[H] Here's a weird ruling from MS

[Thane Sherrington]

I have a lot of people come in that need Windows reinstalled.  Sometimes 
they have the Windows CD, sometimes the COA, rarely both.  If they have the 
CD, I call MS and get a number generated for them.  If they have the COA, I 
use my CD and their COA.  I was talking to MS anti-piracy yesterday, and I 
asked if that was "legal."  Guess what?  It isn't.  If you have the COA but 
no CD, you are not allowed to reinstall the software from another CD.  You 
must call MS, order a new CD for $45 (that includes shipping) and wait 7 to 
10 days.

I tried to explain that a)if they had the COA and that meant they had a 
license to run the software, then why would they want to wait 7 to 10 days, 
and b)$45 was a lot of money for a CD with no license even including 
shipping.  Heck, $10 would make MS money.  The guy agreed that it did take 
a long time and that the price was high, but he pointed out, using another 
OEM CD might cause problems because: 1)the old Windows I was installing 
over might be customized (I told him I generally erased the drive) and 
2)the OEM CD I had might not have all the drivers.  I explained that I 
could download drivers, and he conceded I could do that, but triumphantly 
pointed out that I might not want to.  At that point I gave up.

T
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