Guest kleefarr Posted July 10, 2008 Posted July 10, 2008 I read that changing a motherboard is now considered as a being a new computer by Microsoft and requires a new licence. This doesn't seem very fair if the motherboard has become faulty and needs replacing. Will he have to get a new licence if I change his motherboard? It will be a second hand one and not new.
Guest M.I.5¾ Posted July 10, 2008 Posted July 10, 2008 Re: Changing faulty motherboard "kleefarr" <kleefarr@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message news:06B6BCD4-3171-473F-9AD0-D4AB8922D1FB@microsoft.com... >I read that changing a motherboard is now considered as a being a new > computer by Microsoft and requires a new licence. > > This doesn't seem very fair if the motherboard has become faulty and needs > replacing. Will he have to get a new licence if I change his motherboard? > It will be a second hand one and not new. The motherboard itself is not on the list of hardware changes that contribute to reactivation. However features of the motherboard may be. Of all the items in the list, the only ones that I can see that will affect reactivation are: IDE Adaptor type - usually built into motherboard (1 change). MAC address of built in Ethernet port - this will trip reactivation as it counts as 3 changes. If the new motherboard requires a new processor then this is 2 changes (1 for the processor type and 1 for the serial number) If the hard disc requires reformatting for a clean install of Windows, there goes another change. 7 items must remain unchanged* or missing for reactivation not to occur. 3 for a dockable PC. A dockable PC also includes PCs with a PC Card or Express Card slot. However, it must be noted that many OEM versions of XP whilst not reactivated by hardware changes are specifically locked to the BIOS on the old motherboard. Changing the motherboard will render that particular OEM XP useless.
Guest Ken Blake, MVP Posted July 10, 2008 Posted July 10, 2008 Re: Changing faulty motherboard On Thu, 10 Jul 2008 02:04:01 -0700, kleefarr <kleefarr@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote: > I read that changing a motherboard is now considered as a being a new > computer by Microsoft and requires a new licence. Not correct. First of all, note that a new computer requires a new licence *only* if the license is an OEM one. There is no such restriction on retail licenses. Second, even with OEM licenses, a new motherboard does not mean it's considered a new computer. For a long time this was unclear, but Microsoft has now clarified this. See http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/windowsvista/buyorupgrade/a... or http://tinyurl.com/384gx5 which states "If you acquired Windows Vista pre-installed on a computer from a major manufacturer (sometimes referred to as an Original Equipment Manufacturer or OEM), Windows Vista will require re-activation if you replace the motherboard with a motherboard not provided by the OEM." That's about Vista, but the same would clearly apply to XP as well. > This doesn't seem very fair if the motherboard has become faulty and needs > replacing. Will he have to get a new licence if I change his motherboard? > It will be a second hand one and not new. However, bear in mind that if the computer is one from a major OEM (such as Dell), the copy of XP is very likely BIOS locked to the original motherboard. Unless it's replaced with an identical one, the old copy of Windows will no longer work on it. -- Ken Blake, Microsoft MVP - Windows Desktop Experience Please Reply to the Newsgroup
Guest kleefarr Posted September 17, 2008 Posted September 17, 2008 RE: Changing faulty motherboard Thanks for the input guys. My dad had a retail version of XP Home so no problems. Activated straight away. "kleefarr" wrote: > I read that changing a motherboard is now considered as a being a new > computer by Microsoft and requires a new licence. > > This doesn't seem very fair if the motherboard has become faulty and needs > replacing. Will he have to get a new licence if I change his motherboard? > It will be a second hand one and not new.
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