how many machines/mobo can Win XP/Vista (retail) install??

[theteamaqua]

how many different machines/mobo can Win XP and Vista (retail) install??

right now im on OEM, so after last mobo (the one right after i moved from my old dell) im screwed, well i still get 30 days, and ill have to reinstall windows again . not that bad really ... i mean i sometimes reformat/install more often than that

but if i buy the retail Vista/XP.. i heard im limited to like 5 machines or something is that true??

[IFMU]

By my understanding you are limited to 1 install/motherboard/system per key.

I believe there are corporate versions you may be able to get that vary a bit on that. However if you buy where most people buy, it will be a standard 1 key/1 system limit.

[theteamaqua]

By my understanding you are limited to 1 install/motherboard/system per key.

I believe there are corporate versions you may be able to get that vary a bit on that. However if you buy where most people buy, it will be a standard 1 key/1 system limit.

oh yeah i meant, say ... i changed the mobo, and i want to transfer this HDD to the new mobo, and how many times can i do that?? can i change mobo 5 times for retail??

i know OEM = something like 5 activations/mobo (not sure about mobo, but i remember i activate like 5 times on that XP OEM disk)

also not sure if this is OEM only , but every time i reformat/reinstall windows, i have to activate?? i know i had to do that for OEM

[IFMU]

Ah ok gotcha. Sorry about that.

As for that, I have no idea sorry. :shrug:

[zanzabar]

if u get biz or ulti u can release the key to be used on another machine, and if it wont work when u migrate, u can call up MS u can go and call them and say "i had to upgrade do to hardware failure" and they will reset ur key

[b1lk1]

Retail versions are easy for upgrading. As long as it is only installed on one PC, they will let you activate it indefinitely with a phone call. OEM is much trickier. If you tell them it is OEM or that you got it preinstalled on a PC they will probably void your key. I have activated OEM software over and over but that was XP and I was very careful to not tell them it was OEM. OEM Vista is the same from everything I heard. I do not believe they can tell what version you have by the activation code you give them when you call to activate.

[icon57]

never had a ms telephone person ask me if it was oem or retail...

[lazy]

ive been using the same xp pro cd for so many new builds and rebuilds... never once had any problem

[b1lk1]

never had a ms telephone person ask me if it was oem or retail...

I'd say 1 in 10 times I call they ask. In fact, I have had many different questions asked of me when I called them. BUt I never once failed to get an activation code.

[Kurz]

Just say My old motherboard Died They will give you a key.

[icon57]

i wonder if they will be doing the same for vista...

[toy4x4]

I have re-installed Vista Ultimate on the same machine multiple times. Sometimes do to me chopping too much out with vLite and a couple times do to hardware upgrades. I activated it each time and although I cannot activate online anymore, I have had no issues calling MS to activate it. The only question they ask is "How many PCs do you have this key installed on?"

I have also re-installed Vista Ultimate with the OEM key on a new laptop I just got in order to get rid of all the bloatware.... I had to call MS to get the activation codes but had no problem and only had the above question asked.

Of course at this point I have a good backup using the Vista Backup tool and can restore with it already activated. I might have to re-activate do to a hardware upgrade but I don't expect to ever have a issue getting this done by calling MS.

[icon57]

^^^ good news, i was pretty sure that was the case, cause when i buy a new mobo and cpu, i will prolly do a fresh install with my oem version of ultimate.