The Official OcUK Vista Licencing Questions FAQ Thread

[Slam62]

The activation operator isn't a legal representative of MS and I'm pretty sure this won't hold up in court, and anyway, don't forget that being able to activate doesn't mean your legal....and I'm getting a feeling of Deja Vu here. I'm pretty sure I've argued this point with you before.

Burnsy

oh yes they are , the code they give you wouldnt be valid if they werent.. you may as well get one of ebay... aww who cares!!

happy new year

oh well i didnt say it would hold up in court if you hadnt told them the truth, if they did activate you but found out you ... shock horror... had merely upgraded, yes they could probably hunt you down and stop you from using windows... oh my god!!

One has to wonder at the detection process however and if it could ever actually be done. I mean would they get a search warrant to check your motherboard over an £80 license?

So the conclusion is they couldnt prove anything anyway, think I'll change my order.. to oem.

 

[OzyOly]

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsvista/getready/editions/default.mspx

And leads on to this; http://www.microsoft.com/windowsvista/features/forbiz/diagnostics.mspx

Burnsy, it says that this stuff is only on buisness and ultimate.

 

[Burnsy2023]

Burnsy, it says that this stuff is only on buisness and ultimate.

From what I can gather the reliability isn't different. If you PC does crash Business and Ultimate help you to find out why and possibly give you a way to fix it. It won't stop a crash though.

Burnsy

 

[Burnsy2023]

snip

I'm not going to discuss this anymore but it does raise some interesting moral issues: just because something isn't enforcable doesn't mean its right.

Anyway, happy new year

Burnsy

 

[OzyOly]

From what I can gather the reliability isn't different. If you PC does crash Business and Ultimate help you to find out why and possibly give you a way to fix it. It won't stop a crash though.

Burnsy

What about the game's tweaker, is that ultimate only?

Vista HP seems so cheap seeing as M$ are giving them away with nearly every PC bought in the last month. Vista U is the pro of this generation and just too damn out of reach for most.

 

[Ronaldo]

whats is gamers tweak?

 

[Slinwagh]

Here is the link to the Eula

http://download.microsoft.com/docum...lish_36d0fe99-75e4-4875-8153-889cf5105718.pdf

 

[StuntMonkeh]

That's the opposite to what I'm saying. Read the sticky. You are allowed to replace a faulty motherboard under a warrenty return. I specificly stated UPGRADED rather then replaced .

Burnsy

Thanks Burnsy, I can see what you are saying now and that you are mearly pointing out the black and white of it all and the legal line for the interests of all of us who didn't know, its up to individuals as to were they decide their moral line is.

If you call up M$ activation and tell them the change is due to component failure when it is not then it breaks the EULA and you have to live with telling the lie. However M$ are hardly going to be able to prove the fact without spending more money than is viable and no doubt many people will be able to live with themselves for telling said lie...

 

[Burnsy2023]

Here is the link to the Eula

http://download.microsoft.com/documents/useterms/Windows%20Vista_Ultimate_English_36d0fe99-75e4-4875-8153-889cf5105718.pdf

Please note, this is the Retail licence EULA and not OEM.

Burnsy

 

[Burnsy2023]

Thanks Burnsy, I can see what you are saying now and that you are mearly pointing out the black and white of it all and the legal line for the interests of all of us who didn't know, its up to individuals as to were they decide their moral line is.

This is exaclty the point of this thread.

It's always nice to be thanked

Burnsy

 

[pcknight]

Exactly. You buy an OEM Vista and you change the Mobo etc etc. You ring up MS and say you had a faulty Board and it has been replaced or your system crashed etc etc. You get back on track.

It is the individual that has to live with the fact that they have lied to the great and all powerful Microsoft. Everyone has a choice.

I for one will be getting the retail version of the Home Premium. Saves on all the hassle and it is then above board.

 

[OzyOly]

Exactly. You buy an OEM Vista and you change the Mobo etc etc. You ring up MS and say you had a faulty Board and it has been replaced or your system crashed etc etc. You get back on track.

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.

 

[Rebelius]

Microsoft has publicly acknowledged there is a bit of a "grey area" with regards to PC enthusiasts. They recommend to speak with the human operator and you should be reactivated just fine.

So it's ok for PC Enthusiasts to save a load of money and buy OEM licenses instead of retail ones? that doesn't sound right to me.


