Xp Licenses

[Bingo Jesus]

A couple of years ago I purchased a Demonite PC (from Carrera), it came it XP Home pre-installed and a recovery disc for re-installing XP. As my computers gone for a couple of years now without a format I decided to dust off my recovery CD to format and re-install Windows XP.

However, the disc comes up with a error message, "Computer is not a Carrera PC, or has been modified outside of the warranty terms". Not being one to shy away from a challenge I found my Dad's XP Home disc.

However, is it legal to use my License with this disc (I have a valid XP Home License for my PC), and will it work?

Thanks for any help, maybe you'll be able to get my computer to load Half-Life more quickly.

 

[Vimacs]

wow, who the hell cares about things like that?
well, it should be half legal, not that anyone cares.

 

[WarmFluffyUK]

Yes it is legal, The licence is for one copy of XP on one machine, the disc is simply media, regardless of whether it's your dad's or your disc. The licence is the important thing.

What you can NOT do is use your dads disc, and his licence. This would mean you are using one licence on two machines. And you may have a problem activating Windows afterwards.

Is your Windows version the same version as your dads? If so you may be okay, if not, then you may find that using your dads disc and your licence doesn't work.

 

[Twimfy]

Yeah just do it. 've been using a pirate copy of XP I picked up at a boot sale for years now and nothings happened to me yet.

 

[Axeman]

Strictly speaking, it actually wouldnt be legal.

The XP that you got with your Carrera PC would have been an OEM copy. These often have a different licensing structure to 'standard' xp - you may even find that the license key doesnt work. The manufacurers pay less for an OEM install of XP due to its higher copy protection and it being specific to that machin. Thats why it says on the disc (usually) "only to be used with a ***** PC". So strictly speaking, no, it's unlikely to be 'fully' legal.

 

[BaDToaD]

The OEM license sucks. If your PC blew up it would even be illegal to take your harddisk out of your old PC and transfer it to an new PC. The OEM license is valid "for the life of the PC"

 

[Rico]

OEMs sometimes support up to five uses before they become invalid. I managed to use my mum's XP key three times (on the same machine, though) before I needed to 'call them up.'

 

[Bingo Jesus]

Right, I've got the Disc, and yet another License (this version of XP isn't being used on any other machine). Anyway, I've got Debian installed on my second hard disc, but I want to format it to NTFS, so that windows can see it and I can back up my music to it. I'm sure I could format it in Linux, but I'm not very good at using it, and I don't want to mess everything up. I'll be installing Linux on my Laptop when i get it.

How do I format a disc that windows cant 'see'?

 

[Squidge]

Right click "My Computer" -> "Manage" -> "Disk Management". All disks are there regardless of the os that created them

 

[Bingo Jesus]

Right click "My Computer" -> "Manage" -> "Disk Management". All disks are there regardless of the os that created them

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Thanks, I can't find "Disk Management", but I can see (and partion) the disk using Partion Magic, and I'll do that as soon as I can find a way to remove GRUB from my Master Boot Record.

EDIT: I was being an idiot, I've found "Disk Management", have fixed the Master Boot Record and and am busy formatting the second drive.

 

[Bingo Jesus]

Just a note to say I've reinstalled, and everything's working again, thank you.

 

[Axeman]

Cool... but have you checked your windows updates work? MS have clamped down on dodgy windows licenses recently.

 

[Hanz™]

Cool... but have you checked your windows updates work? MS have clamped down on dodgy windows licenses recently.

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The "so-called" clampdown was cracked 24hours later with a single line of javascript.

 

[Bingo Jesus]

Cool... but have you checked your windows updates work? MS have clamped down on dodgy windows licenses recently.

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Well, the update site's crashing on me. But I've registered windows successfully, and the update site seems to be trying to let me in. I think it could be my Firewall, I'm trying to keep it very tight.

 

[Axeman]

Cool... but have you checked your windows updates work?  MS have clamped down on dodgy windows licenses recently.

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The "so-called" clampdown was cracked 24hours later with a single line of javascript.

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Yep - but how long do you think that'll last??

 

[Swiss_Cheeseman]

Cool... but have you checked your windows updates work? MS have clamped down on dodgy windows licenses recently.

​

The "so-called" clampdown was cracked 24hours later with a single line of javascript.

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Yep - but how long do you think that'll last??

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Auto-updates still work and will continue to work until Microsoft deems it necessary to disable them. Unlikely though, keeping pirated copies of WinXP secure is a good idea in the long run and Microsoft understand that.