M$ & Dell ??? Scammers

[x1xBugsBunnyx1x]

We just got a puter w/ win2k intergrated sp3 from Dell, lo & behold the lic. copy of win2k i bought with it is for use in Dell only systems?
i bought a lic copy of win2k, i should be allowed to do as i please w/it as long as its only on one machine, i would think?
when an attempt is made to load in a non dell system it pops up a box saying this is for use in Dell systems only & wont install..

alot companies during upgrades save the lic copy of the O/S to save a few bucks, so now you are forced to buying a newer dell during upgrade or buy another copy of Windows??

This is BS :(
i cant believe it <system going back unless dell fixes prob <30 day money back>

[JigPu]

The reason that they do that IMO is so that you don't distribute your system re-install disk to all your friends. They don't like the idea of copyright infringement (as it will hurt their sales too because of their bundled software), so they just have a program to deny any instalation on non-Dell systems.

There may be a way around it, but it'll probably be a lot of work.... And there may not be a way. I had to find a way to do it with my HP since the computer totaly died (still won't even POST), and I really needed the OS so I could have something to run the file recovery program I got to save my files.

JigPu

[Audioaficionado]

That's the way Dell, Gateway, etc are doing business these days. I'm sure M$ is giving them a price break to do it this way. OEM copies always have said you can't install on anything other than the computer it came with. Now they make sure you can't.

If I get a laptop, I'll just figure the install disk won't install on any other machine. I just bought an unopened copy of NT4 off ebay and it says only for Dell. I'm not worried as it was minted before they started tweaking the installers.