An (interesting?) licensing question.

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fleggett

Gawd
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Nov 30, 2004
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Here's something I've been mulling over for the past few days with today's RTM release of Windows 7. I would make this a poll, but I'm not quite sure how.

I purchased two Vista Ultimate retail licenses (non-upgrade) during Vista's early days (one was store bought - the other was online via Microsoft). For anyone curious, yes, I paid a LOT of money for these. I also recently subscribed to Technet. I could use my Technet keys for the machines which I'll be redoing with 7 >OR< I could pay a little and purchase upgrade versions, thereby preserving the retail-grade Technet licenses. I'll probably be building a few more boxes in the coming year, hence these musings.

What would you do? I know the Technet sub comes with a generous ten keys, but I'm something of a pack-rat (if that makes any sense in the context of software). Thanks.
 
I'd use technet versions... you'll get 10 keys for ultimate, professional, home premium, etc.
 
I believe you get 10 activations per Technet key, so you have 100 activations for each version. Technet licenses aren't "retail grade," they're intended for testing. That's why Microsoft is very generous with them.

Activate away. :)
 
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I thought only the multiple-activation keys (ie. Enterprise editions) did 10 activations, and the the ones marked "Retail" were truly retail keys with 1 activation per. The activation server does eventually roll off old activations, allowing you to use the same key somewhere else if you wait long enough (or it used to anyway)
 
How does this work if you rebuild your PC often. Lets say I reformat my PC 12 times in one year... how do the last two activations work once you're past 10?
 
DriveEuro said:
How does this work if you rebuild your PC often. Lets say I reformat my PC 12 times in one year... how do the last two activations work once you're past 10?
Click to expand...
Don't quote me on this, but I'm fairly confident you can use the automated telephone system if these really are retail keys. One of my Vista retail licenses stopped activating online, as I was rebuilding the system on what seemed like a weekly basis (for a variety of reasons), but the telephone method always worked.

Incidentally, I just went ahead and used my Technet keys. Installation went like a charm (using 64-bit Ultimate). On previous builds, I would actually see BSODs at various points in the install process, but the RTM went in smooth as silk.

Now, I just need to get the installation files onto a fast USB stick and make it bootable....
 
the_b_man said:
I thought only the multiple-activation keys (ie. Enterprise editions) did 10 activations, and the the ones marked "Retail" were truly retail keys with 1 activation per.
Click to expand...

Nope, I just tested it to be sure. Every key gets multiple (I assume 10) activations.
 
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