Vista licensing question

JWhipple

Member
So I just upgraded from Windows XP to Vista x64.

Since I got the retail packaged upgrade, I have both the x64 and x32 DVDs.

I think I know the answer already, but, I take it that licensing would not allow me to activate both the x32 and x64 versions on the same PC, or seperate PCs for that matter?

Thanks for humoring me!
 

My Computer

System One

  • CPU
    AMD Athlon 64x2 3800+ (Socket 939)
    Motherboard
    MSI K8N SLI
    Memory
    2GB Corsair DDR in dual channel mode
    Graphics Card(s)
    2x BFG Geforce 7600GT in SLI mode
    Sound Card
    Soundblaster Audigy 2
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Big ol' 21 inch Gateway LCD monitor
    Screen Resolution
    1680x1050
    Hard Drives
    160GB SATA1 (Western Digital)
    500GB USB External (Western Digital)
    PSU
    600 Watt BFG
    Keyboard
    Logitech G15
    Mouse
    Logitech G7
Nope you can only use one version at a time.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • Operating System
    Windows 11 Workstation
    Manufacturer/Model
    doofenshmirtz evil incorporated
    CPU
    Ryzen 9 5950X
    Motherboard
    Asus ROG Crosshair VIII Formula
    Memory
    Corsair Vengeance RGB PRO Black 64GB (4x16GB) 3600MHz AMD Ryzen Tuned DDR4
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT 16GB ROG Strix LC OC
    Sound Card
    Creative
    Monitor(s) Displays
    3 x27" Dell U2724D & 1 x 34" Dell U3415W
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 980 Pro 1TB M.2 2280 PCI-e 4.0 x4 NVMe Solid State
    Drive
    PSU
    1500W ThermalTake Toughpower
    Case
    ThermalTake Level 10 GT
    Cooling
    Enermax Liqtech 240
    Keyboard
    Surface Ergonomic.
    Mouse
    Logitech Performance MX
    Internet Speed
    350 Mb/s
    Other Info
    WinTV NovaTD
    HP CP1515n Color Laser
    Sony BD-5300S-0B Blu-ray Writer
    Microsoft LifeCam Cinema
    APC 750i Smart UPS
  • Operating System
    windows 10
    Manufacturer/Model
    Surface Pro 3
    CPU
    1.9GHz Intel Core i5-4300U (dual-core, 3MB cache, up to 2.9GHz with Turbo Boost)
    Memory
    4GB
    Graphics card(s)
    Intel HD Graphics 4400
    Monitor(s) Displays
    12" Multi Touch
    Screen Resolution
    2160 x 144
    Hard Drives
    128GB
    Mouse
    Logitech
    Keyboard
    yes
    Internet Speed
    350 Mb/s
Is it safe to assume that I couldn't run a 2nd instance of Vista (either version) on Microsoft Virtual Machine 2007 either?

Thanks for the quick reply!
 

My Computer

System One

  • CPU
    AMD Athlon 64x2 3800+ (Socket 939)
    Motherboard
    MSI K8N SLI
    Memory
    2GB Corsair DDR in dual channel mode
    Graphics Card(s)
    2x BFG Geforce 7600GT in SLI mode
    Sound Card
    Soundblaster Audigy 2
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Big ol' 21 inch Gateway LCD monitor
    Screen Resolution
    1680x1050
    Hard Drives
    160GB SATA1 (Western Digital)
    500GB USB External (Western Digital)
    PSU
    600 Watt BFG
    Keyboard
    Logitech G15
    Mouse
    Logitech G7
I'm not sure about VM licencing.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • Operating System
    Windows 11 Workstation
    Manufacturer/Model
    doofenshmirtz evil incorporated
    CPU
    Ryzen 9 5950X
    Motherboard
    Asus ROG Crosshair VIII Formula
    Memory
    Corsair Vengeance RGB PRO Black 64GB (4x16GB) 3600MHz AMD Ryzen Tuned DDR4
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT 16GB ROG Strix LC OC
    Sound Card
    Creative
    Monitor(s) Displays
    3 x27" Dell U2724D & 1 x 34" Dell U3415W
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 980 Pro 1TB M.2 2280 PCI-e 4.0 x4 NVMe Solid State
    Drive
    PSU
    1500W ThermalTake Toughpower
    Case
    ThermalTake Level 10 GT
    Cooling
    Enermax Liqtech 240
    Keyboard
    Surface Ergonomic.
    Mouse
    Logitech Performance MX
    Internet Speed
    350 Mb/s
    Other Info
    WinTV NovaTD
    HP CP1515n Color Laser
    Sony BD-5300S-0B Blu-ray Writer
    Microsoft LifeCam Cinema
    APC 750i Smart UPS
  • Operating System
    windows 10
    Manufacturer/Model
    Surface Pro 3
    CPU
    1.9GHz Intel Core i5-4300U (dual-core, 3MB cache, up to 2.9GHz with Turbo Boost)
    Memory
    4GB
    Graphics card(s)
    Intel HD Graphics 4400
    Monitor(s) Displays
    12" Multi Touch
    Screen Resolution
    2160 x 144
    Hard Drives
    128GB
    Mouse
    Logitech
    Keyboard
    yes
    Internet Speed
    350 Mb/s
If anyone knows, please let me know :-)

