3 Questions about Win XP

Alright, the company I work for was recently bought out and the new companys policys are making us go through a lot of changes. We are in the process of replacing all of our computers that have less than a 733 mhz processer with new ones(something like 200 new computers). All the new comps are Dells with with Win XP installed. the first thing the IT dept does to them is wipe the win XP install and install Win 2000, then they just throw away the install cd for Win XP. So with that backround info

Question #1) Can an install Cd foom a Dell be used on another non Dell computer and if not is there a way to force an install.

Question #2) Can the OEM Win XP serial number be used with any install version of Win XP or just the one it came with? As I said all these computers no longer have XP on them and the OEM Serial number sticker can be removed eaisly.

Question #3) Is it legal to give away the OEM serial numbers to other people? The OEM install has been purchaced and paid, for just not used.

Right now I have 4 serial numbers and 1 install disk and would like to install it on a machine, but I don't have one I can take down and reformat at the moment.

1>no they are designed to use with the specific dell machines. you may be able to use a regular xp install disc though.
2>i think so
3> technically yes, we did this once with an MS Office package at my old company, because we had a site l;icense we didnt need the copies that came with the computers. we asked MS they said it was ok so the whole IT dept had free MS Office Pro ^^

*edit* 4> umm i wouldnt try selling them though thats a bit borderline/

*edit2* and im sure you know this but be careful, licensing has been the source of debates in the MS world for a looooong time. so I would ask MS and/or Dell to see if you can do what your asking rather than using the thoughts of people on these forums. cause our opinions won't hold much water in court if something comes to that

No I had no intentions of selling the serial numbers. I was really most curious abot weither or not the number could be used with a regular install disk. Because I have friends that have copies of Xp that are a dubios nature.

Besides like I said it's not like they are stolen or anything they were perfeclty legaly bought and paid for licensines(sp?). It's just that my work did not want XP at all and for some reason they can't buy systems with Win2000 already on them. So thats the reason for the switcheroo.

Yes, you can use the dell key with a regular XP disk.
I have a few times when I didn't want all that preloaded Dell junk on my rigs.

I wouldn't use the cd keys if I were you. While the keys may or may not be legal, your company bought the licenses for their use--not for their employees to take home and use. I know they are not currently using the cd keys (and probably never will), but that doesn't give their employees (you) the right to use the software that they paid for. If someone on up in the food chain got wind of this and didn't like it, you would probably lose your job in no time flat. In my way of thinking, it could even possibly be construed as embezzlement, as you are in effect 'taking' something that has been entrusted to you.

Just my .02 cents, take it for what it's worth.

Just ask someone in the IT department. Make sure that all those keys wouldn't be used anyway. (make sure they're not planning on selling them, which I doubt they are) It wouldn't be good for them to sell the COAs then go to the computers with it already gone.

While you're at it ask if you could install Folding@Home on all the computers.

Andyman902042 said:

While you're at it ask if you could install Folding@Home on all the computers.

Click to expand...

Thats a big NO..... They got a little irate when they had computers start going down because someones install of Seti@Home started hogging too much resources on the crappy old computers (win98 and winNT don't handle it well when they have only 32-64mg of ram and between 133 and 533 mhz processers).

Besides all our new ones are set with admistrative privlidges denying program installs unless authorized.

Sorry, just trying to do a little recruiting.

Ummm i have heard of little....umm...how do i put this without getting in trouble..."methods" of getting an OEM CD to act as a regular install...i think it requires copying to a HDD, modifying it, creating your own .iso and reburning it.

If i know M$, thats illegal.

Oh, and sometimes, the CD's dont even hold winxp at all. Xp may be embeded on a hidden partition on the drive, usually under a unix-style FS. When u insert that OEM install CD, it copies the files from that partition to the main one.

The IT guys MIGHT see it when they install 2k and delete it. I have no idea if dell uses it or not.