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tom wrote:
I guess Microsoft could see what machines are running Windows, but by default on a branded machine such as an Acer, Dell, HP etc they come pre-activated by using a string in the BIOS. Windows looks for this string, compares it with the pre-configured Windows key and a certificate on the machine and then if it all matches it thinks the copy of Windows is legit and doesn't prompt for activation. If however it doesn't match it will prompt to activate Windows.Rob Beard wrote:So no just rejecting the EULA - Paul this may be why the ARM netbooks are not out MS is a big big bully! If the above is true then it probably costs them a lot more than £30 to do - but makes it just a little inconvenient for the customer - given that the OS rings home it shouldn't be hard for MS to work out it hasnt been used and who it was sold through to authorise a refund. Oh hang on MS might be using their own software and just cos LEO could do that 50 years ago....tom wrote:I believe you have to send the machine to the service centre in Plymouth (or is it Plympton?) and they will remove the licence key sticker and wipe the hard drive and then give you a refund. IIRC it is about £30 for Windows Vista Home Premium, so presumably the same for Windows 7 Home Premium or XP Home.How easy is it to get the MS license back from them? Tom te tom te tomRob
It's also probably worth noting that the CD keys which are stuck to machines nowadays generally don't work. Microsoft changed things a couple of years back (I'm assuming around 2005/2006) so the keys are valid but only if you need to phone Microsoft, if you get say, a Windows XP Home CD and install it on a machine and try and use the key it won't accept it. This happened to me when I tried to do a clean install of XP Home on the wife's Thinkpad, I entered the key from the bottom of the machine and used an XP Home OEM CD but it didn't like it. I had to use the restore image (which was bogged down with all the usual junk that IBM pre-install).
I can't wait for these ARM netbooks to come out, I'm hoping they'll be at a reasonable price (say around the £100 mark) and not be locked down so we can install any ARM distro on it (I'm guessing the choices at the moment are Debian, Ubuntu or building our own).
Rob Rob Rob -- The Mailing List for the Devon & Cornwall LUG http://mailman.dclug.org.uk/listinfo/list FAQ: http://www.dcglug.org.uk/linux_adm/list-faq.html