Omega Owners Forum
Chat Area => General Discussion Area => Topic started by: alfie on 22 November 2010, 07:46:07
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What is wrong with these things,this is my 3rd box,and now it keeps switching itself into standby.They really are rubbish,hope the sky bloke will replace it with HD.
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built to a 'cheap' price :'(
normally the PSU goes, and they are readily available on ebay
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we're on our 3rd, I think - Amstrad junk :y
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Weve had our Thompson box a few years
I fitted its one and only new PSU earlier in the year.
out of the Amstrad, Thompson, Pace choice, I beleive you want the Pace ideally, followed by the Thompson, with the Amstrad to be avoided if possible.
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I have two Thomson HD boxes (component output). The first since the HD service was made available the second since last year.
The first box began to fail two years ago; I replaced the PSU (straightforward job) and fitted a larger disc. It has worked without problem since.
The second box I bought as a faulty unit from eBay last year. After replacing the PSU it has worked faultlessly since.
Although these failures affected Thomson boxes in particular, and were well documented, I'm not surprised that the present generation of boxes are beginning to show faults.
Most boxes are located in inhospitable locations - under the TV, on top of other equipment or in a display unit where the ventilation is inadequate. I site my boxes away from other equipment where I can be sure that they get as much ventilation as possible.
Although there can be other causes for the box to fail, the PSU problem seems to be (by far) the most common.
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I have two Thomson HD boxes (component output). The first since the HD service was made available the second since last year.
The first box began to fail two years ago; I replaced the PSU (straightforward job) and fitted a larger disc. It has worked without problem since.
The second box I bought as a faulty unit from eBay last year. After replacing the PSU it has worked faultlessly since.
Although these failures affected Thomson boxes in particular, and were well documented, I'm not surprised that the present generation of boxes are beginning to show faults.
Most boxes are located in inhospitable locations - under the TV, on top of other equipment or in a display unit where the ventilation is inadequate. I site my boxes away from other equipment where I can be sure that they get as much ventilation as possible.
Although there can be other causes for the box to fail, the PSU problem seems to be (by far) the most common.
I'm being stupid here, but why would you pay someone on ebay for a box you get free? :o
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It took me a while to accept that the only way to keep them recording reliably is to pull the plug out the wall on at least a monthly basis, hence forcing a reboot.
Plus sly themselves have incorporated some disc clean up options in the menus ( in the engineers menu) and a reboot of some sort iirc.
First sign of an impending crash is the red button icon disappears off the screen, then it becomes un responsive. Other than that....
Won't help the power failure problems though obviously. :-/
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I have two Thomson HD boxes (component output). The first since the HD service was made available the second since last year.
The first box began to fail two years ago; I replaced the PSU (straightforward job) and fitted a larger disc. It has worked without problem since.
The second box I bought as a faulty unit from eBay last year. After replacing the PSU it has worked faultlessly since.
Although these failures affected Thomson boxes in particular, and were well documented, I'm not surprised that the present generation of boxes are beginning to show faults.
Most boxes are located in inhospitable locations - under the TV, on top of other equipment or in a display unit where the ventilation is inadequate. I site my boxes away from other equipment where I can be sure that they get as much ventilation as possible.
Although there can be other causes for the box to fail, the PSU problem seems to be (by far) the most common.
I'm being stupid here, but why would you pay someone on ebay for a box you get free? :o
you only get 1 box free, when you subscribe.
Others are replaced under warrenty.
Personally, I wont pay for the rip off warrenty, and Ill pay for fixes as and when, this mentality will have saved me hundreds., my psu was £15 iirc, about 1 months warrenty price!
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I have two Thomson HD boxes (component output). The first since the HD service was made available the second since last year.
The first box began to fail two years ago; I replaced the PSU (straightforward job) and fitted a larger disc. It has worked without problem since.
The second box I bought as a faulty unit from eBay last year. After replacing the PSU it has worked faultlessly since.
