Dear Lazyweb: Moving a windows license to a new machine

[alexmc]

I have a laptop with MSWindows on it. It is pretty much dead as it lasts for a few minutes before freezing. (Maybe a dodgy fan and the CPU is overheating?) Do you know how I can move the license from that machine to another? (Is it a case of simply finding and re-using the registration details for the laptop and installing Windows from scratch on a

Comments

[andrewducker]

Could it be dodgy memory?
My first stop in these situations is http://www.memtest86.com/ - it's free and it only takes ten minutes to run a test.

If you got Windows with the laptop then it's probably not legally movable, but if you just reuse the license number you'll probably be fine though :->

[alexmc]

I am pretty sure I have run memtest on it. Happily it comes on all Ubuntu Live-CDs :-)

But does memory ever "go bad" after being used for some time? I have never seen that happen.

[andrewducker]

I have. Not often, but I've had to replace memory sticks twice.

[gaspode]

It depends on the the source of the OS. If its a laptop you probably need to get hold of an OEM copy -but just try ...

[hairyears]

Read the OEM End User Agreement:

c:\Windows\System32\eula.txt

The bottom line is: OEM copies of Windows are tied to the machine. You can upgrade the machine - which may involve a call to Microsoft if the licensing software no longer recognises the machine - but you can't install it on another machine, even if the original one is wiped.

Lots of people use an OEM activation key to start up Windows on completely unrelated box when they don't have the correct key to hand, but this is fraud (!) and you may find this difficult to pull off if Windows Genuine Advantage is ever run on your machine.

Some will ring up MS and claim that their licensing problem is due to a replacement hard drive or even a new motherboard, and they will probably get away with it... But again, this is actually a violation of the license terms and, strictly speaking, deception and fraud.

It is, of course, remotely possible that you have a retail copy of Windows rather than an OEM installation. But this is very unlikely on a laptop.

[alexmc]

Cheers. As a software developer myself I like to comply with licensing agreements - which is why I dont run Windows normally.

I'll investigate.