Thanks again!
 

My Computer

System One

  • CPU
    AMD Athlon 64x2 3800+ (Socket 939)
    Motherboard
    MSI K8N SLI
    Memory
    2GB Corsair DDR in dual channel mode
    Graphics Card(s)
    2x BFG Geforce 7600GT in SLI mode
    Sound Card
    Soundblaster Audigy 2
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Big ol' 21 inch Gateway LCD monitor
    Screen Resolution
    1680x1050
    Hard Drives
    160GB SATA1 (Western Digital)
    500GB USB External (Western Digital)
    PSU
    600 Watt BFG
    Keyboard
    Logitech G15
    Mouse
    Logitech G7
DOH! Not the answer I wanted to hear LOL but thank you! :-)
 

My Computer

System One

  • CPU
    AMD Athlon 64x2 3800+ (Socket 939)
    Motherboard
    MSI K8N SLI
    Memory
    2GB Corsair DDR in dual channel mode
    Graphics Card(s)
    2x BFG Geforce 7600GT in SLI mode
    Sound Card
    Soundblaster Audigy 2
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Big ol' 21 inch Gateway LCD monitor
    Screen Resolution
    1680x1050
    Hard Drives
    160GB SATA1 (Western Digital)
    500GB USB External (Western Digital)
    PSU
    600 Watt BFG
    Keyboard
    Logitech G15
    Mouse
    Logitech G7
There's nothing stopping anyone from installing the same licensed version on the same machine twice.
I've been doing that for years with both XP and now Vista. I have one for my main stuff and one for testing.
I've never had any activation problems.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Operating System
    Win 10 Pro x64 x 2
    Manufacturer/Model
    Alienware ALX x58
    CPU
    Intel® Core™ i7-975 Extreme O/C to 4.02 GHz, 8MB Cache
    Motherboard
    Asus® P6T Deluxe V2 X58 LGA1366
    Memory
    24GB Corsair Vengeance DDR3 SDRAM at 1600MHz - 6 x 4096MB
    Graphics Card(s)
    1792 MB NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 295 Dual Core
    Sound Card
    Onboard Soundmax® High-Definition 7.1 Performance Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung XL2370 HD LED backlit 23" W/S 2ms response time
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1080
    Hard Drives
    2 x 500gb SATA II
    1 x 1TB SATA II
    1 external eSATA LaCie 3TB
    (Non-RAID)
    PSU
    Alienware® 1200 Watt Multi-GPU
    Case
    Unique
    Cooling
    4 case fans @ CPU water cooling.
    Internet Speed
    1gb/s up and down
Yes but it is against the EULA ;)
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • Operating System
    Windows 11 Workstation
    Manufacturer/Model
    doofenshmirtz evil incorporated
    CPU
    Ryzen 9 5950X
    Motherboard
    Asus ROG Crosshair VIII Formula
    Memory
    Corsair Vengeance RGB PRO Black 64GB (4x16GB) 3600MHz AMD Ryzen Tuned DDR4
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT 16GB ROG Strix LC OC
    Sound Card
    Creative
    Monitor(s) Displays
    3 x27" Dell U2724D & 1 x 34" Dell U3415W
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 980 Pro 1TB M.2 2280 PCI-e 4.0 x4 NVMe Solid State
    Drive
    PSU
    1500W ThermalTake Toughpower
    Case
    ThermalTake Level 10 GT
    Cooling
    Enermax Liqtech 240
    Keyboard
    Surface Ergonomic.
    Mouse
    Logitech Performance MX
    Internet Speed
    350 Mb/s
    Other Info
    WinTV NovaTD
    HP CP1515n Color Laser
    Sony BD-5300S-0B Blu-ray Writer
    Microsoft LifeCam Cinema
    APC 750i Smart UPS
  • Operating System
    windows 10
    Manufacturer/Model
    Surface Pro 3
    CPU
    1.9GHz Intel Core i5-4300U (dual-core, 3MB cache, up to 2.9GHz with Turbo Boost)
    Memory
    4GB
    Graphics card(s)
    Intel HD Graphics 4400
    Monitor(s) Displays
    12" Multi Touch
    Screen Resolution
    2160 x 144
    Hard Drives
    128GB
    Mouse
    Logitech
    Keyboard
    yes
    Internet Speed
    350 Mb/s
My understanding is that the OP referenced to "RUNNING" them both at same time with only one lisence. Assuming one was going to be in a VM, if the VM was running, 2 lisences's would be required, one for the host OS and one for the guest OS
 

