If you are dealing with an OEM license then I would say it would probably be within your rights to load multiple drives with one XP license. This is because an OEM XP license is sold based on the BIOS of the machine it is sold with. I.E. - If the original hard drive dies and you have to replace it you shouldn't even have to re-activate XP let alone re-purchase it. You are really just downing a hard drive and replacing it many times over, but as long as the BIOS doesn't change you are technically not breaking your licensing terms. Ultimately, Microsoft licensing does get the last word though. On the bright side, if you ask 10 people at Microsoft licensing the same question you are almost guaranteed to get at least 5 different answers from them. So if you don't like the first answer you get, ask someone else. Tim
-----Original Message----- From: Ben Scott [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Thursday, July 17, 2008 2:18 PM To: NT System Admin Issues Subject: MSFT licensing: Multiple hard disks, single computer, single drive at once Hi everybody (Hi Dr. Nick!)... Scenario: One computer. Computer has a removable hard disk drive (like one of these: http://tinyurl.com/CRUDataPort3). Only one spot in the computer for the removable carrier, so only one hard disk at a time can be used. There will be several hard disks, each with its own installed instance of Windows and Office. But they will only be used with that one host PC, and only one at a time. (The disks contain data we are required to keep physically separated -- by an "air gap" -- at all times.) Question: Do I need a license seat for each hard disk? My take: Only one license per computer should be needed. It's all one computer. I won't ever be able to *use* more than one seat at a time. When it comes to OEM licenses, the license is part of the computer it is sold with. If I take the disk out of the PC and put it in a different PC, I need a license for that other PC. If that principle is applied uniformly, a license purchased with a computer, used with that computer, with multiple hard drives, is okay. Microsoft Sales verbally insists I need a license seat for each, and I cannot find a formal document stating otherwise. Does anyone have a URL or document title I can refer to that contradicts this? Or are we going to have to buy several seats of Vista and Office for this one PC? Retail box for Vista, too, since OS Volume Licenses are "Upgrade Only". I'm going to end up having to spend over $4000 on Vista and Office licenses on this one PC! -- Ben ~ Upgrade to Next Generation Antispam/Antivirus with Ninja! ~ ~ <http://www.sunbelt-software.com/SunbeltMessagingNinja.cfm> ~ ~ Upgrade to Next Generation Antispam/Antivirus with Ninja! ~ ~ <http://www.sunbelt-software.com/SunbeltMessagingNinja.cfm> ~
