Can I use my Windows XP Pro Genuine Advantage (WGA) installation CD to install on a new mainboard and CPU?

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  Mgrubbs221,

   

  The license for XP you get with the Genuine Windows Offer WGA Kit is a full retail license for XP.

   

  Unlike an OEM license, which is permanently tied to the computer onto which it is first installed and cannot be moved to another computer, the Full Retail license that comes with the WGA Kit has no such restrictions and can be moved from one computer to another as many times as you want, and will remain valid no matter what hardware changes are made to the computer it is installed on.  The Product Activation system monitors hardware changes and if it sees many hardware changes, it may require you to reactivate the installation.

   

  If your situation requires that your specific license be installed many times within a specific time frame, the Product Key will be "flagged" in the Product Activation servers and it may not be accepted for automatic online activation.  In such case, you will see a message that your PK has been activated "too many times."  If this should happen, simply rerun the Activation Wizard and choose the Telephonic Activation method, and follow the prompts.  It should take less than about seven minutes to activate this way.

   

  Of course, as with all Microsoft OS licenses sold to consumers, any one specific license for XP is permitted to be installed and activated on only one computer at a time.  If you want to move this license to new computer, it has to be removed from the old computer.

  Friday, August 31, 2007 11:54 AM
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  What does the Supplementary EULA mean on my WGA Kit? Is is non transferrable?

  Tuesday, December 18, 2007 10:48 AM
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  Galwin,

   

  I have no idea what is contained in your Supplemenary EULA.  Can you post it?

   

  Tuesday, December 18, 2007 3:03 PM
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  Dan,

   

  For what it is worth, the media came from Singapore, I am from the Philippines. Below is the Supplemental EULA. I want to know if it is transferrable. Thank you.

   

  SUPPLEMENTAL END USER LICENSE AGREEMENT

   

  MICROSOFT WINDOWS GENUINE ADVANTAGE KITS FOR MICROSOFT WINDOWS XP PROFESSIONAL EDITION SERVICE PACK 2

   

  Microsoft Corporation (or based on where you live, one of its affiliates) license this supplement to you. If you are licensed to use Windows XP Professional Edition Service Pack 2 software (for which this supplement is applicable) (the "software"), you may use this supplement. You may not use it if you do not have a license for the software. You may use this supplement with each validly licensed copy of the software.

   

  The following license terms describe additional use terms for this supplement. These terms and the license terms of the software aplly to your use of the supplement. If there is a conflict, these supplemental license terms apply.

   

  By using this supplement, you accept these terms. If you do not accept them, do not use this supplement.

   

  If you comply with the license terms, you have the rights below.

   

  1. SOFTWARE TRANSFER. Internal. You may not move the Software to a different workstation Computer. Transfer to Third Party. You may permanently transfer all of your rights under this supplement only as part of a permanent sale or transfer of the Software with the Workstation Computer provided you retain no copies of the Software. This transfer must include the Software with the Workstation Computer and the Proof of License label. The transfer may not be an indirect transfer, such as a consignment. Prior to the transfer, the end user recieving the Software and the Workstation Computer must agree to all of the EULA terms and supplemental terms.

   

  2. SUPPORT SERVICES FOR SUPPLEMENT

  Wednesday, December 19, 2007 3:14 AM
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  Galwin,

   

  This sentence says it all:

   

  1. SOFTWARE TRANSFER. Internal. You may not move the Software to a different workstation Computer.

   

   

  This sentence says, if the original license and this supplement conflict, the supplement supercedes the original license:

   

  These terms and the license terms of the software aplly to your use of the supplement. If there is a conflict, these supplemental license terms apply.

   

  Reading the supplement, there can be no question that the WGA XP Pro kit that came with this supplemental EULA is "married" to the computer onto which it is installed, and cannot be moved to any other computer.

   

  So, in effect, the supplemental EULA is quite like the OEM EULA, because OEM installations cannot be moved to any other computer, too.

   

   

  Please clarify how this WGA Kit was purchased:  was it ordered DIRECTLY from Microsoft using the links provided on-screen as part of clicking on the Get Genuine prompts that the WGA Notification Tool displays, or was it acquired in some other way?  If acquired thru some other way, you may have acquired a special WGA Kit that was intended to be used only by systembuilder/OEMs in "genuine-izing" a computer brought into a local Mom-n-Pop computer shop with a nongenuine installation of XP.  The idea was that these special kits would be priced lower than the normal WGA Kit but since it was being installed by a systembuilder/OEM, the normal systembuilder/OEM EULA rules would apply, that is, the license would be tied to the computer and would not be transferrable to another computer, just like a normal OEM license.

   

  If the above does not apply to you, then I am at a loss to explain the supplement other than to say that, for some reason, the MS Powers-that-be decided they needed to add the supplement for that region of the world.

   

  Note:  Edited for spelling/typing errors.

  Wednesday, December 19, 2007 4:33 PM
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  Good Morning Galwin,

   

  Thank you for visiting the Windows Genuine Advantage Forum. Do you have any further questions we may assist you with? Also I would like to piggy back on the question Dan asked. 

   

  Please clarify how this WGA Kit was purchased:  was it ordered DIRECTLY from Microsoft using the links provided on-screen as part of clicking on the Get Genuine prompts that the WGA Notification Tool displays, or was it acquired in some other way?  If acquired thru some other way, you may have acquired a special WGA Kit that was intended to be used only by systembuilder/OEMs in "genuine-izing" a computer brought into a local Mom-n-Pop computer shop with a nongenuine instalaltion of XP.  The idea was that these special kits would be priced lower than the normal WGA Kit but since it was being installed by a systembuilder/OEM, the normal systembuilder/OEM EULA rules would apply, that is, the license would be tied to the computer an would nto be transferrable to another computer, just like a normal OEM license.

