Advice needed re XP license
Thursday, October 9, 2003 by Chef Garry | Discussion: WinCustomize Talk
I have XP Home on my computer and I picked up XP Pro for $10 with an education discout at the college where I work. A friend is running Win 98 and (surprise) has no end of trouble. Is it legal for me to upgrade to XPPro on my home machine and load/reregister my XP Home copy on my friends machine?
The doing is easy, the legality I'm not sure of. If I do what I'm asking, would I be better off registering the Home version in my name or can I tell MS that it has been gifted to my friend?
Thanks
The doing is easy, the legality I'm not sure of. If I do what I'm asking, would I be better off registering the Home version in my name or can I tell MS that it has been gifted to my friend?
Thanks
MikeB314
Reply #2 Thursday, October 9, 2003 2:01 PM
Reply #2 Thursday, October 9, 2003 2:01 PM
Ok, now I'm sure. 
XP Home can be upgraded to XP Pro.
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/howtobuy/upgrading/matrix.asp
Chef Garry
Reply #3 Thursday, October 9, 2003 2:04 PM
Reply #3 Thursday, October 9, 2003 2:04 PM
Thanks Mike. The Home version is an upgrade but the Pro is full version. I'm more concerned about MS's view re giving the Home version away. When I install it on my friends machine, it will certainly detect it is a different machine. I expect I'll have to phone the registration in?
MikeB314
Reply #4 Thursday, October 9, 2003 2:18 PM
Reply #4 Thursday, October 9, 2003 2:18 PM
That I'm not sure about. You might find some information on it here: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;[ln];302806
It all sounds perfectly legal to me though. You might just want to email Microsoft support and find out the procedure for tranfering a license.
sig101
Reply #5 Thursday, October 9, 2003 6:54 PM
Reply #5 Thursday, October 9, 2003 6:54 PM
MS doesn't care if you give your licensed copy away to someone else, they just want to make sure it's not being used on more than one PC which is the reason for activation. So as you know, you do need to deal with MS re: activation and registration. Ordinarily both can be done online, but I don't know if you can do that online in a case where you're actually transferring it over to a new user/PC entirely. Best to contact MS support for the procedure.
bordfryr
Reply #6 Thursday, October 9, 2003 9:28 PM
Reply #6 Thursday, October 9, 2003 9:28 PM
I have had to call MS several times. I used up all my activations. 14 I think. It resets after 120 days.
Anyway, it's not a big deal. They don't ask any personal questions. They might ask if you've upgraded your computer or reformatted your hard drive, etc. It just takes a few minutes to read the numbers to them and type in the numbers they give you.
Anyway, it's not a big deal. They don't ask any personal questions. They might ask if you've upgraded your computer or reformatted your hard drive, etc. It just takes a few minutes to read the numbers to them and type in the numbers they give you.
Chef Garry
Reply #7 Friday, October 10, 2003 12:29 AM
Reply #7 Friday, October 10, 2003 12:29 AM
Thanks for the input. It seems the best thing is to Email Customer Service and run it by them to be sure. I'll report back when I get an answer so y'all know what happens.
thanks
thanks
Please login to comment and/or vote for this skin.
Welcome Guest! Please take the time to register with us.
There are many great features available to you once you register, including:
- Richer content, access to many features that are disabled for guests like commenting on the forums and downloading skins.
- Access to a great community, with a massive database of many, many areas of interest.
- Access to contests & subscription offers like exclusive emails.
- It's simple, and FREE!
Reply #1 Thursday, October 9, 2003 1:59 PM