Although these failures affected Thomson boxes in particular, and were well documented, I'm not surprised that the present generation of boxes are beginning to show faults.
Most boxes are located in inhospitable locations - under the TV, on top of other equipment or in a display unit where the ventilation is inadequate. I site my boxes away from other equipment where I can be sure that they get as much ventilation as possible.
Although there can be other causes for the box to fail, the PSU problem seems to be (by far) the most common.
I'm being stupid here, but why would you pay someone on ebay for a box you get free? :o
As an existing subscriber (at the time) I wasn't eligible for the free box upgrade. Had I wanted to replace the SD Sky+ box in question to HD I would have had to have paid the full price. (Can't remember what it was)
Besides I wanted a box with component outputs so I could run the HD Signal into another room. The new boxes Sky were/are offering no longer have this hence the brisk trading for them on eBay.
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What is wrong with these things,this is my 3rd box,and now it keeps switching itself into standby.They really are rubbish,hope the sky bloke will replace it with HD.
Mine started to do that after one of the upgrades, but found out they had altered the auto standbt mode, so just turned it off.
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What is wrong with these things,this is my 3rd box,and now it keeps switching itself into standby.They really are rubbish,hope the sky bloke will replace it with HD.
Mine started to do that after one of the upgrades, but found out they had altered the auto standbt mode, so just turned it off.
By default with the latest software, they are set to turn off at 3am or something like...auto standby will count down clearly on the screen though :-/
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Really easy solution. Dump Sky.
Then you will have:
More time - as you go through Freeview/Freesat in 2mins realising there is nothing but trash TV on, instead of 30mins with Sky.
£600 a year in your pocket, not Sky's
A perfect excuse to go down the pub to see the footie ::)
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Amstrad boxes are kak, the Samsung ones are about the best. Just don't ask for one of the new 1TB boxes :-X
If you think 1 box is enough, you should see how many I have to deal with!
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Really easy solution. Dump Sky.
Then you will have:
More time - as you go through Freeview/Freesat in 2mins realising there is nothing but trash TV on, instead of 30mins with Sky.
£600 a year in your pocket, not Sky's
A perfect excuse to go down the pub to see the footie ::)
...and spend a sight more in the pub and loose an entire weekend into the bargain... ;D
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Really easy solution. Dump Sky.
Then you will have:
More time - as you go through Freeview/Freesat in 2mins realising there is nothing but trash TV on, instead of 30mins with Sky.
£600 a year in your pocket, not Sky's
A perfect excuse to go down the pub to see the footie ::)
Crap, think I'll keep Sky if the alternative is having to watch football! ;D
Not that I've turned the Sky box on in months ;D
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I have two Thomson HD boxes (component output). The first since the HD service was made available the second since last year.
The first box began to fail two years ago; I replaced the PSU (straightforward job) and fitted a larger disc. It has worked without problem since.
The second box I bought as a faulty unit from eBay last year. After replacing the PSU it has worked faultlessly since.
Although these failures affected Thomson boxes in particular, and were well documented, I'm not surprised that the present generation of boxes are beginning to show faults.
Most boxes are located in inhospitable locations - under the TV, on top of other equipment or in a display unit where the ventilation is inadequate. I site my boxes away from other equipment where I can be sure that they get as much ventilation as possible.
Although there can be other causes for the box to fail, the PSU problem seems to be (by far) the most common.
I'm being stupid here, but why would you pay someone on ebay for a box you get free? :o
As an existing subscriber (at the time) I wasn't eligible for the free box upgrade. Had I wanted to replace the SD Sky+ box in question to HD I would have had to have paid the full price. (Can't remember what it was)
Besides I wanted a box with component outputs so I could run the HD Signal into another room. The new boxes Sky were/are offering no longer have this hence the brisk trading for them on eBay.
aaah i see - thanks Zulu and Jimbob, - ta :y
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Really easy solution. Dump Sky.
