windows Licensing

Dzha2000 · Feb 6, 2008

Hey Guys.

i have a question about windows licensing, and it's probably more directed to guys who work in IT.

I have 3 Dell computers running windows XP home edition which i want to upgrade to XP pro. I know I can buy full retail version but at $300 a piece .. ouch. Next option would be OEM XP pro. from what i understood I have to activate OEM versions with MS, which i'm trying to avoid. I know it is also possible to buy just licenses, what do they include? is it the same as OEM version but without CD, or is it actual, what is called, Corporate Edition? if not, how do i go about buying corporate edition of XP pro. I'm trying to avoid activation with MS.

any suggestions?

anything would be appreciated.

Automata · Feb 6, 2008

You have to activate all versions, regardless of version.

Corporate edition is the exception, but is very expensive.

:sn:

edit: Is there any specific reason to upgrade to XP? I can only think of a handful (multi socket motherboards, networking components, etc) of reasons to do so.

Dzha2000 · Feb 6, 2008

thideras said:
You have to activate all versions, regardless of version.

Corporate edition is the exception, but is very expensive.

How much is corporate edition and how do i go about buying it?

also, if I buy let's say OEM XP pro and install it on XP home computers, will that cause any problem with blessing from MS?

Dzha2000 · Feb 6, 2008

thideras said:
edit: Is there any specific reason to upgrade to XP? I can only think of a handful (multi socket motherboards, networking components, etc) of reasons to do so.

yes I need to put those computer onto domain and home edition doesn't support it.

Automata · Feb 6, 2008

Dzha2000 said:
How much is corporate edition and how do i go about buying it?

also, if I buy let's say OEM XP pro and install it on XP home computers, will that cause any problem with blessing from MS?

I don't know specifics, but if I remember right, it is easily in the thousands :shrug:

As long as you have enough licenses, there is no issue.

Dzha2000 · Feb 6, 2008

thideras said:
I don't know specifics, but if I remember right, it is easily in the thousands

As long as you have enough licenses, there is no issue.

1000s a license or a balk of 25-30?

what is that option when buying XP pro to buy just licenses? how does that work? do I just get S/N with no CD and I use it with my copy of XP, or is it just paper saying that I have so many licenses which I can use on my network?

I tried to research that myself but the info provided is useless at best.

Automata · Feb 6, 2008

Dzha2000 said:
1000s a license or a balk of 25-30?

what is that option when buying XP pro to buy just licenses? how does that work? do I just get S/N with no CD and I use it with my copy of XP, or is it just paper saying that I have so many licenses which I can use on my network?

I tried to research that myself but the info provided is useless at best.

I honestly have no idea beyond what I told you, sorry. :shrug:

Someone else will be able to chime in, but I'm pretty sure it is not 1000 for 25-30 licenses.

Dzha2000 · Feb 6, 2008

thideras said:
I honestly have no idea beyond what I told you, sorry.

Someone else will be able to chime in, but I'm pretty sure it is not 1000 for 25-30 licenses.

I appreciate all your help anyway.

I can buy that but it's OEM, it's way more than I need but is it corporate edition or I just get 30 keys and 30 copies of XP pro.

Automata · Feb 6, 2008

Dzha2000 said:
I appreciate all your help anyway.

I can buy that but it's OEM, it's way more than I need but is it corporate edition or I just get 30 keys and 30 copies of XP pro.

From what I can tell from that link, it is not the corporate edition.

Audioaficionado · Feb 6, 2008

Dzha2000 said:
Corporate Edition? if not, how do i go about buying corporate edition of XP pro. I'm trying to avoid activation with MS.

any suggestions?

anything would be appreciated.

It's actually VLK (Volume License Key) not corporate. It's for a large corporation to install in multiple machines (hundreds if not thousands) and avoiding the multiple activation headaches.

I'm pretty sure you can't just go out and purchase this from Microsoft or it's partners until you have met some stringent requirements and been scrutinized by Microsoft for corporate legitimacy.

In other words, you probably won't meet those requirements and if you could, you'd have much more interaction with Microsoft than if you simply activate a few copies of XP professional.

http://www.microsoft.com/india/licensing/resources/vol/default.mspx

Dzha2000 · Feb 6, 2008

Audioaficionado said:
It's actually VLK (Volume License Key) not corporate. It's for a large corporation to install in multiple machines (hundreds if not thousands) and avoiding the multiple activation headaches.

