Windows 7 OEM , switching mainboard question

[Burnsy2023]

With pirating you are trying to get something without paying, implying there's not monetary value to the product and therefore it's a bit worthless...

I disagree with your conclusion. There needs to be some value in it otherwise people wouldn't pirate it. All it says is that someone wants to obtain it without payment, nothing more. Indeed, some people pirate films that they have on DVD just so they can play it on Linux etc.

 

[Dano]

Is this copy of Windows on more than one machine?
Well, I upgraded my machine, replaced the motherboard etc and now I'd like to reactivate my copy of Windows.

Why would you answer with that? It's not answering the question asked is it.

An EULA is not law, it cannot override your rights and until it has been proven in a court of law then we'll continue having these pointless arguments where some people mistake what microsoft wish was law for actual law.

 

[Surveyor]

What you can do legally and what you can do illegally are two entirely different things.
From the point of the EULA you CANNOT move the OEM license from one motherboard to another.
No ifs and buts - just the facts.
Now if you call Microsoft up and ask them to activate the software after you have installed it on a different motherboard then of course they will.
However this does NOT make your licence legal - he people you speak to over the phone are not Microsoft employee's and do not speak on behalf of Microsoft.
They cannot over-rule the EULA agreement.

By all means move your OEM copy but you might just as well download yourself and illegal pirate version of the OS - you wasted you money buying Windows in the first place.

No they do not.
Are you talking about ringing up the activation phone number?
OK, next time try the following:

I've been asked to phone to reactivate my machine.
Please can I have the number
xxxxx-xxxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx
Is this copy of Windows on more than one machine?
Well, I upgraded my machine, replaced the motherboard etc and now I'd like to reactivate my copy of Windows.

Let me tell you now this conversation will end up with you NOT getting Windows reactivated.
Lie or don't disclose all of the information to these people on the phone then of course reactivation will take place.
However as I said before, you are running license illegal and you totally wasted your money ever buying Windows as you are no more license legal than a ******* pirate.

I need a dricing license to drive a car.
Guess what happens if I don't hold a license yet attempt to start up and drive the car?
Yup - I can drive, not legally but I can drive.

Exactly the same situation.

The activation process over the phone is automated. You don't speak to anyone.

If Microsoft didn't want you to use the licence on a different computer/motherboard they simply wouldn't let you go through with the activation.

As they do that's good enough for me.

My licence is activated using a different motherboard.

Microsoft see the activated licence every time I connect for updates etc.

If my licence wasn't "legal" they could block it at any time.

They don't.

 

[Slam62]

The activation process over the phone is automated. You don't speak to anyone.

If Microsoft didn't want you to use the licence on a different computer/motherboard they simply wouldn't let you go through with the activation.

As they do that's good enough for me.

My licence is activated using a different motherboard.

Microsoft see the activated licence every time I connect for updates etc.

If my licence wasn't "legal" they could block it at any time.

They don't.

exactly,


with regard to the driving analogy, stoofa should phone the police and offer to pay a fine every time he drives above the speed limit.

 

[achitophel]

exactly,


with regard to the driving analogy, stoofa should phone the police and offer to pay a fine every time he drives above the speed limit.

Nope. A better analogy would be buying a car where as part of the contract you agreed to pay Ford a fine every time you drive above say 60 mph. It's an important distinction, since the remedy is contractual rather than part of the general body of statute law.

As noted above, the EULA is a contract and subject to the general legal framework. My personal view is that Microsoft would fail miserably to prevent any private individual transferring a licence from one PC to another, where that licence was not purchased as part of a business undertaking such that the transaction came within UCTA or similar. More importantly, I can't conceive MS scoring such an own goal from an IP perspective, in terms of devoting resources to chasing people who have paid licence fees rather than pirates who have not.

 

[CaptainCrash]

Let me tell you now this conversation will end up with you NOT getting Windows reactivated.

In which case there's a good argument for stating that Microsoft themselves would be in breach of contract and liable to appropriate legal action.

They have NO RIGHT to deny you the use of the product you've paid for, given that you're fully in compliance with the terms of the contract as laid out in the EULA.

BTW, I take it you've tried and failed to find that clause in the EULA specifically prohibiting the exchange of a motherboard?

From the point of the EULA you CANNOT move the OEM license from one motherboard to another.
No ifs and buts - just the facts.

Nonsense. Prove it or withdraw your statement.

 

[Keod2]

Wow I read every post you guys made, I have come out of this knowing that I can change windows OEM from 1 motherboard to another but Microsoft don't like it / its illegal.

Has anyone found a clause in the terms and conditions which prohibits this?

 

[CaptainCrash]

Has anyone found a clause in the terms and conditions which prohibits this?

I doubt it, for the very good reason that there is currently no such clause.

The Windows 7 OEM EULA does state: "The software license is permanently assigned to the computer with which the software is distributed. That computer is the “licensed computer",” which clearly indicates that it can't be reassigned to another computer. However, "a computer" is defined in the EULA simply as "a physical hardware system with an internal storage device capable of running the software" - it makes no mention of any specific component, including the motherboard.

Where the fun starts is with Microsoft's statement in their online FAQs here that "If the motherboard is upgraded or replaced for reasons other than a defect, then a new computer has been created. Microsoft OEM operating system software cannot be transferred to the new computer, and the license of new operating system software is required." The critical point is, though, that this definition of "a new computer" does not form part of the OEM EULA itself, nor does the EULA include anything along the lines of, for example: "The provisions at http://www.microsoft.com/oem/en/licensing/sblicensing/pages/licensing_faq.aspx form a part of this Agreement", therefore the end user is not contractually bound to observe it.

