Re: Activation after replacement of failed equipment

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From: Bruce Chambers (bchambers_at_nospamcableone.net)
Date: 03/13/04 

Date: Fri, 12 Mar 2004 19:38:19 -0700

Greetings --

    According to the EULA, an OEM license may not be transferred from
one distinct PC to another PC. However, this most emphatically does
not prohibit one from repairing/upgrading the original PC. To my
mind, replacing a defective motherboard certainly falls under the
category of "repair."

    Now, some people believe that the motherboard is the key component
that defines the "original computer," but the OEM EULA does not make
any such distinction. Others have said that one could successfully
argue that it's the PC's case that is the deciding component, as that
is where one is instructed to affix the OEM CoA label w/Product Key.
Again, the EULA does not specifically define any single component as
the computer.

    Microsoft has, to date, been very careful _not_ publicly to define
when an incrementally upgraded computer ceases to be the original
computer. The closest I've ever seen a Microsoft employee come to
this definition is to tell the person making the inquiry to consult
the PC's manufacturer. As the OEM license's support is solely the
responsibility of said manufacturer, they should determine what sort
of hardware changes to allow before the warranty and support
agreements are voided. To paraphrase: An incrementally upgraded
computer ceases to be the original computer, as pertains to the OEM
EULA, only when the *OEM* says it's a different computer. Of course,
taken to extremes, this position also implies that, once the OEM
warranty expires, so does the OEM license. As this is so patently
absurd, that it doesn't really bare consideration.

Bruce Chambers 

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"cyborgtom" <gyborgtom@alltel.net> wrote in message 
news:1A1D0906-B27A-4D8F-A0E0-A84880598E01@microsoft.com...
>I purchased Windows XP Home OEM with a motherboard.  I proceeded to 
>activate it with no problem.  After a while, the hard drive was 
>damaged by a virus and had to be replaced.  I had to do a 
>re-activation after that replacement.  Then I unknowingly violated 
>the rules on OEM, which is not clearly laid out in the EULA, by 
>upgrading the motherboard.   This resulted in a denial of activation 
>by telephone or internet.  I still have the original motherboard and 
>will re-install it in a machine if that is what it takes to qualify 
>for activation.  The other parts of the computer were not purchased 
>with Windows XP Home OEM.  Second question is whether the OEM disc I 
>have along with the motherboard that I purchased with it are of any 
>future value?
> BTW I have been an excellent buyer of Windows and own more than nine 
> copies of Windows from 3.1 to XP Pro.  I have refused to use pirated 
> software in the past.

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