Then you will have:
More time - as you go through Freeview/Freesat in 2mins realising there is nothing but trash TV on, instead of 30mins with Sky.
£600 a year in your pocket, not Sky's
A perfect excuse to go down the pub to see the footie ::)
...and spend a sight more in the pub and loose an entire weekend into the bargain... ;D
Hmmm, I seem to recall that 4 large bottles of Cobra had you're eyes rolling ;D
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Really easy solution. Dump Sky.
Then you will have:
More time - as you go through Freeview/Freesat in 2mins realising there is nothing but trash TV on, instead of 30mins with Sky.
£600 a year in your pocket, not Sky's
A perfect excuse to go down the pub to see the footie ::)
...and spend a sight more in the pub and loose an entire weekend into the bargain... ;D
Hmmm, I seem to recall that 4 large bottles of Cobra had you're eyes rolling ;D
I am badly out of practice, thank god, but with a curry is fine, although our waiter was starting to look attractive..... :-/. ;D
Those bottles are more than a pint, 500cl are they?
Maybe I should drive, our drinks bill isn't usually that big.... :'(. Still payback at your place :y
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I personally like the Humax HDR Freesat HD PVR
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Really easy solution. Dump Sky.
Then you will have:
More time - as you go through Freeview/Freesat in 2mins realising there is nothing but trash TV on, instead of 30mins with Sky.
£600 a year in your pocket, not Sky's
A perfect excuse to go down the pub to see the footie ::)
...and spend a sight more in the pub and loose an entire weekend into the bargain... ;D
Hmmm, I seem to recall that 4 large bottles of Cobra had you're eyes rolling ;D
I am badly out of practice, thank god, but with a curry is fine, although our waiter was starting to look attractive..... :-/. ;D
Those bottles are more than a pint, 500cl are they?
Maybe I should drive, our drinks bill isn't usually that big.... :'(. Still payback at your place :y
Probably 66cl?
Wasn't that bad - £25 for 3 people? Remember, girly soft drinks are often same price as manly drinks
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Still payback at your place :y
Tonight? :P
May be a Window of opportunity this weekend, if you're free. Possibly.
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I personally like the Humax HDR Freesat HD PVR
But doesn't offer Sky channels. Hence I didn't mention the far superior MCE... ;)
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Really easy solution. Dump Sky.
Then you will have:
More time - as you go through Freeview/Freesat in 2mins realising there is nothing but trash TV on, instead of 30mins with Sky.
£600 a year in your pocket, not Sky's
A perfect excuse to go down the pub to see the footie ::)
...and spend a sight more in the pub and loose an entire weekend into the bargain... ;D
Hmmm, I seem to recall that 4 large bottles of Cobra had you're eyes rolling ;D
I am badly out of practice, thank god, but with a curry is fine, although our waiter was starting to look attractive..... :-/. ;D
Those bottles are more than a pint, 500cl are they?
Maybe I should drive, our drinks bill isn't usually that big.... :'(. Still payback at your place :y
Holy cow you must know how to drink if you're drinking 5L bottles at a time ;D
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I personally like the Humax HDR Freesat HD PVR
But doesn't offer Sky channels. Hence I didn't mention the far superior MCE... ;)
Dragon CAM and genuine Sky card are supposed to work, I was considering a FTV card to get a few missing channels but would have to run in non Freesat mode and lose timers.
However may be worth a try with MCE
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I personally like the Humax HDR Freesat HD PVR
But doesn't offer Sky channels. Hence I didn't mention the far superior MCE... ;)
Dragon CAM and genuine Sky card are supposed to work, I was considering a FTV card to get a few missing channels but would have to run in non Freesat mode and lose timers.
However may be worth a try with MCE
According to Sky T&Cs, you can only use their cards in their boxes...
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Really easy solution. Dump Sky.
