questions about purchased pc's, XP, and EULA

[jfdabiri]

Hi,
I have purchased some dell desktop P-4's at an auction. all of them have COA and cd key on them. but the operating system and hard drive have been wiped. my question is, can operating system (xp) be put on them, since they have valid product keys? and are they entitled to have os on them?
thanks in advance.

 

[vacunita]

If you have the Key you can put an Operating system on them that corresponds to the type of key they have. That is, if the KEY is OEM as it most likely is, the machines can only have an OEM OS installed on them.

You could not however install a retail version of the OS with that key. You would need a retail key.

So based on the type of Key is what you can install.

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Ignorance is not necessarily Bliss, case in point:
Unknown has caused an Unknown Error on Unknown and must be shutdown to prevent damage to Unknown.

 

[ceh4702]

Sometimes at large organizations they have a license agreement that is only for that organization. So Microsoft would know who the key belongs to.

Generally you really do need to delete the partion, repartition, reformat and install an OS that belongs to you.

If you do not like my post feel free to point out your opinion or my errors.

 

[Davetoo]

If the systems have a product key from MS on them, then vacunita is correct and you're allowed to install the OS that corresponds to that key. Generally an Open License or other company originated license doesn't put the product key on the machine, the IT guys keep hold of it and keep it protected. So if there is a product key on a sticker, then obtain a corresponding CD and install.

I'm Certifiable, not cert-ified.
It just means my answers are from experience, not a book.