The OS that ships with a PC is legally only licensed for the PC it was delivered with. 

 

Same way if you bought an OEM version of Windows, it is legally only licensed for one PC (the PC it was initially installed on).

I kinda got the impression that this was the case when you didn't have a bulk deal. I take it that Microsoft/Dell won't allow you to register the OS with a different machine (No way to make this legal)?

 

Boy, home users get a raw deal these days, don't they. It's certainly best to buy retail if you plan to do anything other than using your PC out of the box for the rest of its time.

My dear friend Knaufit, please check your PM (on very top) - you have mail....

What I stated was how it's licensed (and it's not just Dell, if you buy an HP, Gateway, Acer, or whoever the OEM versions are the same).

 

What you do is up to you.

So, long story short, Your OS can only legally be run on the PC that it was purchased with, and neither Dell nor Microsoft will let you reassign it.

 

One more question. If I'm combining parts from two old PCs (Both Dells), how much of the PC do I need to retain in order to retain the OEM. Motherboard, HD, etc?

Yep, I'm well aware of all of this. Let me give you a hypothetical situation.

 

Suppose that you had an old Dell and a new Dell, the new Dell is Vista, but the old Dell is XP. Could you hypothetically transfer the OEM of XP to the PC sold with Vista simply by transfering enough of the parts like the HD across and DVD-ROM over. Or does the OEM reside with a significant and non movable component like the motherboard or PSU?

 

I'm not used to the limitations of a consumer OEM, so I don't know what you can and can't do, and I don't want to do somethig that I'm not supposed to do.

 

I usualy work bulk business deals and retail installs.

Not sure what you mean, but the Dell supplied OS discs will only load on a system with a Dell BIOS, so you need a Dell motherboard.

Here is the skinny on this subject:

 

Microsoft defines the motherboard as the original computer for OEM purposes. Period.

 

Dell and others use a SLP installation and the code that tells the OS that it is legal is written in the ACPI Table in the BIOS Firmware on the motherboard with respect to the certificate on the OEM installation disk.

 

The motherboard that came with XP will NOT have the proper code to activate the Vista OS and vice versa as these codes are different for each OS. " Dell M07 for Vista " and " Dell M08 for XP " are the SLP codes.

 

There is no amount of manipulation that will make it conform to the license agreement.

 

pcgeek11

:smileyvery-happy:

 

Maybe I didn't word it correctly.. unless I'm missing something... Being the pessimist I can sometimes be, I said the tire wouldn't work, lol. 

In other words I was meaning to the o.p. to use his/her own good judgement as you're likely to get 5 different opinions from 5 different folks...

 

Gee...  Who would think that a flat tire I encountered 50 years ago would come up here in 2008..