A
ANONYMOUS
Ron,
The 120 days is from an Article (about Windows XP) by late Alex Nichol,
MS-MVP. Have a look here:
http://aumha.org/win5/a/wpa.php#howlong
I assume the same rules apply about other retail products. OEM
reinstall on the same system always require telephone activation as
piracy seems to be on the increase with these types of CDs.
As far as I know, the Retail Version of any products can be moved to any
systems provided it is first uninstalled from the first system.
However, it is your word against Microsoft's and nobody is going to come
to your house to check you have done what you claim to have done. It is
a question of trust.
As far as MS support is concerned, they are required to continue support
for at least 10 years after first release of the product. After that
nobody knows what happens but it is likely that a patch may be issued to
avoid activation once the support has ceased. MS can't continue to have
a database of people's products installation for ever. The cost comes
into the equation whether to have a database permanently or not. Office
XP was release in 2002 and so by the time 2012 comes, people would have
stopped using their XP product - at least this is the theory! I still
use some DOS products and Windows 98SE! But hen I am eccentric!
hth
The 120 days is from an Article (about Windows XP) by late Alex Nichol,
MS-MVP. Have a look here:
http://aumha.org/win5/a/wpa.php#howlong
I assume the same rules apply about other retail products. OEM
reinstall on the same system always require telephone activation as
piracy seems to be on the increase with these types of CDs.
As far as I know, the Retail Version of any products can be moved to any
systems provided it is first uninstalled from the first system.
However, it is your word against Microsoft's and nobody is going to come
to your house to check you have done what you claim to have done. It is
a question of trust.
As far as MS support is concerned, they are required to continue support
for at least 10 years after first release of the product. After that
nobody knows what happens but it is likely that a patch may be issued to
avoid activation once the support has ceased. MS can't continue to have
a database of people's products installation for ever. The cost comes
into the equation whether to have a database permanently or not. Office
XP was release in 2002 and so by the time 2012 comes, people would have
stopped using their XP product - at least this is the theory! I still
use some DOS products and Windows 98SE! But hen I am eccentric!
hth