Legality issue - Microsoft Windows

[Workaholic]

Lets take a quick look at some laptops provided by Toshiba on their business site.....

For example, Tecra A9 - 150 here:
Tecra A9-150

One spec caught my attention as possibly the decider in picking a "close to" £500 laptop to buy.....

Operating system Genuine Windows Vista® Business Edition (pre-installed) + Genuine Windows® XP Professional Edition (as recovery media on DVD-ROM)

Hmm I wondered and called them up to claify a point...
The Toshiba advsior on the phone advised me that 2 sets of disc are included - one for Vista and one for Windows XP, as you were purchasing a laptop with Vista, that also had a XP disc as fallback when you wanted to downgrade....

I then queried him on the legality of the issue of using both on the same HDD, not at the same time, but dual booting to which he mentioned it would most possibly be illegal in the eyes of Microsoft.

The question for you guys is:

Is it legal or not to dual boot, you have both discs each with a valid product code which allows its use (one machine at a time?)


P.S. if it is legal, then it would most possibly be my choice of laptop due to myself wanting to use Vista for certain features but having the option of fail safing to XP to use for the incompatible software and games.........

[alsenior]

With the business and ultimate editions of vista you get downgrade rights. i.e. if for whatever reason a business app that works under xp pro won't work under vista you can downgrade but you cant dual boot

[AndrewJ]

Unless of course you format into Windows XP and make a parition and install Vista on that.

[dave87]

Even if it was legal, I doubt it would be technically possible. The activation process would stop you, and after a month one of the installations would enter reduced functionality mode = less useful than a chocolate fire guard.

Shame, as it would be quite handy.

[Workaholic]

How does the activation process work again, doesn't it just compare what hardware you have installed?

Product Activation works by verifying that a software program's product key has not been used on more personal computers than intended by the software's license. You must use the product key in order to install the software and then it is transformed into an installation ID number. You use an activation wizard to provide the installation ID number to Microsoft either through a secure transfer over the Internet, or by telephone. A confirmation ID is sent back to your machine to activate your product.

The installation ID number includes an encrypted form of the product ID and a hardware hash, or checksum. None of the information collected during product activation will be used to personally identify you. The confirmation ID is simply an unlocking code for the Windows XP installation on that particular PC.

[directhex]

when will people stop confusing licensing and product activation? :'( :'( :'( :'( :'( :'( :'( :'( :'(

anyway...

[DOC]Downgrade Rights Chart:

Can I downgrade my OEM version of Windows Vista Business to Windows XP Professional?
Yes. OEM downgrade rights for desktop PC operating systems apply to Windows Vista Business and Windows Vista Ultimate as stated in the License Terms. Please note, OEM downgrade versions of Windows Vista Business and Windows Vista Ultimate are limited to Windows XP Professional (including Windows XP Tablet PC Edition and Windows XP x64 Edition). End users can use the following media for their downgrade: Volume Licensing media (provided the end user has a Volume Licensing agreement), retail (FPP), or system builder hologram CD (provided the software is acquired in accordance with the Microsoft OEM System Builder License). Use of the downgraded operating system is governed by the Windows Vista Business License Terms, and the end user cannot use both the downgrade operating system and Windows Vista Business. There are no downgrade rights granted for Windows Vista Home Basic or Windows Vista Home Premium.

[Workaholic]

Damn - back to the drawing board then it is........

Cheers to Direct Hex for clearing it all up.

[dave87]

Hex - all I was saying is because the downgrade would disable the Vista product code you wouldn't be able to activate it once you'd completed the downgrade process...

[Sinizter]

Technically it would be illegal. But I doubt that in this particular case, they would even bother enforcing it.

[Splash]

I think in this situation they would most certainly enforce it. The key is valid either for the preinstalled OS (Vista Business) OR the downgrade to XP. It's a simple either/or.

But hexxeh beat me to the punch by a good few hours.

[this_is_gav]

Regarding activation, do Toshiba use licence numbers written in the BIOS or do you need to manually input a serial number? That would confuse things, as with most new Dells you don't actually need to activate (Vista anyway) it just checks the BIOS, is happy and moves on. There's no reporting home or "this Windows installation is not genuine" or whatever comes up when you've been naughty.