Does anyone have a link to a copy of the OEM Vista license? I found the retail one which is also posted above, but can't find an oem one anywhere

 

[pcknight]

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.

Should be fine.

 

[vapor matt]

This topic is somthing ive looked into and spoken to a few people in the know. the company i work for prints a lot of the booklets, and genral print of microsoft UK

We all know we can reactivate XP OEM, we call them up, give them a story of some nature and your XP is re activated. we have all done it. but from what i understand, microsoft are not going to be as easy going with vista! the same product keys being used over and over will stop as once activated it will be loged. so that product key can no longer be activated.

its not a case of i will tell them a lie or to and they will reactivate my vista. if you have a borked M/board and can prove it was borked then microsoft might feel reactivation is ok. great we got away with it this time. next time its another story, each could be loged to your activation key. then microsoft say no to reactivation! you shout and scream down the phone but in the end its microsofts right to say no activation buy another license. microsoft are carefull in saying no personal information is ever taken. but your hardware config isnt personal information. agreeing to the license before install means you agree.

if over a period of 2 years for ex: you have 2 CPU's 2 M/boards. 3 GFX cards. optical drives, hardrives ect ect your PC has indeed completely changed from its original state. I personaly have had about 10 boards on my XP pro OEM. but this isnt about XP its vista and microsoft will be stringent when it come's to reactivation of vista.

I would love to save some money and go OEM but i also know that in the next 5 years of vista i will be upgradeing my M/board CPU ect many times, and for me the price of retail might be inflated, but its a must as i know i will change everything inside my PC within 18 months+ and will always do a fresh install when changing major hardware like chipset, GFX, ect.


forget how many times you have blaged XP on activation, this is vista! with a new license agreement. yes they might activate it again, but they dont have to if you change to much.

 

[pcknight]

Its just hype from Microsoft.

 

[Slam62]

Sorry if its stated already, but is it just the motherboard you cant replace? or does any other hardware count as well?

thanks

 

[vapor matt]

I put 2 new hardrives in my PC last week, changed 2 optical drives and XP asked me to re activate, so vista may well do the same thing. a hardware failure you would proberly get away with. but lets face it when most of us upgrade M/board ect a CPU comes with it, maybe ram ect, latest hardrive ect then that is more than one failure, say for instance AMD release a CPU that kicks the cor duo's rear end, but you want the fast new M/B CPU ect. your OEM license will not cover this, and this is what will change with vista!

 

[Wolf11]

Just browsing THIS webpage and noticed it says

Notes:
If you are currently using Windows 2000 Professional or Windows XP Professional x64, you are eligible for an upgrade copy to a corresponding or better edition of Windows Vista, but a clean install is required.

For versions of Windows earlier than Windows 2000, upgrade copies are not available. These earlier versions of Windows require you to install a full copy of Windows Vista.

Now I take that to mean that you cannot go down the upgrade path with say a copy of Windows 98 ,me etc ..it also implies that if you have XP home you cant upgrade and have to buy a full oem/retail copy rather than upgrade version of retail?..or am I missing the point totally lol!!

I cannot find any other info on what you can upgrade from with vista other than that !

 

[OzyOly]

Just browsing THIS webpage and noticed it says




Now I take that to mean that you cannot go down the upgrade path with say a copy of Windows 98 ,me etc ..it also implies that if you have XP home you cant upgrade and have to buy a full oem/retail copy rather than upgrade version of retail?..or am I missing the point totally lol!!

I cannot find any other info on what you can upgrade from with vista other than that !

Update Eligibility
You can upgrade from your current edition of Microsoft Windows XP or Windows 2000 (including Windows XP Professional, Windows XP Home, Windows XP Media Center, Windows XP Tablet PC, Windows XP Professional x64, Windows 2000) to a corresponding or better edition of Windows Vista by purchasing and installing this upgrade copy of Windows Vista. Depending on which edition of Windows you are running and the edition of Windows Vista you would like to install, you have two options for the installation process: You can upgrade in-place, which means you can install Windows Vista and retain your applications, files, and settings as they were in your previous edition of Windows or you can do a clean install. If you are currently using Windows 2000 Professional or Windows XP Professional x64, you are eligible for an upgrade copy to a corresponding or better edition of Windows Vista, but a clean install is required. For versions of Windows earlier than Windows 2000, upgrade copies are not available. These earlier versions of Windows require you to install a full copy of Windows Vista.