My Computer

I'm only running one at a time in a multi-boot situation, so is it really aganst the EULA in my case? I've discussed this so many times in so many forums and everytime, eventually it's decided that my setup is perfectly legal.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Operating System
    Win 10 Pro x64 x 2
    Manufacturer/Model
    Alienware ALX x58
    CPU
    Intel® Core™ i7-975 Extreme O/C to 4.02 GHz, 8MB Cache
    Motherboard
    Asus® P6T Deluxe V2 X58 LGA1366
    Memory
    24GB Corsair Vengeance DDR3 SDRAM at 1600MHz - 6 x 4096MB
    Graphics Card(s)
    1792 MB NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 295 Dual Core
    Sound Card
    Onboard Soundmax® High-Definition 7.1 Performance Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung XL2370 HD LED backlit 23" W/S 2ms response time
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1080
    Hard Drives
    2 x 500gb SATA II
    1 x 1TB SATA II
    1 external eSATA LaCie 3TB
    (Non-RAID)
    PSU
    Alienware® 1200 Watt Multi-GPU
    Case
    Unique
    Cooling
    4 case fans @ CPU water cooling.
    Internet Speed
    1gb/s up and down

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    * BFK Customs *
    CPU
    Intel C2Q 9550 Yorkfield
    Motherboard
    ASUS P5Q Pro
    Memory
    8GB Dominator 8500C5D
    Graphics Card(s)
    XFX ATI 1GB 4870 XXX
    Sound Card
    Realtek HD 7-1
    Monitor(s) Displays
    1x 47" LCD HDMI & 2x 26" LCD HDMI
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080P & 1920x1200
    Hard Drives
    2x 500GB 7200RPM 32MB Cache WD Caviar Black
    PSU
    Corsair 620HX
    Case
    CM Cosmos RC-1000
    Cooling
    Tuniq Tower 120, 2x 140mm and 3x 120mm case fans
    Keyboard
    HP Enhansed Multimedia
    Mouse
    Razer Diamondback 3G
    Internet Speed
    18.6Mb/s
    Other Info
    My First Build ;)
"Alternative Versions. The software may include more than one version, such as 32-bit and 64-bit. You may use only one version at one time."

This could be taken a couple of different ways based on this verbiage.

1) You can only have one version activated even if two are included. This means that you can not switch between versions.
2) You can only use one version at a time on the same machine. This means that you can have both installed but only one running at the same time.

I'm sure there are even more ways that it could be taken, but honestly, I don't feel like consulting my attorney any time I install a piece of software. I would rather just use the one and stick with it if it means that they potentially may deactivate the piece of software that I just paid big coin for.
 

