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Legal question.

G

Goldendale

n00b
Joined
May 26, 2011
Messages
17
I have an old compaq that i pulled from my closet since my mother wishes to have a computer and i no longer have the recovery cds that came with it. I tried contacting there customer service but since it was a XP only machine they no longer support it what so ever. I was wondering if it was legal to "find" a XP iso and use the key that is printed onto the top of the box? I am not asking for help in "finding" the iso as i know that is not allowed but just the legality of using one with a genuine key.
 
I would believe this would fall under fair use.

It's probably against microsoft ToS though.

Will you get caught? not in a million years.
 
I'd do it and wouldn't loose any sleep over it either. I actually don't think there is anything illegal about it. The product code and COA sticker are what you actually paid for, thats your license to use the software. So if you use the product code on the sticker that came with the PC it should be fine. The only glitch you might run into is the CD or ISO you get may not accept your product code. I've done what you propose. I've worked on PC's for friends and family that were drooped of with no install media and used my own XP Cd's to do the re-install. Disks with SP1 or 2 etc would sometimes refuse to accept the product code, but the disk with no Service Pack would accept it. If it XP Home edition you may have to activate via phone. I've done it and it only takes a couple of minutes. You're on your own trying to find clean ISO's though.
 
IANAL and I'm not advocating this, enough deniability? I can't see where it would even be illegal to send a person a copy of an XP OEM disc. They're useless, for the most part, without a legitimate key. Then again, it's proably the "for the most part" that would get you in hot water.

In the end its only Microsoft's activation and authentication servers you need to keep happy.
 
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