hey folks,

I am mostly a telephone (Mitel) guy but am somewhat PC literate. Anyway my brother has bought three A31P IBM Thinkpads in a bundle and is expecting delivery of them in a couple of days. None of them have hard drives or operating systems. He will install the HDs and Ubuntu (he's a big Linux proponent). I have no problem working with Linux, but a couple of things I have to do phone wise with Mitel corporate site are dependent on Windows. so I would like to have a dual boot system.

The problem is he says the systems are stickered "windows 2000" and he think that installing XP will work but I will probably not be able to acquire updates from microsoft if the installed operating system does not match the hardware.

Is the operating system and license on the motherboard or in the bios and is what he thinks true and if so is there any way to get around it.

Thanks for any help or information.

Dane

To my knowledge the operating system has nothing to do with the motherboard and/or BIOS. The updates to XP will work if you have a licensed operating system. So if you get a blank Thinkpad (no OS loaded), just buy XP or Vista for around $100, and you will get all the updates for either system.

Thanks - already have XP software that I loaded on my current system - worth a try.

Well with some of the licensing, it can be tied to one motherboard and that's it. MS is cracking down on their licensing and trying to stop piracy. If you have a Volume license, then you are OK.

You may have issues with drivers. If IBM only sold that model with Win2k, they won't officially support any other OS. I've had issues with IBM computers in the past where the driver and BIOS updates stop far earlier than most other manufacturers. Doesn't mean it won't work, you just may not have optimal performance, or some components may not work.

There's nothing in XP that would cause it to not install or run on hardware that was approved for Win2k. If you manage to get a non-licensed copy of XP installed, running a Windows Update could de-activate Windows. This may be what your brother was referring to.

You definitely can't just install the XP you have from one system onto another. It would have to be a brand new license. But beyond that, these thinkpads are likely powerful enough for XP.

Drivers for Windows2000 usually also work on XP.

just to clarify, it doesn't have to be a 'brand new license', just a license that isn't being used on any other machines. you may have to call the toll-free number to activate, but all they ask is whether or not the license is in use on any other machines.

Microsoft has claimed in a few instances that licenses can not be transferred from one machine to another but the courts have not upheld that stance in any of the cases. furthermore, the courts have found that some EULAs are too restrictive to be enforced.

one license/COA per computer.

IBM sez about the A31p (model numbers 2653-Hxx/Jxx/Lxx/Nxx):

The supported operating systems are as follows:
- Microsoft Windows 98 and 98 Second Edition
- Microsoft Windows Me
- Microsoft Windows 2000
- Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 with Service Pack 3 or later
- Microsoft Windows XP

If I have XP pre-installed on a Dell, and it dies, the license can not be transferred to any other machine.

If I buy a retail copy of XP, I can use it on any machine I like, as long as it's one machine at a time.

says who, Rob? Microsoft might, but the courts haven't. re-read my previous post.

You will not be able to "activate" WinXP with the Windows 2000 key. However, you should be able to complete the installation with a corporate license key. PM me if you don't have one.

Run all updates EXCEPT the Windows Genuine Advantage notification patch (there are several). If it's already installed, you can extract it using this technique.

In regards to the Rob vs 93mdk93 debate: I'd say that it is possible that Dell has added EULA restrictions to their OEM version of Windows. However, I don't see Microsoft enforcing such a EULA. Dell tends to include a CD or DVD with a hard disc "image" (as opposed to a vanilla, stand-alone GA copy of Microsoft XP), which is useless for anything except that specific computer. Still, I can't imagine not being able to tranfer the license piece to another machine. It's all about the old rule of one license per machine.

It's the licensing arrangement between Microsoft and Dell that limits the end user's use. The contract THEY signed, gives Dell a discount on the license costs, in exchange, Dell and Microsoft restrict the hardware that that copy of Windows will run on. The end user never has directly paid Microsoft for the Windows License, so therefore has no rights to transfer it to any other system.

I wouldn't recommend fiddling with all that - it feels too much like software piracy, which I do not encourage. If he's got an XP COA, he'll have a valid key as long as he installs the correct version of XP (OEM, VLK, Retail, etc..) It should activate just fine, but if it doesn't you only need to call the toll-free activation number - it takes less than ten minutes. If they ask you any questions at all, they'll only ask how many machines this copy of XP is installed on. Answer honestly. Sometimes they ask, sometimes they don't.

We sell a lot of Dells (I've got a half-dozen in stock and half of them are already sold) and you're absolutely correct about the media Dell supplies with the computers. They only work on certain Dells, but they are really nice - no CD key to enter, no activation. That being said, you can use the CD key from the COA on the case to successfully install XP from any OEM version of XP - SP1 or SP2 onto any other PC, so transferring the OS from one computer to another allows the machine to be seen as 100% legit by Microsoft (and their pesky Genuine Advantage).

Where are you getting this? I haven't seen any such wording in any of the Dell licensing and I've got plenty of them laying about. If what you're saying is true, shouldn't it be in the end user's documentation somewhere? And if it's not, how could it possibly be valid? You can't be held to the terms of a contract you've never seen, let alone agreed to.

Thanks for the clarity! Very well worded, too....

I hear ya on the piracy thing. It's not big in my book either. In this case, I'm all about getting what you paid for and not letting the legal fodder gum up the works.

Yesterday, my friend Kevin installed Windoze XP on a home-built tower machine. He used the keys from the label on the bottom of his busted Dell Inspiron without issue. If Dell has a problem with this, then I submit that they need to revisit that thinking. Considering Dell's volume, they SHOULD get a discount on Microsoft's products. But that discount shouldn't force the manufacturer to then somehow restrict the licence to that machine alone.