Can I use the windows CD on a different machine?

Will it be OK if I don't use the windows 7 CD on the machine for which I bought it for, but install it on another machine?

 

The DVD? Yes.

 

Thanks. I haven't opened it yet--is it DVD, not CD? Anyway, what I mean is to still use it on just ONE machine, but not the one I bought it for, but a different one.

 

AFAIK, that is perfectly legit.

 

I've done it with a set of restore discs made for another machine. It's how I took my X200 tablet from a 32bit to a 64bit system

 

Legally, no. Ethically, I'd say so. I believe the OEM licenses are still single PC, non-transferable. So if it was ever installed on a machine, it can't be used on another. But who's going to check, and honestly, does that seem fair?

Retail licenses are transferable.

 

Yeah, this isn't legal. Restore disks are OEM and are exclusively bound to the hardware they were preinstalled on.

 

Microsoft is gone go bankrupt if you do this...lol

 

What goes around comes around buddy.

 

As long as I have a valid product key for the version being installed I'm within the law.

 

Slightly off-topic, but Microsoft's far from going bankrupt. Besides, the majority of MS's profit comes from selling licenses to businesses, not individual consumers.

 

It's an OEM license.

Wikipedia that.

 

Unfortunately, not if you're in the US. I can't speak for other countries and how MS might have had to adjust their OEM license. In fact, Microsoft has made it easier with Vista and Win7, because their keys are all from the same pool (except we've had some issues with their non-profit/health care targeted stuff, I hear. I haven't seen it yet, but we avoided Vista and are just starting to roll our few Vista machines to Win7)

But it will work, and nobody is going to come after you. On the other hand, if this is at a business, you won't be happy if the BSA shows up.

 

No, I'm talking about a brand new still sealed windows CD/DVD which one ordered from Lenovo after Oct. 22(?) for a previously bought machine. You never opened it, then you decide to, instead of the machined intended, install it on a different machine/thinkpad. So there'll be still only one machine it will ever be installed on. I don't see any harm whatsoever this could do to MS. All they really care is you don't do it on two or more machines.

 

So a free/paid upgrade? I don't know, I'm sure they have different license variations for different situations. I imagine a typical retail upgrade adopts some of the license terms of the previous version's license which it's applied to, and might be tied to that license. But not until it's actually installed.

If it's an OEM upgrade that Lenovo intended for a specific machine, you may be breaking the license by using it on an unintended machine. You'd have to read the license to be sure.

Either way, I'm sure they don't have a way to check. And I know the Win7 upgrades we've been getting from HP at work are perfectly happy performing a fresh install on any old machine.