Licensing Laws

That is the case with me. I had bought some hardware for my computer and was
entitled to an OEM disk. So I bought it at the reduced price offered.
Fortunately, it's an OEM from Microsoft itself, so I have a little more
leeway than others who are limited to the support from a specific
manufacturer. As mentioned by others, I'm not a lawyer, either. If you know
that you'll continue using the computer in question (even if you upgrade it)
it might be worth your while. But if you do have the money, get a full
version, thus avoiding the whole OEM shuffle.

--
Vodor...

mootelly@cox.net
vodor1@yahoo.com
vyzzhor@hotmail.com
Wherever you were, here you are....

"Bruce Chambers" <bchambers@nospam.cableone.net> wrote in message
news:vkuo8mpq37of87@corp.supernews.com...

> Greetings --
>
> There are some very important reasons that an OEM license costs so
> much less than a retail license. OEM licenses are very limited:
>
> 1) OEM versions must be sold with a piece of hardware (normally
> a motherboard or hard drive, if not an entire PC, although Microsoft
> has greatly relaxed the hardware criteria for WinXP) and are
> _permanently_ bound to the first PC on which they are installed. An
> OEM license, once installed, is not legally transferable to another
> computer under any circumstances. The only legitimate way to transfer
> the ownership of an OEM license is to transfer ownership of the entire
> PC. This is the best reason to avoid OEM versions; if the PC dies or
> is otherwise disposed of (even stolen), you cannot re-use your OEM
> license on a new PC.
>
> 2) Microsoft provides no support for OEM versions. If you have
> any problems that require outside assistance, your only recourse is to
> contact the vendor of the OEM license. This would include such issues
> as lost a Product Key or replacing damaged installation media.
> (Microsoft does make allowances for those instances when you can prove
> that the OEM has gone out of business.) This doesn't mean that you
> can't download patches and service packs from Microsoft -- just no
> free live or email support for problems with the OS.
>
> 3) An OEM CD cannot perform an upgrade, as it was designed to be
> installed _only_ upon an empty hard drive.
>
> 4) If the OEM CD was designed by a specific manufacturer, such as
> eMachines, Sony, HP, Compaq, etc., it will most likely only install on
> the same brand of PC, as an additional anti-piracy feature. Further,
> such CDs are severely customized to contain only the minimum of device
> drivers, and a lot of extra nonsense, that the manufacturer feels
> necessary for the specific model of PC for which the CD was designed.
> (To be honest, such CDs should not be available on the open market;
> but, if you're shopping someplace like eBay, swap meets, or computer
> fairs, there's often no telling what you're buying until it's too
> late.) The "generic" OEM CDs, such as are sold to small systems
> builders, don't have this particular problem, though, and are pretty
> much the same as their retail counterparts.
>
>
>
> Bruce Chambers
>
> --
> Help us help you:
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>
> You can have peace. Or you can have freedom. Don't ever count on
> having both at once. -- RAH
>
>
> "Jenny" <no.spam@4me.com> wrote in message
> news:0a1401c36e25$95e7af20$a501280a@phx.gbl...

> > Hi,
> >
> > I'm looking to purchase a copy of XP or 2000 via ebay, I
> > know something of the licensing laws however, there seems
> > to be a loophole (either this or all the ebay sellers are
> > simply lying!).
> >
> > There are a lot of people selling OEM software. To
> > legitemise it, they are including a hardware upgrade (such
> > as an IDE lead). Does this work? Is there anywhere that I
> > can go to find out what version I need for my computer. It
> > may be used commercially in the future and I built the
> > unit myself. Everyone I have spoken to seems to have
> > different ideas.
> >
> > Many thanks in anticipation.
> > Jenny

>
>

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