atcomsystems.ca/forum Forums Computers & Programming Computers, Software, Accessories IBM thinkpad

You will not be able to "activate" WinXP with the Windows 2000 key. However, you should be able to complete the installation with a corporate license key. PM me if you don't have one.

Run all updates EXCEPT the Windows Genuine Advantage notification patch (there are several). If it's already installed, you can extract it using this technique.

In regards to the Rob vs 93mdk93 debate: I'd say that it is possible that Dell has added EULA restrictions to their OEM version of Windows. However, I don't see Microsoft enforcing such a EULA. Dell tends to include a CD or DVD with a hard disc "image" (as opposed to a vanilla, stand-alone GA copy of Microsoft XP), which is useless for anything except that specific computer. Still, I can't imagine not being able to tranfer the license piece to another machine. It's all about the old rule of one license per machine.

It's the licensing arrangement between Microsoft and Dell that limits the end user's use. The contract THEY signed, gives Dell a discount on the license costs, in exchange, Dell and Microsoft restrict the hardware that that copy of Windows will run on. The end user never has directly paid Microsoft for the Windows License, so therefore has no rights to transfer it to any other system.

I wouldn't recommend fiddling with all that - it feels too much like software piracy, which I do not encourage. If he's got an XP COA, he'll have a valid key as long as he installs the correct version of XP (OEM, VLK, Retail, etc..) It should activate just fine, but if it doesn't you only need to call the toll-free activation number - it takes less than ten minutes. If they ask you any questions at all, they'll only ask how many machines this copy of XP is installed on. Answer honestly. Sometimes they ask, sometimes they don't.

We sell a lot of Dells (I've got a half-dozen in stock and half of them are already sold) and you're absolutely correct about the media Dell supplies with the computers. They only work on certain Dells, but they are really nice - no CD key to enter, no activation. That being said, you can use the CD key from the COA on the case to successfully install XP from any OEM version of XP - SP1 or SP2 onto any other PC, so transferring the OS from one computer to another allows the machine to be seen as 100% legit by Microsoft (and their pesky Genuine Advantage).

Where are you getting this? I haven't seen any such wording in any of the Dell licensing and I've got plenty of them laying about. If what you're saying is true, shouldn't it be in the end user's documentation somewhere? And if it's not, how could it possibly be valid? You can't be held to the terms of a contract you've never seen, let alone agreed to.

Thanks for the clarity! Very well worded, too....

I hear ya on the piracy thing. It's not big in my book either. In this case, I'm all about getting what you paid for and not letting the legal fodder gum up the works.

Yesterday, my friend Kevin installed Windoze XP on a home-built tower machine. He used the keys from the label on the bottom of his busted Dell Inspiron without issue. If Dell has a problem with this, then I submit that they need to revisit that thinking. Considering Dell's volume, they SHOULD get a discount on Microsoft's products. But that discount shouldn't force the manufacturer to then somehow restrict the licence to that machine alone.