legal - Who is responsible for installing a not geniun windows?

26
2014-06
  • yashar

    There are copies of Windows on the Internet for sale by other users who have a legal copy of Windows and now they want to sell their operating system. Because the price is cheaper I am interested in this option.

    However, I am afraid if some of those people have illegal copy of Windows and by buying from those people not I only I lose my money but I am worried I get in trouble by authorities. I want to know if I buy a copy of Windows or if someone install a copy of Windows on my laptop and then later it turns out that the windows has not been activated legally, who is responsible for that?

    Will Microsoft or any other organization sue me or will they sue the person who sold me that copy of Windows instead?

    For example Amazon Germany has a copy of Windows 7 Professional for 33 euro.

    If I buy this and turns out it is not valid, what would happen? Would I be responsible for installing an illegal copy of Windows? Could I get a valid key from Microsoft?

    • Answers
  • Muhammad Fahad Baig

    Look, if you buy it from a non-trusted source, nothing can be done. Microsoft won't sue anyone of you. It's up to you to claim a legal action against the person. However, if you bought from a recognized reseller and the Windows gets out be illegal (pirated) (because Ebay once sold pirated and non-genuine Windows copies) you should can directly contact Microsoft about it and they would begin a legal crackdown.

    Furthermore, you should never buy a used license or buy Windows from an anonymous person. Purchase it from official Microsoft partners.


    • Related Question

    Can I use my Windows 7 license in a dual-boot configuration?
  • Arnold Zokas

    Possible Duplicate:
    When installing Windows 7 or Vista, does the language, version, architecture (64-bit or 32-bit) or source (OEM, retail, or MSDN) matter?

    I've purchased a retail license of Windows 7 Ultimate for my machine at home.

    I'm thinking of creating a dual-boot install:

    • 64-bit install for work apps (need the RAM for virtual machines and RAMDisk)
    • 32-bit install for entertainment apps (Media Centre, games, etc)

    How does retail licensing work in such situations?
    Can I activate the same license on both installations?

    Edit:

    I would like to add that I want to have separate partitions for work and play.


    • Related Answers
  • Kez

    Who knows. The EULA which will determine this has not yet officially been published by Microsoft.

    Can I activate the same license on both installations?

    Looking at the EULA for Vista, yes and no.

    Technically, yes. Because the activation wizard will see that you are installing onto the same machine it should activate without question.

    Legally, no. You are only permitted to have one single copy installed at any given time.

    Really interesting article here for bedtime reading although it does only apply to Vista. Again, no official word on the 7 EULA yet.

    How does retail licensing work in such situations?

    Retail boxes will come with a single key that activates both the 32-bit and the 64-bit flavours. You simply select the 32-bit or 64-bit version during the installation process.

  • LRE

    I was once told by Microsoft support that what mattered was that Windows had a per-seat licensing model. This meant that a single copy of (consumer) Windows is only meant to be accessible to one person at a time.

    So by extrapolation, I read the situation thus:

    • Dual boot ought to be fine as you're not running both instances at the same time.
    • VM-style situations where you can have both running at the same time is naughty

    DISCLAIMERS:

    • IANAL
    • This conversation was held back in the early days of XP whilst setting up my parent's PC so Microsoft have had plenty of time to change the rules.
    • When the feds come to arrest you for denying Uncle Bill licensing revenue I will disavow all knowledge of ever having discussed this matter ;-)
  • Delameko

    I would like to add that I want to have separate partitions for work and play.

    Wouldn't it make more sense just to create two seperate user accounts, install all your work software on one at the user level (so its not accessible to the other) and install all your play software on the other. Then you'd have one copy of Windows, one license, any software you need on both accounts you could install as admin and you'd be making the most of your resources.