaver
by upgrade only, I mean they license itself is to "upgrade" systems with and existing license. The media doesn't make the restriction, like retail upgrades, but It's in the license

Volume Licenses are not upgrades.

 

[spyordie007]

Originally posted by: jfunk

Originally posted by: nweaver
by upgrade only, I mean they license itself is to "upgrade" systems with and existing license. The media doesn't make the restriction, like retail upgrades, but It's in the license

Volume Licenses are not upgrades.

And I'm pretty sure you cant use a volume licensed product key on a retail install.

 

[SunnyD]

Originally posted by: spyordie007

Are the customers getting a license key with the computer? You know, the little multi colored paper that says something like "Genuine Microsoft software" or something like that and has a product key on it. If not, it's illegal. It's usaully either on a little CD sized piece of paper or on a sticker attached to the case.

Even if the case is coming with a COA it's still illegal to install a VL version of XP on them.

Just to give them the benefit of the doubt are these PCs made by a large OEM (i.e. rebranded/resold Dells)? If they come from a large OEM and they are running the origional BIOS they could be using a SLP pre-activated install/key and by "master install disk" he really just means an XP disc with the key in an unattend file.

Although I think that's unlikely, they're probably pirating it.

Erik

Wrong.

Microsoft Re-imaging rights for VLK.

 

[spyordie007]

Wow thanks for the clairification and link SunnyD, I had been told some years back that this was not okay but I guess that was wrong.

 

[SunnyD]

Originally posted by: spyordie007
Wow thanks for the clairification and link SunnyD, I had been told some years back that this was not okay but I guess that was wrong.

Yeah, I know the feeling. My software vendor said this was okay to do... then I called Microsoft Rep#1, who said it wasn't (didn't understand what I was talking about), Rep#2 said you can't do that, and finally Rep#3 figured out what I was talking about and pointed me to that brief. 3 days of phone calls and a near heart-attack over the first two days thinking "OMG! I have ~350 illegal Windows XP deployments!"