Multiple Boot and OfficeXP Activation

[Paul Komski]

Say there are multiple OSes on a single pc. Could be triple booting on one drive, or triple, quadruple, ... , booting on multiple physical drives.

Now say I go about activating them on-line, one at a time. Presumably the first two will go through OK but then is it gonna make me make the phone call for each subsequent activation??

Also, if one phoned up for the activation ID in the first place, would this work in all the OSes on a PC on which the hardware configuration has been unchanged?

Spose it depends on whether the critical input to M$ is the ProductID or the ProductKey, since the former will be different with every reinstallation.

Anyone know the answers??

[Paleo Pete]

Knowing M$ and the way they do things, my guess would be that if the Office XP license says you can only use it on one PC, each OS would be considered a separate PC so you would only be able to legally use it on one OS. Each other one would probably require a separate copy of the program or a separate license for it.

Each OS assigns the computer a generic name during installation, that you can use or assign it a different one. If you went with the default machine names, each one would definitely be legally considered a different machine, since each would have a different name, and would therefore require a separate license for each M$ product installed.

[JUAN DOS]

Pete,
each OS would be considered a separate PC
MS allows multiple installations of Win XP to reside on one PC. MS support via email told me this. I presently “dual boot” XPpro from 2 separate HDD. Each was activated separately, (not cloned after first activation) on line, no phone call required, using one license. I do not have Office XP installed, so cannot answer Paul's question.

[Paul Komski]

PC Names shouldn't be a problem, because they'll be the same on each OS as well as the Workgroup and Subnet Mask - and all using the same NIC.

Also pretty sure you're allowed to install one copy on a Laptop along with your Desktop - though that won't apply in my case - no laptop.

Guess I'll have to either ask M$ first or just see what happens! But it would have been nice if someone had known the answer from experience.

It would seem strange if M$ would prevent one installing on a straight dual boot, since WinXP is designed to support dual booting and the whole thrust of M$'s anti-piracy is to keep software on one pc; that pc having a "hardware fingerprint".

[rond36]

I have had as many as 4 installations of MS Office XP Pro on this system at the same time and the last one activates the same as the first. MS sees them to be installed on the same system and it is no different than if you format and reinstall it 4 times. The activation for MS Office XP is almost the same as it is for MS XP pro in that you can install it on the same system as many times as drive space will allow without a phone call to MS as long as you don't change any hardware.

[Paul Komski]

Thanks so much Rond36. Thats what was hoped and anticipated but just needed confirmation from real experience. I will finish setting up definitive hardware before installing! Thanks again.