[Discuss] restoring Windows on different hardware

[Rich Pieri]

On Fri, 28 Dec 2012 15:19:50 -0500
Brendan Kidwell <brendan at glump.net> wrote:

> I know I'm preaching to the choir here, but this is reason #1 I can't
> run Windows on my general purpose computers at home and why I keep

Windows Activation is not a DRM mechanism and I don't care what
Wikipedia or the EFF say. It does not prevent you from installing and
running Windows on the computer of your choice assuming the hardware is
capable of running the OS. It's a license enforcement mechanism. It
ensures (tries to ensure) that if you buy (license) one copy of Windows
then you only have one copy of Windows installed and running as per the
license that you agreed to abide by.

Microsoft's enforcement is pretty ham-fisted but that's a different
issue. An issue that isn't an issue for most Microsoft customers. OEMs
have been shipping pre-activated Windows since XP. Microsoft provides
tools and instructions for saving and restoring pre-activation data in
case of catastrophe (motherboard replacement -- Microsoft's specific
example) or re-installation. And, as Ned pointed out, there's always the
one-time telephone call to get issues resolved if you don't have the
chops to use sysprep.

-- 
Rich P.