Have I been done?
 

With the continuing criticism of Vista on this and many other boards, I am almost certainly going to build my next computer myself. Of course, despite a thread appearing here a while ago on recommended motherboards and suppliers, it has now disappeared as there are only the last three pages of posts available. Help would be appreciated in this direction, but no, I decided that the most urgent requirement would be a valid copy of XP professional. Plenty of these are available on a well known auction website, and despite there be no reference to Dell on the site I chose, when the fully sealed disc turned up complete with official serial number on authentic sticker, I noted that it was a Dell disc "only to be supplied with a new PC". Now the site (like all others) claimed with much emphasis that this disc would enable a fully authentic and updatable copy of XP pro to be installed on any new computer, but I remember reading somewhere that such discs search for something in the BIOS to confirm that it is being installed on a Dell Computer. It also occurrs to me that these discs may have been removed from new Dell computers which are now up and running so that the authentic serial number I have got is already in use.
Can anybody throw any light on this?

P.P.

You've been ripped off and sent an OEM copy which it isn't legal to use other than on the Dell machine it originally came with.

But there again, who will know that it's not a dell (with out looking at it) :E

Other than that, in my experience, it should work OK in a non-Dell machine.

It will, when you try to install from it!

I noticed this with a Dell-branded W2K installation disk, as an experiment. Installed fine onto a 2nd Dell PC - not the original PC - but wouldn't install onto a Compaq / HP.

Unless of course it has been hacked in some way.

SD

Well,thanks for the not totally bad news everybody! To be fair, a lot of suppliers are advertising these Dell discs, sealed and with unique serial numbers, and are all at pains to point out that they will provide a legal, working and updatable copy of XP on any one computer. If that is not in fact the case, then I am sure that their feedback would show this, or you-know-who would have removed these items from the site because of complaints. Anyway, the only way to find out is to build the new machine, bung the disc in and see what happens! I'll report back if appropriate.

P.P.

To the best of my knowledge, those might be the terms of the licence, but that doesn't mean those terms are themselves legal or enforceable. Get in touch with your local consumer protection agency to find out more if interested.

Not sure about installation on a non-Dell machine but the Dell OEM OS will have a Dell allocated serial number. MS will not give support to an OEM copy of OS and such support will come only from the OEM, ie Dell.

But your computer is not a Dell therefore . . .

Look here:

How to Tell

Microsoft will not give support to ANY oem product. But then again, as long as the disk isn't damaged what do you need Microsoft for anyway?:)

Been sniffing around some forums and there seems to be various opinions about whether or not it will install, some say it wil,l some not but a lot of people say it will install but not auto-authenticate unless it's a Dell bios . :confused:

Acebaxter - thanks for that - yes, I am aware that I can expect no Microsoft assistance, but really as I am making a bog standard computer, why do I need this anyway. I just want to bung the disc in and when it has booted up, it asks me for a serial number. Then, when it accesses theMicrosoft site, I don't want it to tell me that the serial number isn't valid!
G.G. thanks for that as well - it gives me some idea as what to expect, indeed, thanks everyone for your comments so far.

P.P.

Incidentally, if you still want to browse more than the first three pages of posts, click on 'User CP', then 'Edit Options', then change the 'Default Thread Age Cut Off' dropdown to 'Show all threads' and save the changes. You should then be able to browse 397 pages worth of threads within Computer and Internet Issues.

My advertised copy of XP Pro has been registered, and receives regular updates. I still wouldn't use it for anything but learning, and intend to bite the bullet and get a copy of it from Staples for $299. It's mine then and hopefully will not be bulked by some new rule that comes in at the whim of MS. at some arbitary date.

As mentioned on the adblocker thread, my pal in the uk is aware or the real figures for Visa take up (sic) and mentioned extended support time to 2010 or some such date for XP.

I don’t know if this works in the UK but here in Asia I faced a similar situation.

I installed a ‘dirty’ copy of XP, ran MS Genuine Advantage which of course failed and then legitimized the copy by purchasing the Genuine Advantage kit on line.

Thanks again everyone, and as a result of SyllogosmCheck's advice, I have now found the thread I wanted to re-read.

P.P.

Quite correct, but this sets the default for ALL forums to always use that value. This could have an impact on your browsing and the PPRuNe servers!

You can achieve the same effect for one specific forum for the duration of your session by using the Display Options located on that forum's home page in the bottom left hand corner.

This is normally reserved as a punishment! :p

SD