Omega Owners Forum
Chat Area => General Discussion Area => Topic started by: Mr Skrunts on 23 February 2010, 18:06:21
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Am looking round for a replace the windows XP Home for my neighbers PC as she didn't backupthe original software supplied on her vaio.
Saw one on EB with the COA removed which doesnt really bother me. Then it got me to wondering why it was removed, are they saying we need to use our own keycode (not an issue as it has the licence on the base unit) and if so will it work ok.
Please note *COA HAVE BEEN REMOVED,AND THIS IS NOT INCLUDED IN THIS AUCTION*
NOTE: It is also perfect if you simply need to do a full install on your computer after your windows xp crashed, and you ALREADY HAVE A KEY CODE STICKER ATTACHED TO YOUR SYSTEM.
TIA :y
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I lost my windows disk, and needed a full install last week and they did in shop and I just entered my key off side of machone when I got home.
SIMPLES
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Just realised my mistake. The COA is not the Keycode/licence agreement.
Still makes me wonder why it has been removed.
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I lost my windows disk, and needed a full install last week and they did in shop and I just entered my key off side of machone when I got home.
SIMPLES
Dont think that will be the retail version though.
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In my understanding the prod key off the pc will work one one mane condition
xp home wont work xp home s/pack 1
xp home s/pack 1 wont work for xp home s/pack 2
or vice versa
match build of os and should work fine, also applies to pro with matching build.
Bear in mind some xp preloaded pc/laptops came with the install disk in a partiton on hard drive to alow new boot from BIOS
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In my understanding the prod key off the pc will work one one mane condition
xp home wont work xp home s/pack 1
xp home s/pack 1 wont work for xp home s/pack 2
or vice versa
match build of os and should work fine, also applies to pro with matching build.
Bear in mind some xp preloaded pc/laptops came with the install disk in a partiton on hard drive to alow new boot from BIOS
Whilst looking I just bought a brand specific disk for a PC I have. I allready have XP Pro for it, but bought the home version now.
Was cheap enough and will use it to compare issues on her PC as it is/has deffo been hacked.
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Oh crickey, a whole can of worms.
The COA has the activation key for (retail channel) OEM and Retail versions.
Generally, OEM non transferrable (legally, often works if you give it long enough between activations). Retail often is transferrable to a new PC.
Larger, trustworthy OEMs use another method entirely. Usually, you cannot activate these keys.
The keys are generally tied to the media type (Home, Pro AND OEM/Retail/Large OEM).
The COA, including the activation key, is in effect YOUR LICENCE. No COA, no licence.
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Oh crickey, a whole can of worms.
The COA has the activation key for (retail channel) OEM and Retail versions.
Generally, OEM non transferrable (legally, often works if you give it long enough between activations). Retail often is transferrable to a new PC.
Larger, trustworthy OEMs use another method entirely. Usually, you cannot activate these keys.
The keys are generally tied to the media type (Home, Pro AND OEM/Retail/Large OEM).
The COA, including the activation key, is in effect YOUR LICENCE. No COA, no licence.
That now takes me back to my orriginal thinking. :y
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I might be wrong, but theroretically it doesn't matter where you get the disc/software from. As long as the machine has a legit license that's OK. There is a way to change the license key if your disc has one already on it, so as to make the PC or laptop totally straight. I reloaded several laptops over Xmas starting with a Home SP1 disc, got all the drivers on etc, then registered them, then let windows up automatically. Most were taken up to SP3 with no problems. ( it takes ages to download SP3 :-X :-X :-X)
Ken
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Beware that the key on the machine has to match the media. An OEM key won't activate a retail installation. I have personally been stuffed by this on a Sony Vaio! Luckily I found the original CD.
Kevin
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As Ken T says, the COA with activation key acts as the licence entitlement (which is why the likes of Dell and HP still pop on a COA, even though they don't need the key (with the right media))
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Just realised my mistake. The COA is not the Keycode/licence agreement.
Still makes me wonder why it has been removed.
i lost the key to mine on my old pc, rang up microsoft in reading and they gave me a new number. no questions asked.
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Beware that the key on the machine has to match the media. An OEM key won't activate a retail installation. I have personally been stuffed by this on a Sony Vaio! Luckily I found the original CD.
Kevin
yeah I think you are right re the OEM/Retail. However mine are all laptops with their respective keys, and I have a couple of old recovery discs from different machines that I use. I sent one machine off to HP to get the motherboard replaced, and despite it having an XP Media Centre license, they reloaded it with XP Home. I had to er "find" a copy of media centre to get it legal. :-X
Ken
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Just realised my mistake. The COA is not the Keycode/licence agreement.
Once upon a time, there used to be a book with a pretty picture on it which was the COA. Now a days it is assumed that the keycode/license sticker is the COA.
Still makes me wonder why it has been removed.
Cause its worth a few quid extra. If you get a scrap laptop, you can break it for spares, and the license is also worth maybe another £5, or you stick it on a new PC and instant license. It is, supposedly thanks to EU laws, OK to "recycle" software if the computer it was on originally is totally dead and not going to be repaired.
One of the Compaq series laptops was a great way to get XP Prof licenses, they stuck it on the ram cover, so most of the scrap ones are missing this flap.
Ken
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When I had my business found that on some repaired systems (eg new mobo/cpu to replace blown one) oem versions of XP would install ok but wouldn't activate. I had a number I could call at Microsoft who, provided I identified myself (company) and explained the circumstances, would always give me an activation code.
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Just realised my mistake. The COA is not the Keycode/licence agreement.
Still makes me wonder why it has been removed.
I have a 2 week old netbook and the sticker has started to rub off already. Barely legible. Not that it matters now it's got Ubuntu netbook remix on it. ;D
Kevin
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Just realised my mistake. The COA is not the Keycode/licence agreement.
Still makes me wonder why it has been removed.
I have a 2 week old netbook and the sticker has started to rub off already. Barely legible. Not that it matters now it's got Ubuntu netbook remix on it. ;D
Kevin
Was looking at this last night. Hadn't realised there were as many COA variants.
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Just realised my mistake. The COA is not the Keycode/licence agreement.
Still makes me wonder why it has been removed.
I have a 2 week old netbook and the sticker has started to rub off already. Barely legible. Not that it matters now it's got Ubuntu netbook remix on it. ;D
Kevin
Thats so the number wears off, and the license can't be transfered despite what the EU say. I always stick a piece of sellotape over them to protect against wear.
Ken