Urgent-Buying 2nd hand Vista

Hey im buying a 2nd hand copy of windows vista home premium academic version. Will i have problems activating it on my laptop? The owner of the os says he hasnt used it for 8months as he went back to xp. Just want to make sure i wont have problems when i install it.

Thanks

 

I think you can activate it twice. But I don't think Windows licences are transferrable; I guess if it doesn't work you could just give MS a call and tell them that you changed a lot part in your computer and that you need a new key; might or might not work. Good luck.

 

You might have no problem since they are volume licensed. I am not sure how long the activation servers keep the data in there, I heard only six months so you might be ok. Really though you are only allowed to sell used copies of the retail version since it is transferable.

 

Academic versions are like OEM license versions (licensed for Faculty/students usually not limited). You may be required to show your school affiliation under the license agreement If reactivation via product key is required. Retail Versions can be reinstalled over and over and even transfered to new systems as long as they are only installed on the number of systems allowed under the license agreement (usually 1)
OEM system builder versions lock themselves to the hardware in the systems they are installed on. I have a OEM system builder version, and even adding a new harddrive or updating the BIOS results in my having to call Microsoft for reactivation.

I sugest you purchase a retail version, or OEM system builder version (identical to retail except can only be installed and activated on 1 system). System builder versions are usually a third of the price of retail. I bought my version of Ultimate x64 off newegg for $150.