Then you will have:
More time - as you go through Freeview/Freesat in 2mins realising there is nothing but trash TV on, instead of 30mins with Sky.
£600 a year in your pocket, not Sky's
A perfect excuse to go down the pub to see the footie ::)
...and spend a sight more in the pub and loose an entire weekend into the bargain... ;D
Hmmm, I seem to recall that 4 large bottles of Cobra had you're eyes rolling ;D
I am badly out of practice, thank god, but with a curry is fine, although our waiter was starting to look attractive..... :-/. ;D
Those bottles are more than a pint, 500cl are they?
Maybe I should drive, our drinks bill isn't usually that big.... :'(. Still payback at your place :y
Holy cow you must know how to drink if you're drinking 5L bottles at a time ;D
must do, its buggered my conversion table by the sound of it ;D
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Still payback at your place :y
Tonight? :P
May be a Window of opportunity this weekend, if you're free. Possibly.
Tonight? dont be mean, you know i'm working... :'(
Beer goggles at the ready otherwise, although i better check with “she who has a memory that works” first in case i double book again....
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Still payback at your place :y
Tonight? :P
May be a Window of opportunity this weekend, if you're free. Possibly.
Tonight? dont be mean, you know i'm working... :'(
Beer goggles at the ready otherwise, although i better check with “she who has a memory that works” first in case i double book again....
I really couldn't do another ruby tonight - a tasty Bhuna on Sat, and a nasty little madras last night, I need time for the processing machine to recover :-[
But come Saturday ;)....
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Really easy solution. Dump Sky.
Then you will have:
More time - as you go through Freeview/Freesat in 2mins realising there is nothing but trash TV on, instead of 30mins with Sky.
£600 a year in your pocket, not Sky's
A perfect excuse to go down the pub to see the footie ::)
...and spend a sight more in the pub and loose an entire weekend into the bargain... ;D
Hmmm, I seem to recall that 4 large bottles of Cobra had you're eyes rolling ;D
I am badly out of practice, thank god, but with a curry is fine, although our waiter was starting to look attractive..... :-/. ;D
Those bottles are more than a pint, 500cl are they?
Maybe I should drive, our drinks bill isn't usually that big.... :'(. Still payback at your place :y
Holy cow you must know how to drink if you're drinking 5L bottles at a time ;D
must do, its buggered my conversion table by the sound of it ;D
*makes mental note never to offer to buy a round in Chris's presence* ;D
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I personally like the Humax HDR Freesat HD PVR
But doesn't offer Sky channels. Hence I didn't mention the far superior MCE... ;)
Dragon CAM and genuine Sky card are supposed to work, I was considering a FTV card to get a few missing channels but would have to run in non Freesat mode and lose timers.
However may be worth a try with MCE
According to Sky T&Cs, you can only use their cards in their boxes...
Ah but does it matter?
And do these T&Cs matter?
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I personally like the Humax HDR Freesat HD PVR
But doesn't offer Sky channels. Hence I didn't mention the far superior MCE... ;)
Dragon CAM and genuine Sky card are supposed to work, I was considering a FTV card to get a few missing channels but would have to run in non Freesat mode and lose timers.
However may be worth a try with MCE
According to Sky T&Cs, you can only use their cards in their boxes...
Ah but does it matter?
And do these T&Cs matter?
I can make Windows/Redhat etc run on any PC with or without a licence. Does that matter? Of course it matters.
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Really easy solution. Dump Sky.
Then you will have:
More time - as you go through Freeview/Freesat in 2mins realising there is nothing but trash TV on, instead of 30mins with Sky.
£600 a year in your pocket, not Sky's
A perfect excuse to go down the pub to see the footie ::)
Having Sky HD, Freeview (via MCE) and Freesat (via Technomate TM 6800 HD) I would largely agree with that - except for the footie.
