Product Key migration

A Dell OEM product key is only valid for the Dell
computer it came with. It cannot be used or transferred
to a different computer.

--
Carey Frisch
Microsoft MVP
Windows Shell/User

---------------------------------------------------------------

"Coconha" <Coconha@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message news:E10814C6-4004-4594-88CF-A11C013E687D@microsoft.com...
I bought a new Dell laptop with Vista. Haven't received the laptop yet. I am
planning to install WindowsXP on it. Can the Vista license that cames with
the laptop be used in another general purpose PC? Will the CD/DVD that comes
with the laptop work in a non Dell PC?

Coconha wrote:

> I bought a new Dell laptop with Vista. Haven't received the laptop yet. I am
> planning to install WindowsXP on it. Can the Vista license that cames with
> the laptop be used in another general purpose PC?

No. By your own admission, you have an OEM license for WinXP that
came with the older notebook. An OEM version must be sold with a piece
of hardware (normally a motherboard or hard rive, if not an entire PC)
and is _permanently_ bound to the first PC on which it's installed. An
OEM license, once installed, is not legally transferable to another
computer under _any_ circumstances.

> Will the CD/DVD that comes
> with the laptop work in a non Dell PC?
>

No. You probably have a BIOS-locked Recovery DVD that won't install on
any computer besides the one for which it was designed. This is an
additional anti-piracy measure that most OEMs implemented years ago.



--

Bruce Chambers

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