Distribution "popularity" - unlicensed Windows

Posted Dec 15, 2011 16:19 UTC (Thu) by nye (subscriber, #51576)
In reply to: Distribution "popularity" - unlicensed Windows by giraffedata
Parent article: Distribution "popularity"

>But I remember talk around when Windows XP came out that you had to register with Microsoft as well (with some consternation about the fact that it meant a computer had to have Internet access) and you could transfer that registration to another computer some small number of times, and after a transfer the old computer became persona non grata for various purposes, such as updating Microsoft products.

Well the gist of it is that you have 30 days after installation to activate via phone or internet, which basically registers your license key as in use, and associated with a small digest[0] of some of the hardware information. If the hardware changes beyond a certain point, you have to reactivate. After reactivating more than a few times in a given period, you have to speak to a human being who will give you a manual activation code.

It's not that hard to bypass (don't think it applies to VL copies for example), but anyone doing that has to face up to the fact that they know exactly what they're doing - the purpose being to stop casual installation using the same license key for multiple computers.

[0] Small enough that you can input it via a phone; long enough that you wouldn't want to.

Distribution "popularity" - unlicensed Windows

Posted Dec 15, 2011 17:02 UTC (Thu) by giraffedata (guest, #1954) [Link] (4 responses)

Thank you. One more question: how hard is it to get Windows install media? Say I have a perfectly valid license to run Windows, with a certificate and license key. Can I get/make a CD or flash drive to install Windows?

And how hard is it to copy Windows from one working system to another (again, assuming one has a license to run it on the target system).

Strange questions...

Posted Dec 15, 2011 20:03 UTC (Thu) by khim (subscriber, #9252) [Link] (2 responses)

One more question: how hard is it to get Windows install media?

What do you mean?

Say I have a perfectly valid license to run Windows, with a certificate and license key.

Then you should have an install media, too: Windows licenses and certificates are tied to specific version of Windows. You can not use license from Dell computer to install Windows on HP. You should read your actual Windows license: some of them are transferable, some not, some can be used with nLite, some can only be installed from the original CD or DVD.

And how hard is it to copy Windows from one working system to another (again, assuming one has a license to run it on the target system).

Depends on how different are HDD controllers, mostly. There are plenty of tutorials on the internet. You'll need to reactivate it, of course.

Windows licensing and installing

Posted Dec 15, 2011 21:37 UTC (Thu) by giraffedata (guest, #1954) [Link] (1 responses)

Say I have a perfectly valid license to run Windows, with a certificate and license key.
Then you should have an install media, too:

I don't know if you know this, but it is quite common not to have it. Those kinds of things get lost. Also, I believe it is common for a computer to come with a Windows license but instead of a CD, there are files on the disk drive and the user is instructed to burn his own CD. I doubt many people do that, and if the computer breaks, there's no install media.

But from what you say, the answer to my question is that it's pretty much impossible to get Windows install media.

Of course it's possible!

Posted Dec 16, 2011 9:36 UTC (Fri) by khim (subscriber, #9252) [Link]

I don't know if you know this, but it is quite common not to have it. Those kinds of things get lost. Also, I believe it is common for a computer to come with a Windows license but instead of a CD, there are files on the disk drive and the user is instructed to burn his own CD. I doubt many people do that, and if the computer breaks, there's no install media.

Well, it's well-known fact that people rarely think ahead. I, for one, always make these backup disks and keep them around before I install Linux: it's quite a hassle to replace them if I ever decide to go back to Windows.

If people want to live without insurance then it's their right: they can always buy retail copy if Windows, so it's not a big deal.

But from what you say, the answer to my question is that it's pretty much impossible to get Windows install media.

It depends on your vendor, actually. Usually you can contact your vendor and they will ship installation disks for a nominal fee. Just remember that your vendor is Microsoft only if you bought retail copy of Windows (or if you are an enterprise and own volume license, of course). If you bought Windows from OEM (it's preinstalled on your computer, for example) then it's up to OEM to support you.

YMMV: some OEMs are very accommodating, some will ask you to jump through lots of hoops, but in the end they are the ones who should give you replacement for broken/lost copy of Windows.

P.S. Surprisingly enough tiny OEMs are the least problematic: they are too small to create their own spin of Windows thus they use some generic OEM Windows package - and these are not so hard to find. It's much harder to find Windows for some particular version of Dell or Sony.

Distribution "popularity" - unlicensed Windows

Posted Dec 16, 2011 11:56 UTC (Fri) by anselm (subscriber, #2796) [Link]

According to Microsoft, the license key and physical media belong together. You're not supposed to use any arbitrary Windows XP license key to install from any arbitrary Windows XP distribution DVD, although that often works. (Again, this is not something that Microsoft seems too keen on really cracking down on.)