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Thread: Windows EULA

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    Windows EULA

    I remember hearing somewhere that Windows Vista will only be allowed to be installed once on a particular machine setup (component-wise). And upgrading too much of the underlying components will result in the owner having to buy another copy of vista (e.g. their serial key will be dead).

    Is this true?

    Also, I heard that the EULA had changed in recent versions of Windows XP to the same affect, that its a once per hardware configuration install.

    Older copies of Windows XP didn't used to like it if the underlying hardware had changed too much, but would still let you reinstall and use ur license key again.

    I'm consiering buying Windows XP Pro at the moment (as I currently have an old XP Home), but am not sure whether to because of this. Does anyone know if this is true? If so, are the Windows XP Pro's on sale at Scan the older or the new limited versions?

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    Agent of the System ikonia's Avatar
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    why are you considering XP pro ?

    Do you have another machine to install it on, or are you considering upgrading XP home
    what XP pro features do you need ?
    It is Inevitable.....


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    I'm doing a major upgrade of my PC (basically the old one is being retrired to the loft), so have considered getting XP Pro.

    The reasons for me choosing XP Pro are:
    1) It'll be Service Pack 2'd already (my copy of XP Home is really old and SPless), which'll save a bit of time/hassle and means I can keep my new large harddrive unpartitioned.
    2) The XP Pro's at the moment come with a free Vista upgrade coupon, so this might save a bit of cash in the future when I decide to go to Vista.
    3) I sometimes do web development and I currently have to do it on my work laptop, cos XP Home doesn't have IIS.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Puncr0c View Post
    I remember hearing somewhere that Windows Vista will only be allowed to be installed once on a particular machine setup (component-wise). And upgrading too much of the underlying components will result in the owner having to buy another copy of vista (e.g. their serial key will be dead).

    Is this true?
    it has always been the case with XP that OEM licenses are not transferrable (i.e. cannot be moved from one "PC", defined as a motherboard, to another)

    Also, I heard that the EULA had changed in recent versions of Windows XP to the same affect, that its a once per hardware configuration install.
    there has only been one significant change in the license since XP launched, moving from a per-core to per-socket license (allowing use of dual and quad core on XP home, but not dual-socket)

    Older copies of Windows XP didn't used to like it if the underlying hardware had changed too much, but would still let you reinstall and use ur license key again.
    that's purely a failing of windows' much vaunted HAL. your license allows you to reinstall as much as neccessary as long as you don't replace your motherboard - unless you buy a retail version which doesn't have this restriction.

    I'm consiering buying Windows XP Pro at the moment (as I currently have an old XP Home), but am not sure whether to because of this. Does anyone know if this is true? If so, are the Windows XP Pro's on sale at Scan the older or the new limited versions?
    there is no "new limited version"

    Quote Originally Posted by Puncr0c View Post
    I'm doing a major upgrade of my PC (basically the old one is being retrired to the loft), so have considered getting XP Pro.

    The reasons for me choosing XP Pro are:
    1) It'll be Service Pack 2'd already (my copy of XP Home is really old and SPless), which'll save a bit of time/hassle and means I can keep my new large harddrive unpartitioned.
    you can integrate this yourself, if you have a blank CD and some disk space

    2) The XP Pro's at the moment come with a free Vista upgrade coupon, so this might save a bit of cash in the future when I decide to go to Vista.
    so do the XP Homes

    3) I sometimes do web development and I currently have to do it on my work laptop, cos XP Home doesn't have IIS.
    is IIS worth the £35-£77 difference, given free web servers like apache?

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    Agent of the System ikonia's Avatar
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    you typed it better than I was going to
    It is Inevitable.....


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    Quote Originally Posted by directhex View Post
    you can integrate this yourself, if you have a blank CD and some disk space
    Take a look at http://www.winsupersite.com/showcase...slipstream.asp this shows you how to slip stream a service pack into windows XP. I have done it a number of time and it is not too hard. You can also slipstream a number of drivers etc to make the install even easier.

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    Thanks for the advice guys.

    I may just stick with XP Home for now then. I guess its not worth the extra £40 for the occasional web dev I do.

    That slipstreaming is a good idea too. It's still fairly high on the faffability scale though lol.

    I might just get the £50 win xp home from Scan since it also has the Vista upgrade coupon. Does anyone know which particular version of Vista the coupon gets u? And I assume u can upgrade Vista versions by paying the difference?

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    Quote Originally Posted by Puncr0c View Post
    Thanks for the advice guys.

    I may just stick with XP Home for now then. I guess its not worth the extra £40 for the occasional web dev I do.

    That slipstreaming is a good idea too. It's still fairly high on the faffability scale though lol.
    you really need at least SP1 - since RTM has no support for hard disks over 128GiB

    I might just get the £50 win xp home from Scan since it also has the Vista upgrade coupon. Does anyone know which particular version of Vista the coupon gets u? And I assume u can upgrade Vista versions by paying the difference?
    home basic, if memory serves. and yes, i believe you can pay the difference

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    Quote Originally Posted by Puncr0c View Post
    That slipstreaming is a good idea too. It's still fairly high on the faffability scale though lol.
    Grab nLite (it's free) and use that to do the slipstreaming if you wish. It's too easy.

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    Slipstreaming with nlite is incredibly simple. It's literally just a matter of a few clicks.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Puncr0c View Post
    I remember hearing somewhere that Windows Vista will only be allowed to be installed once on a particular machine setup (component-wise). And upgrading too much of the underlying components will result in the owner having to buy another copy of vista (e.g. their serial key will be dead).

    Is this true?
    This was in the original release of the Vista EULA, but after much complaining from the tech community, it was removed. You'll still be able to reactivate Vista on a new install/new PC/new upgrade.

    AFAIK the EULA still does not allow multiple copies of the OS to be installed (i.e. dual boot with 2 vistas) using the same serial, and it does not allow you to run it as a Virtual PC (I think Ultimate might be the only version to allow this).

    P.S. Vista coupons (should) go like this:
    XP Home -> Vista Home Basic
    XP Pro - > Vista Business
    XP Media Center -> Vista Home Premium
    Last edited by Silent Shark; 26-11-2006 at 04:30 PM.

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    If you don't play games you may as well get Linux.
    To err is human. To really foul things up ... you need a computer.

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    Quote Originally Posted by yamangman View Post
    If you don't play games you may as well get Linux.
    You know next to nothing about what he wants to use his PC for apart from web developemnt and you come up with a statement like that!
    "In a perfect world... spammers would get caught, go to jail, and share a cell with many men who have enlarged their penises, taken Viagra and are looking for a new relationship."

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    Quote Originally Posted by badass View Post
    You know next to nothing about what he wants to use his PC for apart from web developemnt and you come up with a statement like that!
    Tell me what you can't do on Linux that you can on Windows, minus pretty much ideal games support?
    To err is human. To really foul things up ... you need a computer.

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    Agent of the System ikonia's Avatar
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    chaps, can I request we not get into this debate.

    yamangman has provided a sensible option of if you require no games support, then consider linux as an option.

    Puncr0c can now consider if this is an option to him.

    I really can't be botherd with another "linux can't do X and Windows supports Y" type debate ruining this guys thread.
    It is Inevitable.....


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