So someone tell me if this is illegal or not before I get myself in trouble. I have a little bit older computer that had it's operating system taken out of it or something like that. It used to have Windows XP on it. I have a newer laptop that came with backup CD's and one of them is the Windows Vista operating system. Being as my older computer doesn't have an OS I want to use this CD to give it one. Is that legal or do I really have to go spend hundreds of dollars to buy something I already have? I mean, it makes sense that both computers belong to me and so does the disc so it would just be illogical that it is illegal, but I don't know. Maybe it has to be licensed or something like that.
sk8ndestroy14 294 Posting Virtuoso
Recommended Answers
Jump to Post1) Illegal as its OEM - tied to the hardware it came with
2) Installing it on 2 PCs at one time is illegal alwayw
3) It would fail product activation and probably put your key on the blacklist ,leaving you with no OS whatsoever
Jump to Post$200 O...M..G!
Its more than that for home basic here :(
ultimate is about £295 which is about $599
I hate M$. :(
Jump to Posta) vista wont install on under 512mb ram
b) Vista needs a pentium 4 or equivilent (at least 2ghz) or it will run unbearably slow.
c) vita in realiy needs 1 or 2 gb+ of ram
vista to xp ram performance equivilents
xp 256 mb slow …
Jump to PostRAM is Random Access Memory it is volatile storage anything stored in it is lost when you turn the computer off. The 30GB on your iPod is not the same it's non-volatile permanent storage like a hard drive or flash drive. The iPod will have RAM of some kind too, …
Jump to PostSurprised the Linux lovers haven't posted in droves telling you to put Ubuntu on it.
I put Kubuntu (Ubuntu but with KDE desktop instead of Gnome) on an old Compaq laptop and it ran very nicely.
All 24 Replies
virtual 0 Newbie Poster
i) IANAL
ii) I may be in a different country from you and the legal situation may be different
Given that, the situation as I understand it, depends on what license (roughly: how you got it) your copies of Windows. That is, if you buy an ordinary consumer copy of windows, you get a more permissive license than if you buy an OEM copy. Pre-built computers are normally supplied with OEM versions, and those are normally tied to the hardware that you bought it with.
The exact conditions will have been supplied to you with the copy of windows, either in the EULA or on a separate piece of paper and you should check there for what MS thinks the conditions are (not all of the MS imposed conditions are necessarily legal in all jurisdictions, but that's too complex an issue). The other thing to note is that the licenses have become more restrictive over time, so older versions of windows may be more permissive.
Note that while you do have a disc, with commercial software, you are not, in general, licensed to do anything that you want with it.
Dortz 38 Posting Whiz in Training
Virtual is right on that. the OEM copy is tied to the computer you bought it. But lets go out of the box for a second and say you didn't care.
if that is the case, you'll need to do an over the phone activation, and you'll probably need to go hunting for the right drivers for your hardware.
TheNNS 112 Nearly a Posting Virtuoso
well not really because what key is he going to use? he can't use the one on his laptop. So what he's trying to do is illegal.
jbennet 1,618 Most Valuable Poster Team Colleague Featured Poster
1) Illegal as its OEM - tied to the hardware it came with
2) Installing it on 2 PCs at one time is illegal alwayw
3) It would fail product activation and probably put your key on the blacklist ,leaving you with no OS whatsoever
TheNNS 112 Nearly a Posting Virtuoso
why don't you just go to newegg.com and get vista ultimate for 200? or home premium for less than that.
jbennet 1,618 Most Valuable Poster Team Colleague Featured Poster
$200 O...M..G!
Its more than that for home basic here :(
ultimate is about £295 which is about $599
I hate M$. :(
sk8ndestroy14 294 Posting Virtuoso
Sounds real difficult.