I suppose I have about 2 thousand channels to view but the majority are dross so it wouldn't take much for me to jettison Sky and save £720 pa - besides I like the MCE interface better and it's just as easy to work with (and less problematic) than Sky's setup.
I would miss Sky Arts all the same.
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I personally like the Humax HDR Freesat HD PVR
But doesn't offer Sky channels. Hence I didn't mention the far superior MCE... ;)
Dragon CAM and genuine Sky card are supposed to work, I was considering a FTV card to get a few missing channels but would have to run in non Freesat mode and lose timers.
However may be worth a try with MCE
According to Sky T&Cs, you can only use their cards in their boxes...
Ah but does it matter?
And do these T&Cs matter?
I can make Windows/Redhat etc run on any PC with or without a licence. Does that matter? Of course it matters.
Big difference is that you are not defrauding anyone
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New Sky+ box fitted today,Amstrad what a improvement on the Thomson one.
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I personally like the Humax HDR Freesat HD PVR
But doesn't offer Sky channels. Hence I didn't mention the far superior MCE... ;)
Dragon CAM and genuine Sky card are supposed to work, I was considering a FTV card to get a few missing channels but would have to run in non Freesat mode and lose timers.
However may be worth a try with MCE
According to Sky T&Cs, you can only use their cards in their boxes...
Ah but does it matter?
And do these T&Cs matter?
I can make Windows/Redhat etc run on any PC with or without a licence. Does that matter? Of course it matters.
Big difference is that you are not defrauding anyone
Sky won't see it that way. In fact they would ban the card the second they found out.
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New Sky+ box fitted today,Amstrad what a improvement on the Thomson one.
Hmm - don't trust Amstrad kit one bit.
I hope it works for you though
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I personally like the Humax HDR Freesat HD PVR
But doesn't offer Sky channels. Hence I didn't mention the far superior MCE... ;)
Dragon CAM and genuine Sky card are supposed to work, I was considering a FTV card to get a few missing channels but would have to run in non Freesat mode and lose timers.
However may be worth a try with MCE
According to Sky T&Cs, you can only use their cards in their boxes...
Ah but does it matter?
And do these T&Cs matter?
I can make Windows/Redhat etc run on any PC with or without a licence. Does that matter? Of course it matters.
Big difference is that you are not defrauding anyone
Sky won't see it that way. In fact they would ban the card the second they found out.
They get the money why should they worry?
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They get the money why should they worry?
They do, for obvious reasons, that cannot be discussed here.
It breaks their T&Cs, in same way that using an OEM version of XP on a different PC to the one that it was bought with breaks Microsoft's licence.
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They get the money why should they worry?
They do, for obvious reasons, that cannot be discussed here.
It breaks their T&Cs, in same way that using an OEM version of XP on a different PC to the one that it was bought with breaks Microsoft's licence.
Totally off-topic .. but with your knowledge of licensing you may be able to help......
Friend who is all very "extremely proper" .. and given some of what he does it is understandable ... has a pretty old computor, runing XP, and has the full CD and the "right" sticker on the case, but the sticker does say OEM. He has asked me to "upgrade" it for him and on the present plan the only things being kept are the case and the optical drives !!
As money is tight-ish ... he doesn't want to pay for a new OS - and certainly does not want anything other than XP - but given his "sensitivity" where does he stand ?? Is this the "same" computor as it is in the same box ?? I'm certain it will authenticate "on-line" as nothing has been done, hardware wise, for at least 2 years.
Ordinarily I wouldn't care and would just go ahead and do it .. but he's asked the question .......
end off-topic question .. :)
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They get the money why should they worry?
They do, for obvious reasons, that cannot be discussed here.
It breaks their T&Cs, in same way that using an OEM version of XP on a different PC to the one that it was bought with breaks Microsoft's licence.
Totally off-topic .. but with your knowledge of licensing you may be able to help......
