Need to reinstall Vista on 2 different laptops??Help

Hi Kees, I hear what you are saying but I don't want to recover the partition. It is way to small and there is to much unneeded Acer stuff on the cpu. And discussing how to do something that is illegal is not illegal. And I did not know the license was bound to that machine.

Thanks

It wouldn't be illegal per se. But the forum policies don't allow it nonetheless.

Kees

You said something was illegal and it isn't. So you can say per se or technically or whatever you want but the fact remains, you made an incorrect statement. I was not looking for information to do something illegal, if I wanted to do that I would just download any one of the million cracked copies of MS software from piratebay, btjunkie, or different torrent sites. I came on thi sforum looking for teh right way to do this. And for you to defend your WRONG statement by then saying well it is against the TOS is someone who has a problem with being wrong and is making an excuse.

I see where this is going. Let's try this.

We'll make mistakes from time to time but must stay inside the forum policies.

Try again and try to stick inside the forum policies. If you try to debate the forum policies you may be upset and certainly won't be working on your machine's problems.

So there you are with the lessons about OEM licenses. These are locked to the machines and we will not discuss how to unhinge them.

Hope this helps,
Bob

Hi Bob, I didn't know that the OEM license was locked to that laptop. With that being said is it locked to the case, the processor, the motherboard, or what? I was looking for advice on how to fix multiple problems and I have someone telling me that what I am doing is illegal or what I am trying to do is illegal or whatever is illegal. Fact of the matter is I have a vista laptop with a bad hdd. A vista laptop I want to do a clean install of vista and each have keys. Now I do prefer Xp and have a dead laptop with a XP key. I am sorry I took offense but some of the people here deputize themselves to be Microsoft Deputies and start spouting off illegal this and illegal that. At this point I dont even care if this thread gets deleted.

licensed to the machine it was installed on and "lives and dies" with that machine. The statement you are fixated on about an illegal activity was correct although it appears that you misread the statement.

The statement was not that the discussion was illegal but that performing the transfer would be and for that reason assistance would not be forthcoming in these forums.

OEM software is less expensive than retail though so you really have a couple of options.

First you can always perform a system recovery as the manufacturer provides which will return things to the factory installation state. Then you can make use of DECRAPIFIER which is free for personal use at http://www.pcdecrapifier.com/

Second you could purchase an OEM copy of the OS you want to use and install it on as many computers as you have VALID KEYS for the OS.

Third you could clone the existing hard drive to a larger hard drive to be installed on the computer.

What constitutes a "machine". Is it the case, the hard drive, the processor. I have changed all of the above on OEM machines and want to know what is illegal and what is not illegal.

and I have provided a link to Microsoft's OEM System Builder's FAQ BUT it does require registration as a system builder before you can browse them.

All below this line is quoted directly:


OEM licensing has certain restrictions as to what you can and cannot do according to the terms of the EULA that you accept during installation.

Q. What computer component ties the OEM license to the computer?

A. Short answer ? the first motherboard the OS was installed on. In the case of your purchase of an OEM license with a new computer, this license is tied to the motherboard of that system. In the case of a purchase of OEM software from a retail seller, this would be the first motherboard you install the software on, *not* the ?hardware? that was bundled with your OEM purchase.

Quoted from Microsoft's OEM Builder FAQs: https://oem.microsoft.com/script/contentpage.aspx?PageID=553075

"Q. Can a PC with OEM Windows XP have its motherboard upgraded and keep the same license? What if it was replaced because it was defective?

A. Generally, you may upgrade or replace all of the hardware components on your customer's computer and the end user may maintain the license for the original Microsoft

I tried the 3rd option on my Acer Aspire (cloning hdd to a larger one), but the new drive will not boot up. Is there another step to this process?

But you lost the direction in your posts. That is, you may want to think over "how or what do I need to do to fix my machine?" rather than debate forum policy.
Bob

Hi Bob, I had no idea about such things. Although the tattooing of a motherboard might protect that machine is there anyway for MS to know that the licensed software that was on a cpu that you purchased has been transferred to a different machine (assuming they are not both being used)? Again my situation is I hate Vista and have a dead laptop with a fully licensed copy of XP. And I have a full install version of XP on disk that I would like to put on the Acer with Vista using the dead laptops key. This might not be legal but I think it would work. And to be honest I wouldn't mind the Vista on the ACER so much had it not been so bogged down with useless hard drive stealing utilities. Not to mention the partition of 33 GBs is almost full and there is nothing on the cpu but programs. No pictures, no music, no videos, no nothing. And how do I go about wiping the HDD and removing the partition on the ACER and reinstalling Vista from scratch? If I purchase a copy of vista can I use the key that is on the Acer laptop to register the software?

Thanks

I see we're back on track. Let's roll.

1. And how do I go about wiping the HDD and removing the partition on the ACER and reinstalling Vista from scratch?

When we boot XP, Vista and 7 CD/DVDs the install process offers a step where we can delete old parttions, select a new fresh partition and the Windows installer will partition and format it for us.

TIP! I rarely use the longer format option. "Quick" is my answer.

2. If I purchase a copy of vista can I use the key that is on the Acer laptop to register the software?

No. Here's why. The OEM license is a reduced license. Now don't take it out on me but the laptop maker cut a deal and the license keys don't work on retail CD/DVDs. It's like buying a Yugo and you want to use your key for a Bentley. I know that many feel wronged over this so vent if you must but dems the rules.
Bob

Ah yes Bob I know exactly what you are talking about as far as deleting the partition during a fresh install but how about when I am reinstalling Vista using the Vista recovery DVDs, can I change/delete partitions then? And what is the actually size of Vista when installed with current updates?

Thanks

"when I am reinstalling Vista using the Vista recovery DVDs, can I change/delete partitions then?"

On most recovery DVDs this is rarely supported. The OEM removes this because they don't want to support custom partitions, multiple OSes and more. They have a factory setup to reduce calls to the support lines.

"And what is the actually size of Vista when installed with current updates?"

I've seen 10's of GB to a high of 70'ish GB. Windows itself comes on a 4.7GB DVD so what's to say where the OS begins and ends? Let's think about it. Is Windows Media Player part of this OS? Or is it just an app?
Bob