Transfer of XP Home from broken Dell

[scrandman]

More of a licensing question I think, but I've not been working on PCs for a while so I'm a tad rusty.

I have a friend who gave me their Dell PC to "look at". The PSU was broken, but in the process of dying, I think it has taken the IDE controller with it - the hard drive works when slaved into my PC but the Dell won't even recognise it is there.

To cut a long story short, I'm looking to build a new rig as cheaply as I can for my friend to replace the broken Dell. If at all possible I would like to perform a fresh XP Home install in the new PC. I have my own XP Home SP2 disk and the Dell had XP Home installed on it. Bearing in mind the Dell will be going in the bin (less any bits I can salvage from it):

1. Will it actually accept the XP Home license from the Dell on a new install using my own XP Home disk?

2. Is this legit?

Please bear in mind I am not trying to diddle anyone here - I have 2 PCs with XP Home legitimately installed right now, and at the end of the exercise I will have the same.

Thanks.

[vinnyT]

1; It may work, suck it and see.

2; Definately not legit, the licence with the dell machine would have been oem, not transferable. Sorry.

[this_is_gav]

License dies with the PC, so reusing the license on a new PC (or motherboard to be specific) is not really any different to more conventional piracy.

Whether it works or not largely depends on Dell. Most keys supplied with their machines are essentially fake ones - they let you install the software on another PC, but won't activate - the true key is hard-coded into the BIOS.

[Saracen]

License dies with the PC, so reusing the license on a new PC (or motherboard to be specific) is not really any different to more conventional piracy.

Yes, but this situation is also in a kind-of grey area.

An OEM licence is not transferable to a new PC. That is certainly the case. The issue is .... when is the replacement of parts a "new" PC?

The statements I've seen from Microsoft seem to amount to this :-

1) You can upgrade most parts of a PC without it resulting in a new PC. So a graphics card upgrade, or a new HD, etc, doesn't amount to a new PC.

2) Upgrading too many parts in too short a time frame is dubious. It's more acceptable over a longer period. I've not seen anything official detailing how many parts, or what time frame, more than that, though there certainly used to be a formula that assigned points to various components and allowed a certain number of points over a given timeframe.

3) Upgrading the motherboard results in a new PC, even if the rest of the bits are the same. But if that motherboard is replaced due to a defect, it's effectively a repair, not an upgrade.


So ..... if a PSU fails and kills the motherboard, then you're simply repairing the motherboard by putting in a new mobo. That should be acceptable. But it probably requires that you're replacing, within the realm of what's reasonable and available, something close to like-with-like.

If you replaced a Dell mobo with an Asus one, of a similar spec, then it ought not to be a new PC. If you replaced a 7-year old socket-A motherboard that had been killed by a P45 S775 one with a Q6600, that's certainly not anything close to a like-for-like replacement.

And, as you said, Gav, you'd also perhaps have issues with installing a Dell OEM version of Windows on a non-Dell machine, and likewise, using a Dell OEM licence key if you installed from a non-Dell version of Windows.

I would guess that, to answer scrandmans 1) question, using a Dell licence key on a non-Dell version of Windows will probably fail, and that re: 2), no, probably not.

But .... with care in choice of replacement motherboard (which may well mean a Dell board), you could replace a mobo that died (or was killed) and preserve the existing licence. But to do so will almost certainly limit the extent of the upgrade you can do, and your choice of mobo (and source of mobo).

So while there may be ways of getting a legit replacement, it'll limit your upgrade options, and while I'd bet there are ways of replacing the hardware with whatever you want and getting Windows installed and working, they wouldn't be legit.

If you want an unrestricted upgrade choice, it implies (IMHO) a new Windows licence.

Overall, the whole area is a confusing mess.

[Agent]

From Microsoft:

http://blogs.msdn.com/mssmallbiz/arc...2/5424427.aspx
http://oem.microsoft.com/script/cont...ID=552846#faq3

“Generally, you may upgrade or replace all of the hardware components on your customer's computer and the end user customer may maintain the license for the original Microsoft OEM operating system software, with the exception of an upgrade or replacement of the motherboard. An upgrade of the motherboard is considered to result in a "new personal computer" to which Microsoft OEM operating system software cannot be transferred from another computer. If the motherboard is upgraded or replaced for reasons other than a defect, then a new computer has been created and the license of new operating system software is required. If the motherboard is replaced because it is defective, you do NOT need to acquire a new operating system license for the PC.”

As for this case - I'm firmly keeping my mouth shut, as I don't know which way it would fall

[kalniel]

Well in the OP's own words it is a new PC and the old one is going in the bin.

[Stringent]

Dell lock their licenses to their machines. So if you were transferring it to another Dell it probably would work. (hope that doesn't get me in trouble!) However seeing as you are building a new rig from the bits, you would need a new license. The cheapest way would be to get an OEM one with your hardware that you purchase. Scan do an XP Home OEM with SP2 for about £54.

If you don't want to worry about licenses, then get a retail copy, which you can install on any new machine you build provided you are not using it on more than one machine.

[scrandman]

Thanks for the clarification - I should be getting a hold of a PCI IDE card tonight that will hopefully get it functioning again. Failing that, I'll be replacing most of it with new parts.

To clarify, its a fairly old PC (S478), so the prospect of arsing around for old bits is not preferred - will be simpler to get what is in essence a new bargain basement PC (S775 mATX & Dual core Celeron). I'll probably shell out the £50 odd sobs for a new OEM version of XP Home - retail is too expensive.

[CALLMENUJAK]

More of a licensing question I think, but I've not been working on PCs for a while so I'm a tad rusty.

I have a friend who gave me their Dell PC to "look at". The PSU was broken, but in the process of dying, I think it has taken the IDE controller with it - the hard drive works when slaved into my PC but the Dell won't even recognise it is there.

To cut a long story short, I'm looking to build a new rig as cheaply as I can for my friend to replace the broken Dell. If at all possible I would like to perform a fresh XP Home install in the new PC. I have my own XP Home SP2 disk and the Dell had XP Home installed on it. Bearing in mind the Dell will be going in the bin (less any bits I can salvage from it):

1. Will it actually accept the XP Home license from the Dell on a new install using my own XP Home disk?

2. Is this legit?

Please bear in mind I am not trying to diddle anyone here - I have 2 PCs with XP Home legitimately installed right now, and at the end of the exercise I will have the same.

Thanks.

1: It will work if the Product Key on the C of A hasn't already been used.

2: Not according to Microlaw.