Re: Multiple installations of XP Pro on seperate partitions

Tech Tip: Click here to run a free scan for Windows Errors and optimize PC performance

From: Mike Brannigan [MSFT] (mikebran_at_online.microsoft.com)
Date: 05/13/04 

Date: Thu, 13 May 2004 14:18:11 +0100

Kent,

WPA has nothing to do witht he actually licesing of the product.,
It is just a technology that helps prevent certain breaches of it.

The EULA is clear on this (it requires no interpretation)

1. GRANT OF LICENSE. Microsoft grants you the following rights
    provided that you comply with all terms and conditions of
    this EULA:

    * Installation and use. You may install, use, access,
      display and run one copy of the Product on a single
      computer, such as a workstation, terminal or other device
      ("Workstation Computer").

The section of importance is "... You may install ... one copy of the
Product on a single computer ..."

So the second installation to the other partitions is a breach of the
licensing, irrespective of Windows Product Activation preventing it or not. 

-- 
Regards,
Mike
--
Mike Brannigan [Microsoft]
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no
rights
Please note I cannot respond to e-mailed questions, please use these 
newsgroups
"Kent W. England [MVP]" <kwe@mvps.org> wrote in message 
news:uaQgKqJOEHA.540@TK2MSFTNGP11.phx.gbl...
> Carey Frisch [MVP] wrote:
>>
>> Each installation of Windows XP, installed on a different partition
>> and on the same computer, will require the purchase of a new license
>> (Product Key).  Otherwise, you'll not be able to activate XP on
>> the subsequent installations.
>>
>> Additional Licenses for Windows XP Professional
>> http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/howtobuy/addlic.asp
>>
> It is Microsoft's interpretation of the license agreement that 
> multi-partition, multi-instance Windows computers require multiple license 
> keys, but product activation can't tell the difference if each instance is 
> the same copy of Windows, because all of the hardware is identical and 
> each instance of Windows is identical. There is no effective way to 
> identify multi-partition setups because these are by definition 
> independent instances of operating systems.
>
> As long as product activation is not assumed to fully enforce the license 
> (which of course seems quite strange to me), then users can go out and buy 
> multiple licenses with a whopping ten percent discount and sleep well 
> knowing they are in full compliance with their licenses. Users who just go 
> ahead and install Windows repeatedly on the same computer without 
> consulting their software lawyers must fall back on the weak argument 
> "well, it works fine that way" or "it seemed like reasonable and fair use 
> to me".
>
> -- 
> Kent W. England, Microsoft MVP for Windows Security
Quantcast