Windows OS licensing question.

[Morpheus]

I meant on Amazon bud. Check out what the 1 star reviews say about it being bona fide

 

So what's the problem Scott? There are various sellers and the cheapest one has 100% feedback. You can't live your life assuming the worst will happen in every case because it's impossible. It would become the norm but it's not; it's a minority of unlucky buyers, who probably could/should have seen it coming, judging by the seller feedback.

[Scott]

So what's the problem Scott? There are various sellers and the cheapest one has 100% feedback. You can't live your life assuming the worst will happen in every case because it's impossible. It would become the norm but it's not; it's a minority of unlucky buyers, who probably could/should have seen it coming, judging by the seller feedback.

 

 

What are you on about? The seller has 100% feedback yes, but that is nothing to do with the product. On amazon it works totally different from ebay. The ratings for the product tell me that people that know what they are doing with a PC have found the software to not be a full license. It's an OEM copy of the OS with a refurbishment license, this isn't anywhere even close to a full license and I wouldn't recommend anyone wanting a full "bona fide" copy of windows to run in part of their business to buy this copy.

 

Is there a problem with me pointing out that the software might not be as legit as you first thought it was? I don't really see where your issue is here or why you are trying to sweep over the clear issues with the link you gave. I was guessing that you spotted it and linked it without reading the comments, now you seem to be trying to stand by the inital link by justifying a crap product with seller feedback

[Chris Wilson]

I wasa bit startled to see how Amazon feedback works, to be honest. I too would have seen "100% feedback" and thought all was OK, but reading the comments it seems the product is different to that which I was expecting. I suspect the product I am buying from Germany is similar, but they do make it fairly clear in the blurb the discs come with pre used stickers. Seems a bit of a minefield to me, and not sure anyone has yet linked to an advert for the true, original MS Windows XP Pro package one could have bought in the , err, period whenever it was current

[stevie_b]

You won't get a fully-legitimate copy of XP from a retailer anymore, certainly not from the usual trusted channels (MS, Amazon, ebuyer, etc etc). Having said that, installing OEM copies (like the ones being sold by the German website) bend/break Microsoft's licensing rules only in a small way. Whether that's OK, is for you to decide.

 

OEM copies are designed to be used by people or companies who are building PCs. AFAIK, if you're not building a new PC and you install an OEM copy then you're technically breaking the license agreement. The license should validate OK though as long as it hasn't already been used, and it should be fine to connect to the MS website for updates etc.

 

I bought 2 copies of XP from ebay a while ago: they were marketed in a very similar way to those in the Amazon link, but they turned out to be duff. They were volume license copies which wouldn't validate on my PC. However if neilp9876 has used the German ones and they've been OK, then that counts for a lot. They're probably your best bet.

 

Any copy of XP sold by a retailer for less than £100 ish is almost certainly either OEM, Volume License or some other restricted-use license. A legitimate "full retail" copy of XP (the pukka version) is very hard to get hold of.