OEM Licensing, EULAs, and Dell

Thanks, so who at Dell do I talk to about this? I mean this is a massive issue, having several of thier reps telling me to commit an illegal activity

"Am I interpreting Microsoft's EULAs wrong?"

No - that's exactly what the license for any OEM version of Office states. You can install Office on the new machine, but it won't activate on-line (as it has been activated previously). You can try calling the MS number which is supplied during the activation process and talk to an MS support person, but you probably won't get very far. MS won't usually help a customer who has an OEM version, but it's worth a try.

If talking to Dell reps doesn't work, you can go to the Dell Support page and click on "Unresolved Issues".

Thanks for the help

dell will not send you another copy of office. i think the hook is that technically, you do not have an OEM copy of office, rather a retail copy (you have a valid product key on the cd sleeve). speculation on that, but i know from experience they will not send you another copy of office.

I've asked one of the Dell Liaisons to have a look at your problem. Hopefully we can get this resolved ASAP.

is it? i would suggest the OP install from the disc recieved with the original order, and activate with the product key on the sleeve of the disc. see what happens. no need to answer that - it will work. :emotion-2:

bweed6,

If this is in fact a "retail" version, then the installation and the activation will work on a second machine. If it is an OEM version, then obviously this won't work. What I find disturbing is that this Dell rep is insisting that Dell "never" supplies OEM versions of Office. That's just total misrepresentation.

bweed6,

"no need to answer that - it will work". Well, I won't dispute that with you, but I also know from personal experience that at least "sometimes" it doesn't work.

A few years ago, I purchased a Dimension 9200 with Office 2007 Professional installed. I was fully aware of the OEM and Retail EULA's, but for some reason (brain cramp) I decided to install Office on a second laptop (thinking of course of the Retail EULA). Office installed flawlessly (using the correct Product Key), but Activation failed. It was only then that I realized my mistake.

The OP can check by going to this site:

http://www.microsoft.com/resources/howtotell/content.aspx?pg=officeready&displaylang=en

Read down and there is a "How to tell" if the COA is retail or OEM....

The COA is, in fact, an OEM one. Here is a link to a bunch of pictures I took of it http://www.flickr.com/photos/9793646@N07/sets/72157616179137316/.  Also, Microsoft's activation does not always work accurately. Usually if it has been 6 or more months since your last activation, your activations are reset. This does not mean it is legal to move it though, this is just to make it easier to reinstall on the same system (atleast that is what I read back in the XP days)

Additionally, the REC specialist I spoke with on the phone that insisted Dell NEVER sends OEM licenses (for office), also insisted the COA was interchangable with Dell OEM versions of Vista premium, business, and Ultimate(in otherwords my vista home premium COA was valid for Vista ultimate, which is flat out wrong). My original system had Windows XP Pro, and the exchange system had Vista Home Premium (which are not direct upgrade lines), so he sent me the Ultimate CD by itself without a COA telling me that I could install it and not worry about it. (Which, technically it will install fine, but it will be an illegal copy)

Okay, let's see if I have this straiight.  I have a Dell PC Dimension 8300 that came with Office 2000.  Something got badly corrupted on the PC, so I have backed up everything and I'm preparing to do a format of the hard drive and a reinstall of the OS from Dell Restore discs.  I did NOT receive an Office 2000 disc, but a friend has a retail disc.  If I use that disc and install it on the original PC that it was originally installed on, then will the product key for Office 2000 be in my PC's BIOS somewhere, so I wont' need to input a product key?

I'm just trying to get my PC back to where it was when Dell first shipped it out.  Not transfer, no upgrade, just factory settings and software.

ANYONE?

Thanks,

JP

You might be correct except for one detail.  The original poster had the disk and the Certificate of Authentication (COA) for the disk.  The original problem is that despite having a valid COA, the OEM EULA states that it is a violation of the EULA to install the copy of office on any machine except the one it was delivered with.  The installation was technically possible, but not in a way that strictly complies with the license that was granted.

If you had a COA sticker and then borrowed your friend's Office installation CD, you could go with that, assuming naturally that your COA is recognized as being valid by Office setup.  What you have stated, however, is that you don't have the COA or the installation CD.  If you now install Office using his COA and disk, one of two things should happen when you connect to the internet:  Either the copy of Office you just installed will fail to authenticate and you will still need to type in a valid COA code, or the copy of Office on your friend's machine will be invalidated and he will get the message that he has 30 days to validate before Office quits working correctly.

I cannot swear that you will need to go through this as Office 2000 is getting old enough that maybe they don't pay attention anymore.  It has been my experience, though, that Microsoft has a long memory.  It has been a few years but I remember my step-sister giving me a copy of Windows XP Pro to install on her new laptop.  Everything went swimmingly until I connected to the internet and the thing contacted Microsoft.  I received a message that it appeared that the copy I just installed was in use somewhere else and it would be necessary to phone Microsoft to validate the installation.  I did that, and the copy was validated.  I then called my step-sister and asked if she had installed the copy anywhere else.  Turned out she had installed it on her desktop thinking that the EULA allowed her to install on a desktop and a laptop as had been the case for some previous versions of Microsoft software.  Whoops!  She decided to remove the desktop installation and leave the valid installation on her laptop, and everyone was happy.

Hi, all.   I spoke to one of Dell's global policy managers and got the scoop. You do not need a new copy of Office. You can install Office from your original CD on the new PC legally. I see the links you provided, and I fully understand the language, but I can assure you, you can install and activate the old copy on the new box. Dell issues thousands of system exchanges in a given time period. The logistics of retiring old COA's and sending out new discs of royaltied copies of Office (yes, we pay MSFT royalty fees for every OEM copy of Office we dispatch) would be cost prohibitive. Therefore we have made arrangements with MSFT for these situations. If you go ahead and install Office and  have any activation problems, you can call MSFT Activations and explain the situation- which I seriously doubt you will need to do. If you run into any problems at all, just post back to this thread, and I will get with you offline and fix you up. Even if you run into a problem 6 months down the line.

Bill,

A couple of things:

1. Can you provide some sort of documentation stating this? Because as an end-user I need to comply with the EULA unless I get another document that states otherwise (either in writing from Dell or Microsoft). The problem is that the EULA on Dell's Office does not state this special provision you speak of, therefore it is still illegal to install it without having proper documentation that the EULA is pre-empted by this other policy

2. I was also sent Windows Vista Ultimate(32bit, which can not read my full 4GB ram) by ITSELF without a COA after I mentioned that the system I was shipped had Vista Home Premium(64 bit which could) and should have had Ultimate(64 bit). What I was told over the phone was that the COA for home premium is transferable to ultimate and did not matter. While technically the Ultimate copy will install (due to the bit-check mechanism in OEM Windows Vista Ultimate - Dell) I still do not have a valid license for this software because of the shortcut taken by Dell. In fact, I am not 100% certain that sending just the COA label would fix it, since the COA must be affixed to the system before it leaves the factory to count (I think, could be wrong on that though)

so, what about the oem operating system?