I'm pretty sure you can't just go out and purchase this from Microsoft or it's partners until you have met some stringent requirements and been scrutinized by Microsoft for corporate legitimacy.

In other words, you probably won't meet those requirements and if you could, you'd have much more interaction with Microsoft than if you simply activate a few copies of XP professional.

oh .. that makes sense. it's just I'm working for a company in which we will have to upgrade from home edition to pro soon, so I'm just trying to figure out what would be the best way, get licenses or go any buy OEM versions of XP pro. I'm trying to avoid blessing (activation) with MS.

Audioaficionado · Feb 6, 2008

Dzha2000 said:
oh .. that makes sense. it's just I'm working for a company in which we will have to upgrade from home edition to pro soon, so I'm just trying to figure out what would be the best way, get licenses or go any buy OEM versions of XP pro. I'm trying to avoid blessing (activation) with MS.

I thought it was for a few Dells. If you work for a company that could benefit from a VLK, then you should pursue one. It won't be cheap but perhaps it would be worth it in the long run.

Microsoft will try and push Vista as much as possible but I hear many businesses aren't buying into it until they have more proof that it will work for them.

Heck at the hospital I work at, there are more Windows 2000 computers than XP computers. I don't think I've seen one Vista PC yet LOL.

Dzha2000 · Feb 7, 2008

Audioaficionado said:
I thought it was for a few Dells. If you work for a company that could benefit from a VLK, then you should pursue one. It won't be cheap but perhaps it would be worth it in the long run.

Microsoft will try and push Vista as much as possible but I hear many businesses aren't buying into it until they have more proof that it will work for them.

Heck at the hospital I work at, there are more Windows 2000 computers than XP computers. I don't think I've seen one Vista PC yet LOL.

yeah it's the same way here .. I have 14 xp pro, 20 xp home which I want to convert to pro in new future, bunch of 2000 pro and 10 mix of from 95 to ME. the guy who was before me didn't really knew what he was doing, so now I have to sort out his mess. that' why i'm trying to see if going corporate edition would be better option than buy bunch of OEM xp pros.

I need to upgrade 3 dells right now and as you can see potentially another, at least, 20 other computers.

I agree with you on Vista, it's way too early for any business to go Vista. XP has been around for too long and became one of the best OS from MS.

do you have any idea how do I go about VLK. do I call directly to MS or is there any other way I can go about that. so far OEM seems to be the best and the cheapest way at $139 a piece.

gangaskan · Feb 7, 2008

Audioaficionado said:
I thought it was for a few Dells. If you work for a company that could benefit from a VLK, then you should pursue one. It won't be cheap but perhaps it would be worth it in the long run.

Microsoft will try and push Vista as much as possible but I hear many businesses aren't buying into it until they have more proof that it will work for them.

Heck at the hospital I work at, there are more Windows 2000 computers than XP computers. I don't think I've seen one Vista PC yet LOL.

we still have 3 or so pc's running 98

wait ... i correct myself!

we have 3 on domain, however, our police force has about 45-50 they use to do their reports and whatnot, mostly on 98SE we have a few on 2000 and xp

then again, we have about 3-400 computers the majority on XP and 2 vista machines.

Audioaficionado · Feb 7, 2008

Dzha2000 said:
do you have any idea how do I go about VLK. do I call directly to MS or is there any other way I can go about that. so far OEM seems to be the best and the cheapest way at $139 a piece.

I would contact Microsoft and see what the cost would be upfront for the VLK and how much per seat/machine additional it will cost.

OEM most likely will end up being cheaper per machine and you can deploy as many or as few as needed. However sometime this year, Microsoft will stop selling XP so find out that date and make sure you have everything you need by then.

Some of your older machines won't work well with XP and you'll have to decide to even keep them around with their original OS. I've bumped up most of the 98SE machines to W2k where I'm a volunteer IT systems administrator and they seem to run OK. I'm at the point where any machine older than a P4 or AMD XP gets sold at a rumage sale LOL.

gangaskan · Feb 7, 2008

they might referer you to a third party VLK reseller (AKA something like CDW )

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