   

  We really need information surrounding how and where you purchased the WGA Kit. Thank you very much and if you need further assistance regarding WGA please feel free to visit the forum again :-).

   

   

  STephen Holm, MS

  WGA Forum Manager

  Wednesday, December 19, 2007 4:49 PM
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  Dan and Stephen,

   

  Thank you for attending to my situation.

   

  To clarify how this WGA Kit was purchased, it was ordered DIRECTLTY from Microsoft using the links provided on-screen as part of clicking on the validate Windows. All the while, I know I was ordering the transferrable product but when I recieved the media, with it, was the supplemental license, which you said it is NON-TRANSFERRABLE.

   

  As per what you have said, what I have is the special WGA Kit that was intended to be used ONLY by system builder/OEMs, does that mean I recieved the WRONG product? I understand that there is a WGA Kit that is TRANSFERRABLE, fact is, all Microsoft sites and forums even technical support and customer services that I have contacted ALL said WGA Kits are indeed TRANSFERRABLE. May I ask Microsoft to exchange my WGA to the TRANSFERRABLE product instead? Or if not, I wish to have a full refund.

   

  Thank you very much, I appreciate the time you are giving me to solve this issue.

   

   

  Galwin Fabian

  Thursday, December 20, 2007 2:10 AM
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  Galwin,

   

  You may want to contact the Microsoft corporate offices that are responsible for the region of the world you are in to discuss the EULA on your WGA Kit.  http://www.microsoft.com/Singapore/  As I posted earlier, for some reason it appears that Microsoft has decided to use the Supplemental EULA in your region on the WGA Kit.

   

  Thursday, December 20, 2007 4:20 AM
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  Good Morning Stephen,
  
  I have used XP Pro on all of the home built computers I have built in the past few years. It is exceptionally stable and versatile.  I do automatic updates and registered thru WGA program some time ago. It is also my preference for the several Laptops I have owned.
  
  I find I need to upgrade my Mainboard, processor and Video Card to use a complex software home designer product. My current system is a bit slow and the video card just doesn't regenerate 3D renderings very quickly.
  
  Do I understand I should purchase a new XP Pro OEM version from my component retailer when I do the hardware purchase?
  (Considering the component costs plus the design software it's not a giant expense.) The ISSUE is I would prefer to reuse the Harddrive to avoid the many hours of software program reloading if I can. Is there a workaround for this or can MS issue a new license key in order to allow me to reuse the HD?
  
  Any recommendations much appreciated.
  
  Bill
  

  Thursday, December 27, 2007 4:03 PM
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  Good Morning Bill,

   

  Interesting question. First I must say this is out of the scope for the WGA Forum.  Your OEM license for XP comes with certain restrictions that make it less flexible, and therefore less expensive, than the retail license for XP.  One of the limitations is that the license is "married" to the computer onto which it is first installed, and by the End User Licensing Agreement (EULA) it is not permitted to be moved to any other computer.  In order to read your EULA, click Start>Run, type winver and click OK, then click on the link for the license terms or EULA.

   

  The interpretation and enforcement of the OEM EULA regards a change in motherboard for the reason of upgrading to get new features, enhanced performance, etc, constitutes a "new computer."  The best resolution would be purchasing a retail version of Windows XP Professional. The retail version has much more flexibity. For instance this would alleviate you from purchasing another XP Pro OEM version should you want to perform an upgrade in the future. The cost for retail is much more but it appears you would benifit because you upgrade the systems which you own. The key is you would have to remove any and all previous versions from a previous machine then you may install to the upgraded machine.

   

  I can understand that you want to save money as well as laborous hours performing a fresh installation of the operating system. Keep in mind you probably will run into various conflicts regarding the various hardware drivers. It is always a good recommendation for completing wipping out the hard drive when major upgrades are performed. Please keep this in mind :-).  Should you need any assistance with reformatting the hard drive please reference the following URL:  http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/setup/winxp/default.mspx

   

   

  Take care Bill and hopefully this has provided you with more information. 

   

   

  Stephen Holm, MS

  WGA Forum Manager

  Thursday, December 27, 2007 4:16 PM
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  Hi,
  
  I found myself wondering about a similar problem.
  I've always wanted to acquire an English version of Windows, which is quite hard here in France. I own a full retail box of Windows XP Pro FR. I reinstalled it recently but didn't activate it (I was reinstalling because of lots of hardware troubles, and it was installed to a new hard disk, only to determine if the previous hard disk was faulty or if something else was causing my troubles, so I really intended it as a temporary setup and didn't want to activate it). I ran Windows Update, then I was told I would have to activate my copy or to buy a new licence key. Since I was offered to buy a Windows English key, I was quite interested. I contacted local Microsoft people who told me that the licence acquired would be equivalent to a full retail licence.
  I ordered Key + CD (on the 16th, and it still hasn't arrived, for that I will have to contact service as arrival was planned on the 20th, and in the lastest case it should have arrived a few days ago). I'm still waiting for the CD to check EULA, as if it would be equivalent to an OEM licence, I would simply return it and get money back (I plan on using this licence in a virtual machine , or maybe simply on another computer, I also bought full retail licences because Windows XP will soon not be sold anymore, and I don't want to loose my licences because a machine with OEM licence would die).
  Would it be somehow possible to get the EULA of this version of Windows (I bought it directly online from Microsoft, using the link provided)? Else, could you tell me if this version of Windows (refered on bill as "Windows XPPro Genuine Adv English Intl Direct CD" and which is intended for usage in Europe) can be transfered to a new computer, in the same conditions as a full retail version?
  
  Thanks in advance,
  
  Jonathan
  

  Sunday, June 29, 2008 12:50 PM