To put it another way, MS could issue an online advisory stating that all end users of an OEM Windows installation are expected to perform an act of oral gratification on Steve Ballmer, but unless and until that specific condition is actually written into the contract (the EULA), there's no need to stock up on the mouthwash.

If MS wanted their unique definition of "a computer" to be ruled legally binding for the purposes of the EULA, they could try to get a court to uphold their position and establish case law to that effect, but to my knowledge they haven't done so to date... maybe they simply don't think it's worth the hassle, or maybe it's the risk of getting publicly and embarrassingly slapped down in the (likely IMO) event of things not going their way.

 

[kitch9]

No they do not.
Are you talking about ringing up the activation phone number?
OK, next time try the following:

I've been asked to phone to reactivate my machine.
Please can I have the number
xxxxx-xxxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx
Is this copy of Windows on more than one machine?
Well, I upgraded my machine, replaced the motherboard etc and now I'd like to reactivate my copy of Windows.

Let me tell you now this conversation will end up with you NOT getting Windows reactivated.
Lie or don't disclose all of the information to these people on the phone then of course reactivation will take place.
However as I said before, you are running license illegal and you totally wasted your money ever buying Windows as you are no more license legal than a ******* pirate.

I need a dricing license to drive a car.
Guess what happens if I don't hold a license yet attempt to start up and drive the car?
Yup - I can drive, not legally but I can drive.

Exactly the same situation.

Are you the same guy banging on this drum over excitedly over at FM forums too?

You swap your board, you ring MS and they ask you,(Via automated machine.) and I quote "How many PC's is this software installed on?"

You correctly answer "one," MS then say "Ok here's your key."

They do NOT ask "How many PC's HAS this software been installed on," they ask "IS," which where I come from is present tense.

Its been this way for years and they've always asked the same question and never changed it. The fact is they could not give a rats ass about the private guy just maintaining a single pc, they are more concerned about larger companies key sharing and that's where they would take action if they had to. I've used the same XP key on around 4 motherboards (Not at same time.) and not ONCE have I spoke to anything other than a machine, that tells me MS really could not give a damn.

No they do not.
Are you talking about ringing up the activation phone number?
OK, next time try the following:

I've been asked to phone to reactivate my machine.
Please can I have the number
xxxxx-xxxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx
Is this copy of Windows on more than one machine?
Well, I upgraded my machine, replaced the motherboard etc and now I'd like to reactivate my copy of Windows.

Let me tell you now this conversation will end up with you NOT getting Windows reactivated.
Lie or don't disclose all of the information to these people on the phone then of course reactivation will take place.
However as I said before, you are running license illegal and you totally wasted your money ever buying Windows as you are no more license legal than a ******* pirate.

I need a dricing license to drive a car.
Guess what happens if I don't hold a license yet attempt to start up and drive the car?
Yup - I can drive, not legally but I can drive.

Exactly the same situation.

Lemme guess, a policemen pulls you up for speeding and asks "Do you know what speed you were doing sir?"

You would answer "90, and I smoked pot when I was at Uni.....!"

 

[kitch9]

*Deleted*

 

[Andy__C]

Just a note - I changed my Mobo with windows 7 OEM, to a different brand about 6 months ago and I just re-installed as normal.

I had no issue with activation or the like, or had to call Microsoft.

Not saying this is the std procedure - but you can always just try!

 

[Keod2]

To put it another way, MS could issue an online advisory stating that all end users of an OEM Windows installation are expected to perform an act of oral gratification on Steve Ballmer, but unless and until that specific condition is actually written into the contract (the EULA), there's no need to stock up on the mouthwash.

LMAO :')

You two have cleared this up nicely, I might as well buy OEM then if what you have both stated is the case, thanks

 

[chaparral]

There is one, written by me and it's been at the top of this forum for years but nobody reads it.

I no see it


The only sticky thread i see made by you is an "Anti-Virus Program" Thread

 

[RJC]

I no see it


The only sticky thread i see made by you is an "Anti-Virus Program" Thread

Post 39 onwards in the thread below, it's in Orifices sticky.

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=32319&page=2

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=32319

 

[iNPUt]

Anyone have any experience replacing their mainboard with OEM win7? what was the process?

Thinking of upgrading my mainboard but the thing holding me back is the issue. I've heard that MS does a telephone activation just to discourage it and sort of have a 'don't tell and we wont ask' policy. I also hear that you can use the key that comes with the Win 7 oem to reinstall to new mainboards 3 times before requiring microsoft to sort out activation for it. But I have no experiencing trying any of this and want to know if anyone has done this themselves.

What counts as a "new PC" then, the case? It says on the agreement on the CD case you must put the sticker on your case.

 

[Nevakonaza]

As far as im aware all you have to do is phone M$ up and tell them that your old motherboard died and that you have now replaced the motherboard with a new one and had to re-install windows again.

 

[mmj_uk]

Just a note - I changed my Mobo with windows 7 OEM, to a different brand about 6 months ago and I just re-installed as normal.

I had no issue with activation or the like, or had to call Microsoft.

Not saying this is the std procedure - but you can always just try!

The OEM procedure is no different to the retail version, sometimes you might have to call them whilst other times it's all automated.

The only reason Microsoft are telling people to buy retail is because prior to Windows Vista nobody ever did... why you ask? because it was more expensive and no different to OEM.

The same holds true today except that Microsoft have spread disinformation about OEM being limited to only one motherboard, so you get all those who fell for it telling others to buy retail as well.

In my experience the only thing MS are concerned about is making sure that you aren't trying to use a single key on more than one machine.

Until such a time that someone is taken to (and loses in) court for using their £90 OEM operating system on more than one motherboard I will continue to treat the difference in EULA as merely a scare tactic to get people paying more money for the retail version.