Re: Seeking upgrade advise for motherboard change with oem windows

So seeing i have oem xp, are you saying i would only need a retail upgrade of
xp in order to complete my motherboard upgrade ? i dont have any windows
installation discs, not even 98

"Ken Blake, MVP" wrote:

Welsh Wizard wrote:

KEN- thanks for your frankness,


You're welcome. Glad to help.


it really shows what a grey area this
is, the microsoft knowledgebase site were insistant that mobo and o/s
were tied, if it was an oem version of xp and the mobo was replaced
then a new version of xp would be needed - hence the advantage of
owning a full retail version in case of needing to upgrade.


My personal recommendation is the Retail Upgrade version, not the Full one.
Both the Full and Upgrade versions can do either a clean installation or an
upgrade. The only difference between the two is that to do a clean
intsallation with the Upgrade version requires that you insert a CD of a
previous qualifying version as proof of ownership, when prompted to do so.
Most people have a CD of Windows 98 around, but if you don't, you can buy
one inexpensively on eBay.

So the combination of an XP Upgrade CD and a Windows 98 CD is the equivalent
of a Full XP CD, but costs much less

--
Ken Blake - Microsoft MVP Windows: Shell/User
Please reply to the newsgroup



The mobo
however if it was faulty, could be changed with oem xp, as has
happened to me 2 yrs after i bought it, and strangely enough the pc
seems to be showing similar tendancies to restart itself like it did
back then ! The pc was sent away to the now bankrupt manufacturer and
came back with mobo replaced and a different windows id and product
code! It looks like i am stumped though without a repair disc that
you get with the retail version unless its possible to leave windows
to detect the changes on startup and sort them all out but it seems
unlikeley

"Ken Blake, MVP" wrote:

Welsh Wizard wrote:

The operating system is an OEM version of windows xp home saved on a
hard disc partition i believe, and i have a reload/backup cd for it.

I wanted to stay with an MSI "a" socket motherboard like my current
one, and i have bought one in readyness but am now worried that i am
not in a position to do an upgrade due to microsoft rules over oem
xp, or that i may have difficulties with product keys etc


The issue of OEM licenses and what constitutes the same computer is
a can of worms. The EULA doesn't specify what constitutes the same
computer, and the EULA is what you agree to. If I had my druthers,
all licenses would be the same, with the retail rules, and there
wouldn't be such a thing as an OEM license.

There are people here (and elsewhere) who claim that if you change
the motherboard, it's a different computer. Although that certainly
sounds logical, the OEM EULA does *not* say that. Some of these
people will point to a Microsoft site for System Builders (one that
can't even be accessed by the general public) that states that
changing the motherboard makes it a different computer. Again, the
EULA, which is what you agree to, does *not* state that, so as far
as I'm concerned, what this site states is irrelevant.

My guess is that if it ever came before a court (which is highly
unlikely) and Microsoft ever pointed to that web site, they'd be
laughed out of court.

The real issue in my mind is what happens if you change the
motherboard and have to reactivate an OEM version over the phone. If
you talk to a Microsoft representative and he defends the
"motherboard defines the computer" point of view and won't activate
you, you're out of luck unless you want to take Microsoft to court
(which is probably highly unlikely).

My own view is that you might be able to successfully argue in court
that, silly as it may sound, the computer is defined by the case,
since that's where Microsoft requires that the product key sticker
be affixed. You could therefore change everything inside the case,
and it would still be the same computer.

However, don't rely on that last paragraph unless you're willing to
go to court over it. I wouldn't be.

So what should you do? It's hard to advise you. You may be able to
change the motherboard and reactivate or you may not.

--
Ken Blake - Microsoft MVP Windows: Shell/User
Please reply to the newsgroup



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