The Official OcUK Vista Licencing Questions FAQ Thread

[Rebelius]

I'm wondering how the Vista upgrade works, if it's done properly, to activate your Vista copy, you'll need a license code for the previous OS, that will be checked, and then deactivated so it can't be used anymore, and then you'll be able to activate the Vista upgrade license.

Hopefully it wouldn't be completely deactivated - at the moment anyway, you can downgrade again, so long as you only use one OS at a time.

 

[zo1d]

This is what the offical 'MICROSOFT SOFTWARE LICENSE TERMS' document I just came accross (link here) says...

13. UPGRADES. To use upgrade software, you must first be licensed for the software that is eligible
for the upgrade. Upon upgrade, this agreement takes the place of the agreement for the software
you upgraded from. After you upgrade, you may no longer use the software you upgraded from.

However how will this be enforced, if at all?

 

[Plodicus]

M$ are imposing draconian licensing laws and charging exhorbitant prices for retail copies of Vista, so the majority will buy the OEM like me. If I need to upgrade my mobo and they won't re-activate it I will refer to my old XP disc.

By making people jump through so many hoops and charging unreasonable prices they are creating a "black" market which we all know about. Sure nobody has to buy Vista, but the majority of PC's run on Windows, the majority of software runs on Windows so in the future everyone will need to upgrade to Vista and to find themselves subjected to these new licensing laws and mark my words when it becomes more of a widespread annoyance M$ will be dragged through every single court in Europe and America just like previously.

 

[z0mbi3]

M$ still might not give you an activation code. OEM from major manufacturors give you OEM discs that work for their brand of computer and if your board goes faulty will replace it for you and the media will still work.

The media doesn't know what mobo you're using though, and neither will MS unless you tell them.


Thanks Burnsy btw.

 

[Rebelius]

what new licensing laws?

from what i've seen they're going to be practically the same as the XP licenses.

and what exactly you mean by "exhorbitant prices" i don't understand - if you mean the differences between UK and US prices then fair enough. If you mean the difference between the Retail and OEM prices, they seem fair to me, suppose you're going to upgrade your motherboard twice in the next 5years and keep a licensed vista, you'd save money going retail.

The media doesn't know what mobo you're using though, and neither will MS unless you tell them.

and you need to tell them to activate, no?

 

[Burnsy2023]

The media doesn't know what mobo you're using though, and neither will MS unless you tell them.


Thanks Burnsy btw.

They can see if your motherboard has changed since the last activation through the hardware hash.

Burnsy

 

[Burnsy2023]

Does anyone know how the Vista upgrade path works...

I doubt they'll check, they have money from the upgrade licence, putting more check will just decrease this profit margin.

Burnsy

 

[Burnsy2023]

this gives me a question:

if you have an upgrade version of XP - based on a retail 98, say - is that eligible for upgrade to vista?

Yes.

Burnsy

 

[DoBie_Smalls]

It seems to me the easiest way around this would be to install Vista for the first time after activation then make a disk image with something like Norton Ghost before you put any device drivers on. Then you should be able to restore that image every time you wish to format. This would mean you’d never have to activate Windows again, if you did this you’d probably be in breach of the License Agreement.

 

[philhoole]

I have a Vista licensing question that I don't think anyone else has asked before.

With WindowsXP I have installed and activated it on a partition and then cloned this partition (on the same PC) and all works well. I dual boot between them. This allows me to have totally independant XP installs for games and my more important work. No reactivation has ever been triggered.

I am curious if Vista will allow the same with an OEM (or retail I suppose) license. It seems reasonable that it should given that it's exactly the same hardware and nothing is changing.

I could try and find the answer myself with a MSDN copy from work but reluctant to use up one of the (10?) installations we are allowed.

Thanks

 

[Burnsy2023]

I have a Vista licensing question that I don't think anyone else has asked before.

With WindowsXP I have installed and activated it on a partition and then cloned this partition (on the same PC) and all works well. I dual boot between them. This allows me to have totally independant XP installs for games and my more important work. No reactivation has ever been triggered.

I am curious if Vista will allow the same with an OEM (or retail I suppose) license. It seems reasonable that it should given that it's exactly the same hardware and nothing is changing.

I could try and find the answer myself with a MSDN copy from work but reluctant to use up one of the (10?) installations we are allowed.

Thanks

Right, firstly, you're in breech of the EULA for XP by having two installs on the same machine with only one licence.

However, just like XP, you'll be able to technically do this although not legally.

The activation limit is a arbituary number and is not hard and fast. If you are legal then don't be afriad to activate as many times as you need.

Burnsy

 

[philhoole]

Thanks Burnsy,

I had no idea that a double install breached the EULA! Just thought it was "fair use" and hadn't even considered it. It worked and didn't give it much further thought.

I'm not keen on paying for 2 licenses for the same PC so may need to rethink.

Hmmm....