So you're telling me that if I tried to put the OS on my desktop pc that it would be blacklisted and I would be left with no OS on either of my two computers?
jbennet 1,618 Most Valuable Poster Team Colleague Featured Poster
potentially yes (MS lets you get away a limited number of times (3?) with having different h/w when you activate but after that you need to do the phone activation and speak to a real person and provide a good reason for activating one copy on multiple different h/w configurations (only real legitimate reason is if you keep getting a new motherboard or something)
sk8ndestroy14 294 Posting Virtuoso
Oh, well thanks. That helps. I think it's stupid that I have to buy a new one even though I already have one, but that's how they get their money I guess.
jbennet 1,618 Most Valuable Poster Team Colleague Featured Poster
the whole point of it is that you dont actually own the OS, you own a licence to use a copy of it.
sk8ndestroy14 294 Posting Virtuoso
Yeah, I know. I'm just a cheapskate. Lol. I don't know if that computer can handle vista though. It's a compaq presario, not that old but it isn't that new either. I bought it with xp installed on it.
jbennet 1,618 Most Valuable Poster Team Colleague Featured Poster
a) vista wont install on under 512mb ram
b) Vista needs a pentium 4 or equivilent (at least 2ghz) or it will run unbearably slow.
c) vita in realiy needs 1 or 2 gb+ of ram
vista to xp ram performance equivilents
xp 256 mb slow but semi-usable
vista256mb doesnt work
xp 512 good enough for office tasks
vista 512mb semi-usable
xp 1gb good games performance
vista 1gb suitable for office tasks
xp 2gb amazing performance
viusta 2gb same as xp 1gb
sk8ndestroy14 294 Posting Virtuoso
I have no idea what its ram is.
jbennet 1,618 Most Valuable Poster Team Colleague Featured Poster
RAM = memory (Random Access Memory)
sk8ndestroy14 294 Posting Virtuoso
I know what ram is, I just don't know what the ram of my computer is.
jbennet 1,618 Most Valuable Poster Team Colleague Featured Poster
Go into control panel then open up "system". It will tell you there. Alternatively you can hit control-alt-del then go into the performance tab. Look for "Physical Memory (K)" and divide "Total" by 1024 to get the number of megabytes
sk8ndestroy14 294 Posting Virtuoso
So my laptop has 894 MB. But here's a question. My iPod has 30GB. That doesn't make sense that my iPod has a lot more space than my Computer. And I'm pretty sure I have more than 894MB of files saved on it (maybe). So what exactly is RAM?
hollystyles 113 Veteran Poster
RAM is Random Access Memory it is volatile storage anything stored in it is lost when you turn the computer off. The 30GB on your iPod is not the same it's non-volatile permanent storage like a hard drive or flash drive. The iPod will have RAM of some kind too, although how much I have no idea.
hollystyles 113 Veteran Poster
Surprised the Linux lovers haven't posted in droves telling you to put Ubuntu on it.
I put Kubuntu (Ubuntu but with KDE desktop instead of Gnome) on an old Compaq laptop and it ran very nicely.
sk8ndestroy14 294 Posting Virtuoso
Oh yeah, isn't that a free OS or something like that? I think I might have heard about it before. Well, if there is a free or inexpensive OS that works nice, is compatible with my computer then someone let me know.
jbennet 1,618 Most Valuable Poster Team Colleague Featured Poster
Yes, RAM holds stuff you are currently working with. When you see the PCs hard disk light flashing and clicking it means you are run out of RAM and am having to keep stuff you are working with on the hard disk. This is slow as RAM = electrical/fast and Hard disk= mechanical/slow
If you get more RAM you can run more programs at once and things geberally become faster
Putting more RAM in is the cheapest and generally the most effective way to make your PC faster.
sk8ndestroy14 294 Posting Virtuoso
How would you increase the Ram? (And is there such a thing as a free OS?)
jbennet 1,618 Most Valuable Poster Team Colleague Featured Poster
Yes there is . Do a google for Ubuntu. Its a type of linux.
and RAM is in the form of rectangular sticks (the size of a chocolate bar) on your motherboard. You can find out what sort of ram you bneed, how much you have, and order it by running the System Scanner Tool on http://www.crucial.com/
sk8ndestroy14 294 Posting Virtuoso
Cool, I'm using ubuntu now on my old desktop. I finally got it to work. Thanks for all your help.
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