Friend who is all very "extremely proper" .. and given some of what he does it is understandable ... has a pretty old computor, runing XP, and has the full CD and the "right" sticker on the case, but the sticker does say OEM. He has asked me to "upgrade" it for him and on the present plan the only things being kept are the case and the optical drives !!
As money is tight-ish ... he doesn't want to pay for a new OS - and certainly does not want anything other than XP - but given his "sensitivity" where does he stand ?? Is this the "same" computor as it is in the same box ?? I'm certain it will authenticate "on-line" as nothing has been done, hardware wise, for at least 2 years.
Ordinarily I wouldn't care and would just go ahead and do it .. but he's asked the question .......
end off-topic question .. :)
I'm pretty certain CD drives aren't on the list of items for OEM Licencing :-/
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They get the money why should they worry?
They do, for obvious reasons, that cannot be discussed here.
It breaks their T&Cs, in same way that using an OEM version of XP on a different PC to the one that it was bought with breaks Microsoft's licence.
Totally off-topic .. but with your knowledge of licensing you may be able to help......
Friend who is all very "extremely proper" .. and given some of what he does it is understandable ... has a pretty old computor, runing XP, and has the full CD and the "right" sticker on the case, but the sticker does say OEM. He has asked me to "upgrade" it for him and on the present plan the only things being kept are the case and the optical drives !!
As money is tight-ish ... he doesn't want to pay for a new OS - and certainly does not want anything other than XP - but given his "sensitivity" where does he stand ?? Is this the "same" computor as it is in the same box ?? I'm certain it will authenticate "on-line" as nothing has been done, hardware wise, for at least 2 years.
Ordinarily I wouldn't care and would just go ahead and do it .. but he's asked the question .......
end off-topic question .. :)
I'm pretty certain CD drives aren't on the list of items for OEM Licencing :-/
You used to be able to get OEM licences with a mouse
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They get the money why should they worry?
They do, for obvious reasons, that cannot be discussed here.
It breaks their T&Cs, in same way that using an OEM version of XP on a different PC to the one that it was bought with breaks Microsoft's licence.
Same case keyboard mouse floppy drive monitor, just different MB CPU, HDD and graphics card :P ;D
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They get the money why should they worry?
They do, for obvious reasons, that cannot be discussed here.
It breaks their T&Cs, in same way that using an OEM version of XP on a different PC to the one that it was bought with breaks Microsoft's licence.
Totally off-topic .. but with your knowledge of licensing you may be able to help......
Friend who is all very "extremely proper" .. and given some of what he does it is understandable ... has a pretty old computor, runing XP, and has the full CD and the "right" sticker on the case, but the sticker does say OEM. He has asked me to "upgrade" it for him and on the present plan the only things being kept are the case and the optical drives !!
As money is tight-ish ... he doesn't want to pay for a new OS - and certainly does not want anything other than XP - but given his "sensitivity" where does he stand ?? Is this the "same" computor as it is in the same box ?? I'm certain it will authenticate "on-line" as nothing has been done, hardware wise, for at least 2 years.
Ordinarily I wouldn't care and would just go ahead and do it .. but he's asked the question .......
end off-topic question .. :)
I'm pretty certain CD drives aren't on the list of items for OEM Licencing :-/
You used to be able to get OEM licences with a mouse
Indeed, that was one way. But licence only valid whilst you used that mouse - as that was the qualifying hardware it was bought with ;)
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They get the money why should they worry?
They do, for obvious reasons, that cannot be discussed here.
It breaks their T&Cs, in same way that using an OEM version of XP on a different PC to the one that it was bought with breaks Microsoft's licence.
Same case keyboard mouse floppy drive monitor, just different MB CPU, HDD and graphics card :P ;D
Now we're into the nitty gritty of the specific licence - if it was vendor bought, it would now count as a different system. If it was bought via one of the bundle packs, then it depends if that device/component is still used. If it was bought seperately, it was probably never legal, unless you were signed up to MS' OEM program - its clearly marked not for retail sale ;)