 

[Burnsy2023]

It seems to me the easiest way around this would be to install Vista for the first time after activation then make a disk image with something like Norton Ghost before you put any device drivers on. Then you should be able to restore that image every time you wish to format. This would mean you’d never have to activate Windows again, if you did this you’d probably be in breach of the License Agreement.

Actually, you are perfectly entitled to make a image and use it as a backup, but you may only keep one copy as it counts a a backup of the Windows media.

Burnsy

 

[DoBie_Smalls]

Actually, you are perfectly entitled to make a image and use it as a backup, but you may only keep one copy as it counts a a backup of the Windows media.

Burnsy

Surely there would be some legal issues with the restoring of the copy? I mean technically I could restore the image to another PC, which would mean I had put OS on more than one computer. thus breaking the license agreement?

or did i just find a loop hole...please god tell me it's a loop hole

 

[Burnsy2023]

Surely there would be some legal issues with the restoring of the copy? I mean technically I could restore the image to another PC, which would mean I had put OS on more than one computer. thus breaking the license agreement?

or did i just find a loop hole...please god tell me it's a loop hole

But usually you restore an image to a licenced computer, which is fine and many companies do this regularly. As soon as you restore the image to an unlicenced computer you are breaking the licence terms.

And remember, the PC that you restore an image to usually needs to have the same or similar hardware otherwise the HAL will be a bit patchy.
Burnsy

 

[DoBie_Smalls]

But usually you restore an image to a licenced computer, which is fine and many companies do this regularly. As soon as you restore the image to an unlicenced computer you are breaking the licence terms.

And remember, the PC that you restore an image to usually needs to have the same or similar hardware otherwise the HAL will be a bit patchy.
Burnsy

I thought as much.

on restoring the image to a different PC, if you were to restore a driver free image wouldn't that be ok or do you think it would still be unstable? surely Vista would just react the same way it does when you plug in any new hardware. sorry taking a bit of a technical tone now.

 

[Gatsby]

I am unsure of this and I will clarify with MS. However, you most likely read that from Paul Thurrott's site, in which case it's likely to be BS. I highly doubt MS distribute Ultimate without product activation.

In fact, I'd bet money on it.

Burnsy

Any word on this?

 

[Burnsy2023]

I thought as much.

on restoring the image to a different PC, if you were to restore a driver free image wouldn't that be ok or do you think it would still be unstable? surely Vista would just react the same way it does when you plug in any new hardware. sorry taking a bit of a technical tone now.

I think it'd still be unstable, NathanE is the guy that'd be able to explain why.

Burnsy

 

[ben_j_davis]

So what are we saying here, if we buy the Retail Version of Vista we can change as many components as well like? Or is there a limit to the number of times we can reactivate like 10?

 

[shuntfield]

I build a small volume of machines, for friends and family and decided that it would be in my interest to sign up to the Microsoft OEM Partner Scheme. In there it offers all the licencing information.

Having read all this thread, and also the OEM System builder site at Microsoft here is what I determine to be.

1.If you install an OEM or Retail Version of Windows Vista (all types) on a Personal Computer, it MUST be activated. I may be wrong, but as I understand it absolutly ALL versions of Vista including Volume Licence (Generally known as "Corporate" versions) will have to be activated also, if the machine is not connected to the internet, then it will require telephone activation.

2. If you install an OEM version of Windows Vista on a machine and the motherboard then goes faulty, you MUST replace it with an identical model. If your faulty board is a MSI 875P Motherboard then the replacement must be the same identical board, or a board that MSI would consider its direct replacement. If you use any other board better or worse according to Microsoft:

An upgrade of the motherboard is considered to result in a "new personal computer" to which Microsoft OEM operating system software cannot be transferred from another computer. If the motherboard is upgraded or replaced, for reasons other than a defect, then a new computer has been created and the license of new operating system software is required.

If the motherboard is replaced because it is defective, you do NOT need to acquire a new operating system license for the PC. The replacement motherboard must be the same make/model or the same manufacturer’s replacement/equivalent, as defined by that manufacturer’s warranty.

The reason for this is two fold, one this is because the system builder is required to support their machines, if the motherboard is changed by an end user (because thats how we are looking at it) then it is considered to be no longer the system builders machine, as it was replaced with another board, and hence the system builder would not really support a machine that they did not build. In our case we build our machines, but the rule has been put in place for the hundreds of small builders that build for other people. The second part, is that the machine is considered no longer the original machine when the motherboard containing the processor and other major system parts, has been replaced.

3. If the distributor sells you an OEM copy of the software it must be inside the Break the seal box, in this case, a distributor can sell the sealed box to a system builder or end user for installation on their machine Without hardware. Once the box has been opened any further distribution of the software MUST be with a system. If it is installed on a system to be sold to an end user it must be installed with the OEM Preinstallation kit available to System Builders.
An end user (like us) who purchases the software in a Break-the-seal box, and installs it on their own machine is considered by Microsoft as a System Builder.

Hope this helps, someone!

Shunts....