Windows Vista Ultimate 64-Bit License?

[SuperBeatBoy]

Right, i have an oem version of this that i never use on the count of it being a load of poop. Just wondering how many machines can use it or if i can even get it reset off my machine.

I'm asking this as i want to bung it on ebay but want to make sure that someone can use it.

[Pete88]

only 1 machine can use a OEM license.

if you sold the laptop/PC and it was reloaded with windows then urself or whoever bought would have to ring microsoft and give the oem code to get it activated for the machine.

It is usually straight forward ringing them.

[sj33]

An OEM licence will be tied to your machine only, I'm afraid. No-one else will be able to activate it.

EDIT - Beaten by seconds!

[JohnMcL7]

Legally you can't sell an activated OEM license, Microsoft aren't supposed to activate the OEM license for another machine (the hardware identifier is different) although it does still happen.

[briareos_kerensky]

If I'm not mistaken, Microsoft consider an OEM license tied to the motherboard.

[Strolls]

Microsoft consider the OEM license to be tied to the original machine - that's what it says in the EULA you accept when you first run the PC (or reinstall an OEM copy of Windows).

briareos is correct about the motherboard - if your motherboard dies then it's supposed to be replaced with an identical one, and not just one that's similar and which supports the same socket. If you buy a PC with an OEM Windows license then you're not supposed to upgrade the motherboard (without a new Windows license).

However there is some dispute about this. Just because something is in an EULA, it may not be binding by law. I believe there is a German court case which challenged this, and it sets a European-wide precedent that stickered OEM Windows licenses are indeed transferrable.

These licenses - like yours - are sold all the time. I don't know what its worth. but you certainly would be able to sell it (or buy a similar used OEM license sticker) on uk.adverts.computer. I don't know if they're sold on eBay, as I can well imagine that Microsoft might ask eBay to pull the listings & eBay would surely comply.

If you're selling one of these licenses you do need to remove the sticker from your computer - I have a couple stuck to a filing cabinet, so I can use them here if I need to, my father has at least one which is stuck to a miscellaneous piece of plastic. I have bought them loose in a ziplock baggie, and I don't find that very satisfactory because the stick will have gone by the time you receive it. The best way to remove the stickers is IME to do so with a stanley blade (at an angle of about 20&#186 and a little care.

If you buy a secondhand license sticker in this way, you might find it's already been activated more than once with Microsoft, and that you have to phone Microsoft's 0800 number after installation to get rid of the nag screens. In this case you will probably be asked some questions to which you need to respond that you're reinstalling Windows because it was crashing and fib that "oh, yes, it was preinstalled on the computer when I bought it".

I am quite firmly of the belief that you're legally entitled to buy and sell these licenses secondhand, but if you were to tell Microsoft during this phone call that you did so then they'd surely deny you activation and you'd have to take them to court to settle it.

One vendor on uk.adverts.computer used to have a full-time business buying ex-corporate PCs and then reselling the base-units and the stickers separately. He was sent a cease and desist letter by Microsoft and was confident he could win the case against them, but solicitors he consulted wanted a £20,000 deposit just to initiate proceedings.

EDIT: to respond to JohnMcL7, the hardware identifier changes if you simply change the network card, which is why activation is no problem on a different machine.

[JohnMcL7]

EDIT: to respond to JohnMcL7, the hardware identifier changes if you simply change the network card, which is why activation is no problem on a different machine.

The identifier is signficantly different on a different motherboard however, hence the license shouldn't be activated.

John

[Strolls]

The identifier is signficantly different on a different motherboard however, hence the license shouldn't be activated.

Except is always is.