Activating Dell WinXP Home on different machine

[AMD T-type]

to make a long story short

I have a few Dell Windows XP Home Edition CDs with COA unactivated.
I installed one on a PC at home to use as a server but it never asked me for a cd key during install, so im pretty sure the CD is slipstreamed

heres where the problem is, i need to activate it, i used magicaljellybean to see the Windows Key, and it is different from the one on the COA.
I reinstalled with the other CD to see if the key was any different, but it was still the same key

So should i change the key to the one on the COA and activate it?
or should i just leave it as is and activate it.

:confused:

[hulksterjoe]

The pc at home that you installed it on .. was it a dell also?

[AMD T-type]

negative

The CD is a full Windows XP Home disc, and the COA has never been activated

The Dells were imaged with a corporate edition of Windows XP Pro we use at work

[Phoenix86]

I'm pretty sure you cannot legally do this. The Dell OEM license is married to the hardware you purchased it with.

The Dells were imaged with a corporate edition of Windows XP Pro we use at work But the license got thrown into your volume agreement with MS, just because the Dell came with license A, and you installed from a CD with license B doesn't mean you have two licenses.

Do you really think your company is buying OSes seperate from the ones that comes with the Dells, thus leaving plenty of extra for you to use at home?

[AMD T-type]

Do you really think your company is buying OSes seperate from the ones that comes with the Dells, thus leaving plenty of extra for you to use at home?

well, i am not keepiing the os on the pc anymore

but as for that statement, the XP taht comes with the Dells are XP Home, and the company purchased a seperate licsense for corporate XP pro
so ya, i really think they do

[hulksterjoe]

I dont think you'll be able to change it . The fact that the dell disk even loaded on a non dell system is odd enough. dell disc are bios locked to the mobo's but even if you do try I doubt the os will accept the changed one. dell royalty disc vs corporate vs oem vs retail etc etc they arent interchangeable but are based on the media that was used

[AMD T-type]

I dont think you'll be able to change it . The fact that the dell disk even loaded on a non dell system is odd enough. dell disc are bios locked to the mobo's but even if you do try I doubt the os will accept the changed one. dell royalty disc vs corporate vs oem vs retail etc etc they arent interchangeable but are based on the media that was used

you'll doubt that i'll be able to change the key?
i successfuly changed the key to the one on the COA with no problems

I think you missed what i said before, the disc was sealed, has "Dell" on it, but its not a restore disc, its a full blown Windows XP Home Edition CD
i had no problems at all loading it onto another system
the ONLY thing different about the install was that the key was auttomatically put in.

[hulksterjoe]

if you changed it already and it took it and it was from the coa sticker that hadnt been used before then you should be kosher.

[Phoenix86]

if you changed it already and it took it and it was from the coa sticker that hadnt been used before then you should be kosher.
Kosher as in installed, but it illegal... No matter how you slice it, the Dell license is tied to the machine it came with.

[Zlash]

And there's no way your installing a dell version of XP on a non dell system. But dell XP cds do not require activation.


but as for that statement, the XP taht comes with the Dells are XP Home, and the company purchased a seperate licsense for corporate XP pro

Why? That would be stupid and a total waste of money not to just upgrade the license that comes with the dells.

[AMD T-type]

And there's no way your installing a dell version of XP on a non dell system. But dell XP cds do not require activation.
i already did, are you saying it's not possible? and i broke the laws of physics?



Why? That would be stupid and a total waste of money not to just upgrade the license that comes with the dells.

I just works there, i don't make all the stupid decisions :p



and also, for anyone who's wondering, i did not steal them, the PC department leader told me i could have some.
so i'm all confused :confused:

[Zlash]

i already did, are you saying it's not possible?

Yes that's what we're saying.

[SJConsultant]

Kosher as in installed, but it illegal... No matter how you slice it, the Dell license is tied to the machine it came with.

Phoenix86 is correct in this matter, when your company bought the Dell machines with OEM XP Home (it does not matter in this case that the disk is a "full install" as Dell has a special OEM agreement with Microsoft allowing them to provide whatever type of "recovery" disk they want to provide) that license is tied to the machine. The volume licensing disk you are using is essentially *upgrading* the license to XP Pro and hence the original OEM license is still tied to the original machine.

A company cannot buy initial OS licenses through any of MS volume license agreements.

Download this Volume Licensing Brief (http://download.microsoft.com/download/6/8/9/68964284-864d-4a6d-aed9-f2c1f8f23e14/os_reqs.doc) that explains the "legalities" of it.

AMD T-type - By giving you the disks and COA, the PC Leader has placed the company at risk for software piracy *if* they were to be subject to an audit by the BSA or Microsoft.

[AMD T-type]

ah well, i knew it was too good to be true

[hulksterjoe]

sorry guys when I said kosher I meant that it would most likely work. legal was a whole other deal.