Have ditched windows 7

[Gary406]

ye there not legally transferable but a few white tales wont do any harm

[FarmerPug]

Mac i found a bit strange the first time i used one a few years back, but now for ease of use i would use mac any time over windows. I wouldnt mind seeing one of these virtual machines running on my computer to get the seamless windows thing. Macs are expensive though, the only thing is they are well made.

[highlander]

It's a pain in the ass, unfortunately, but I don't think Microsoft will help you given the fact the Vista license is an OEM copy (PC-specific).

so what happens when a hard drive busts ?
of course they are transferable to a new system,
all you do is tell microsoft that your hard drive has gone and you have replaced it with another
they dont know that the hard drive is in another computer

The problem is that the install disc that comes with the PC will only work on that PC (or another PC of the same make & model) - it's not a full install copy of Windows, it's a build disc that contains a compressed pre-install image; all the disc installer does is uncompress that image to the hard drive; it's not like a normal Windows install. It's designed for circumstances exactly like you describe - a hard disk failure.

But the license key on the sticker on the PC will only be accepted by the recovery disc included with that laptop. I know, because I previously tried to use a "PC sticker" license with a "OEM version" Windows install disc (not the machine's recovery CD) and the license key was rejected.

Because the key is coded only to work with a manufacturer's specific recovery CD, Microsoft will not help you to transfer it to another system - their licensing key system (which the Windows Activation helpdesk people use) is able to tell that it's a manufacturer-specific code. Even if they did, the problem still remains - a regular Windows install CD will not recognize the code, so you can't complete the Windows installation with it, and you won't be able to activate it even if you do get past it.

It's a stupid way of doing things, in my opinion, but that's the way MS has decided to play the licensing game.

[Gary406]

thats why i stick to a pirate version, never have any problems like that

and its fully updatable with microsoft and gets all the latest software.

even passes the genuine advantage test

[highlander]

Well yeah, but I was trying to answer the question regarding the use of what would otherwise appear to be a perfectly legitimate Windows license.

Microsoft are theiving bastards who have no qualms about becoming the No. 1 by forcing all others out of their market place. Stupid sh*t like telling PC vendors to ensure that Internet Explorer was the only browser visible on the desktop, then when they got caught doing that and told not to, they went ahead and integrated Internet Explorer directly into Windows so tightly that it is an essential part of the operating system and you can't remove it, and then sticking their browser's shortcut directly on the desktop as a system icon that you can only remove by going through the "Desktop" control panel.

That kind of sh*t caused the original Netscape company to fold; the problem is, amongst the average home user, who is really going to download Netscape when Internet Explorer is already there and ready to use? The EU finally saw sense, slapped them with a great big antitrust fine, and told them that, when you install Windows, or boot up a new pre-installed Windows PC for the first time, you will be now given a choice of several popular web browsers to choose from.

Thankfully, some of Netscape's core technologies have been resurrected into (amongst other browsers) Firefox, which is currently giving Internet Explorer a run for its money (22% of the market share, over IE's 55%). Note also that when Netscape folded, and IE6 was the only browser available on Windows, Microsoft effectively stopped developing it, and this was the case for several years (from 2001 to 2006). Since Opera, Chrome, and Firefox have started giving real competition again, we've had IE7, IE8, and are about to have IE9...

And the browser wars/antitrust settlement is just the tip of the iceberg! For example, it was discovered that Microsoft was quietly funding SCO's litigious habit (SCO sued Novell and IBM over the UNIXware copyrights (SCO did not hold the copyrights at that point), and then SCO tried to force companies and home users who use Linux and UNIX-like operating systems to buy UNIX licenses - at $299 USD per license); according to leaked documents from MS, this was a deliberate attempt to reduce or eliminate Linux/UNIX's growing server-market share. It eventually all fell through as the US Supreme Court ruled that Novell owned the UNIXware copyrights, so SCO didn't have a leg to stand on. SCO no longer exists as a company, I believe.

Anyway, off on a tangent as usual; I get all ranty when talking about Microsoft.

Getting back to the point, if you have a student (high school, college, or university) living in your home, try going to http://www.software4students.co.uk and buying a (very heavily) discounted copy of Windows 7 from there. The benefit behind this is that you get a full installer disc for Windows 7, and can therefore re-use it on any brand new PC you buy (though it can only be legally installed and activated on one PC at any given time). Alternatively, you could potentially buy an upgrade copy of Windows 7 (available in many PC shops, and it seems you can even pick these up in ASDA), and use the sticker code from the old laptop when installing it; however, I'm not sure if that would work or not.

[FarmerPug]

windows when i was with them i couldnt say a bad thing about their stuff, i just moved over to the mac side, they really do know how to charge. One thing that put me off my macbook is how useless the ipod is, ie can it understand the concept of drag and drop file sync, and just taking off songs of the ipod to put onto another storage device.