Windows OEM licenses aren't transferrable from the PCs they're sold with. Retail licenses are transferrable to another person, once.

I found this out in a predictable way, at Google they had machines that they bought for desktops which came with an OEM windows sticker but they always put Goobuntu on. I needed an XP license for a project so I thought, "Oh I'll use this one, I know its not being used elsewhere." and did an install with a vanilla distro and the product code.

The first thing that broke was it wanted the oem cab file. Fixed that.

Then it would complain "this product key is intended for the original system."

Since I was running in a VM I changed it piece by piece until it accepted the product code, first changed the type of CPU it was reporting, then the bios identifier string, and finally the ethernet MAC address. It finally acceepted the product code after all of that (not sure which parts were optional but only needed it for like a week) Considered those licenses pretty much worthless from that point on.

For your future reference, Microsoft offers virtual machines of XP, Vista, and 7 for browser compatibility testing. They expire after three months, but for your uses, they're fine. You'd just grab the VHD out of the VM and use any of the import tools to convert it to your preferred VM format.

http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=1157...

I've used these VMs and they are so infuriating I also want to just buy a full license. They're never able to validate, so they always nag you about "is your windows genuine?" (well I downloaded it from MS so I should hope so!) and shut down every half an hour. They're more trouble than they're worth.

From Microsoft's site http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=1157...

Note: You may be required to activate the OS as the product key has been deactivated. This is the expected behavior. The VHDs will not pass genuine validation. Immediately after you start the Windows 7 or Windows Vista images they will request to be activated. You can cancel the request and it will login to the desktop. You can activate up to two “rearms” (type slmgr –rearm at the command prompt) which will extend the trial for another 30 days each time OR simply shutdown the VPC image and discard the changes you’ve made from undo disks to reset the image back to its initial state. By doing either of these methods, you can technically have a base image which never expires although you will never be able to permanently save any changes on these images for longer than 90 days.

Yes? I know that there is an elaborate forewarning of the VM's uselessness in the TOS. My comment was aimed at the parent, who mistakenly implied that the MS VMs were useful for something.

The stupid things restart every 30 minutes. I don't know what else I can say to underline what an annoying waste of time they are.

I'm just curious, is there any reason Google wouldn't have had MSDN access? I could see a "no arch-nemeses" clause or such.

(Or I could be showing my [lack of] age and MSDN didn't have easy download access in the XP era)

At the time I was there (2006 - 2010) and this may sound strange to some, I am sure that someone at Google had MSDN access but finding that person would have taken longer than hacking together a solution (which took a couple of hours in front of the VM instance). I don't doubt that at the if at the time I needed this that the TechStop guys (and gals) hadn't yet been dismantled I could have just said "I need an XP license for about a week" and they would have obliged. But I didn't have time to hunt down an owner, I didn't want to expense an XP OEM kit for this simple project that was a 20% thing anyway, and well TechStop had fallen way hard from being a resource to being a nop.

That's a pity. I just bought a new ThinkPad and there was no way to get it without Windows. It runs Xubuntu now and it's really snappy. I'd be happy to give away or sell the unwanted Windows license.

That's the Windows "tax" everyone complains about. Microsoft gives huge discounts to OEMs if they promise to bundle Windows with every PC they sell.

At least in Germany (possibly in the EU in general), that's no longer true. There has always been a market for OEM license resales, but recently there was a ruling that gave it a legal foundation. Microsoft wouldn't tell you it's okay, but they are no longer allowed to prevent it.