Topic: Upgrade to Win7 using license from now dead laptop?

[NJAntman]

I've got a laptop that has power/battery issues, just not worth it to fix but it does have a Win7 OS.

My desktop is chugging along with XP still and I'm starting to hit issues with that. Can I upgrade the desktop to Win7 using the laptops license since the laptop is basically dead to the world at this point?

[Strat]

Technically, if its OEM Win 7 (it came on the desktop preinstalled), no. That's MS rules on OS transfer.

However, I'd be more concerned with other aspects.. If the machine ran Win XP, that places it around 10 years old.. I doubt win 7 would run very well on it. You're most likely limited by dated hardware.

[Javora]

PC world just did an article on that last month and it turns out that Win 7 and 8 runs fairly well on those older machines.  But Strat is right about OS transfer rules.