Installing OEM software?

[JohnJSal]

Ok, I understand the license for OEM software is meant for a single machine, but I've never understood how exactly it is that you *can't* install it on more than one machine, physically speaking.

Does something happen to the software so that if you try to install it on a second machine it won't let you? Or is the "one machine only" rule purely figurative and you are just trusted not to install it multiple times?

Basically, I'm wondering about the actual mechanics of why you can't install it more than once, if they exist.

Thanks.

 

[massahwahl]

You can only register the license once per machine with microsoft. So when you go to do updates or validate the software, it will register that you have used it. At least that's my understanding of it,

 

[JohnJSal]

You can only register the license once per machine with microsoft. So when you go to do updates or validate the software, it will register that you have used it. At least that's my understanding of it,

Ah, so it's done during the online activation or something like that? That makes sense (and seems rather obvious now).

 

[terii]

If it is an OEM disk from a vendor then it will be tied to the BIOS of that machine (or so I understand). If you went to a computer repair shop and purchased an OEM disk then you can install that copy on any machine. Different keys of course and only one activation per key. Hope this clears the waters a little.

 

[Bodaggit23]

Ok, I understand the license for OEM software is meant for a single machine, but I've never understood how exactly it is that you *can't* install it on more than one machine, physically speaking.

Physically speaking you might get OEM software to install on a different machine, but it probably won't work properly as OEM software is tailored to a specific hardware configuration.

Windows needs to be activated in order to use it for more than 30 days. If you don't enter that key, the OS will not boot to desktop after 30 days.

If you've entered that key and activated it once, you can never use that key on another machine, because it records the hardware configuration and it would know if you changed hardware. ie: moved it to a different pc.