Topic: XP License question....

[Centurus]

Could someone please fill me in on what a Microsoft Open License is?  I found some for XP Pro, but there's no information to tell me what it is.

Is an Open License the same as a VLK for XP Pro?

[The Bar-Abbas Anomaly]

 

Yes, I believe an 'Open License' and a 'Volume License Key' are synonaganous...  You do need a CD that goes along with that particular key/class of keys to use it, though.

[Centurus]

Yes, I believe an 'Open License' and a 'Volume License Key' are synonaganous...  You do need a CD that goes along with that particular key/class of keys to use it, though.

That shouldn't be a problem since I have a copy of XP Pro, and the site did say it was for XP Pro w/SP2.  Thanks for letting me know.  Unless anyone else says differently, I'm going to proceed on this assumption, once I have the money to buy it of course.  :-D

[The Bar-Abbas Anomaly]

That shouldn't be a problem since I have a copy of XP Pro, and the site did say it was for XP Pro w/SP2.  Thanks for letting me know.  Unless anyone else says differently, I'm going to proceed on this assumption, once I have the money to buy it of course.  :-D

That's probably not the same thing...  Windows XP comes in at least three flavors, and the CD has to match the type of key you have.  If you bought Windows off the shelf you have a retail key, if it came with your new Dell or Compaq (or whatever) then you have an OEM key, and if you swiped it from a major company's corporate IT department it may be an open or volume key.  The CD you have is probably either retail or OEM and it's very unlikely that it will work with the volume license key you found.

[Centurus]

That shouldn't be a problem since I have a copy of XP Pro, and the site did say it was for XP Pro w/SP2.  Thanks for letting me know.  Unless anyone else says differently, I'm going to proceed on this assumption, once I have the money to buy it of course.  :-D

That's probably not the same thing...  Windows XP comes in at least three flavors, and the CD has to match the type of key you have.  If you bought Windows off the shelf you have a retail key, if it came with your new Dell or Compaq (or whatever) then you have an OEM key, and if you swiped it from a major company's corporate IT department it may be an open or volume key.  The CD you have is probably either retail or OEM and it's very unlikely that it will work with the volume license key you found.

Yeah, the copy I have is OEM.  I don't own a single retail copy of Windows.  I built this rig myself, so I know exactly what it's got and what it can do.

As for the VLK, I've been doing research for a while, and when I found Open License keys for sale for XP Pro, I was wondering if it was the exact same thing as a VLK.  The VLK is just a special key designed to work with XP Pro only, but any copy of XP Pro. 

So I'm not worried about the compatibility issue where keys are concerned.  If the Open License is the exact same thing as a Volume License Key, and the ones I saw for sale, I think through CDW is where I found them, are genuine keys, which most likely they are, then I shouldn't have a problem.

[The Bar-Abbas Anomaly]

 

Well, OK then... Let me know how it works out for you on the re-install.   

[Centurus]

Well, OK then... Let me know how it works out for you on the re-install.   

When I get the money, I'll try it out.