My Computer

System One

  • CPU
    AMD Athlon 64x2 3800+ (Socket 939)
    Motherboard
    MSI K8N SLI
    Memory
    2GB Corsair DDR in dual channel mode
    Graphics Card(s)
    2x BFG Geforce 7600GT in SLI mode
    Sound Card
    Soundblaster Audigy 2
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Big ol' 21 inch Gateway LCD monitor
    Screen Resolution
    1680x1050
    Hard Drives
    160GB SATA1 (Western Digital)
    500GB USB External (Western Digital)
    PSU
    600 Watt BFG
    Keyboard
    Logitech G15
    Mouse
    Logitech G7
OK. I quote:
You may use only one version at one time.
and
You may uninstall the software and install it on another device for your use. You may not do so to share this license between devices.
I don't see anything else that really restricts what I'm doing here.

In my own help and support I read the following:

1. OVERVIEW.
a. Software. The software includes desktop operating system software. This software does not include Windows Live services. Windows Live is a service available from Microsoft under a separate agreement.
b. License Model. The software is licensed on a per copy per device basis.
c. Edition Specific Rights. See the Additional License Terms sections at the end of this agreement for license terms that apply to specific editions of the software.
2. INSTALLATION AND USE RIGHTS. Before you use the software under a license, you must assign that license to one device (physical hardware system). That device is the “licensed device.” A hardware partition or blade is considered to be a separate device.
a. Licensed Device. You may install one copy of the software on the licensed device. You may use the software on up to two processors on that device at one time. Except as provided in the Storage and Network Use (Ultimate edition) sections below, you may not use the software on any other device.

I'm a bit confused with the last bit...in red and pink (my idea, sorry), as to their exact interpretation.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Operating System
    Win 10 Pro x64 x 2
    Manufacturer/Model
    Alienware ALX x58
    CPU
    Intel® Core™ i7-975 Extreme O/C to 4.02 GHz, 8MB Cache
    Motherboard
    Asus® P6T Deluxe V2 X58 LGA1366
    Memory
    24GB Corsair Vengeance DDR3 SDRAM at 1600MHz - 6 x 4096MB
    Graphics Card(s)
    1792 MB NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 295 Dual Core
    Sound Card
    Onboard Soundmax® High-Definition 7.1 Performance Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung XL2370 HD LED backlit 23" W/S 2ms response time
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1080
    Hard Drives
    2 x 500gb SATA II
    1 x 1TB SATA II
    1 external eSATA LaCie 3TB
    (Non-RAID)
    PSU
    Alienware® 1200 Watt Multi-GPU
    Case
    Unique
    Cooling
    4 case fans @ CPU water cooling.
    Internet Speed
    1gb/s up and down
Again, I have always read it, one install = one lisence, two instals = two licenses's, unless of course ya got a multi install lisence. More expensive, yup, definately legal, yup
 

My Computer

Well I appear to be in the wrong, but so far, and it's been quite a long time, I've never had any issues, problems or any red flags from 1 Microsoft Way.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Operating System
    Win 10 Pro x64 x 2
    Manufacturer/Model
    Alienware ALX x58
    CPU
    Intel® Core™ i7-975 Extreme O/C to 4.02 GHz, 8MB Cache
    Motherboard
    Asus® P6T Deluxe V2 X58 LGA1366
    Memory
    24GB Corsair Vengeance DDR3 SDRAM at 1600MHz - 6 x 4096MB
    Graphics Card(s)
    1792 MB NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 295 Dual Core
    Sound Card
    Onboard Soundmax® High-Definition 7.1 Performance Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung XL2370 HD LED backlit 23" W/S 2ms response time
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1080
    Hard Drives
    2 x 500gb SATA II
    1 x 1TB SATA II
    1 external eSATA LaCie 3TB
    (Non-RAID)
    PSU
    Alienware® 1200 Watt Multi-GPU
    Case
    Unique
    Cooling
    4 case fans @ CPU water cooling.
    Internet Speed
    1gb/s up and down
The following extract is taken from the Vista EULA:

"INSTALLATION AND USE RIGHTS. Before you use the software under a license, you must assign that license to one device (physical hardware system). That device is the 'licensed device'. A hardware partition or blade is considered to be a separate device.

a) Licensed Device. You may install one copy of the software on upto two processors on that device at one time. Except as provided in the Storage and Network Use (Ultimate edition) sections below, you may not use the software on any other device.

b) Number of Users. Except as provided in the Device Connections (all editions), Remote Access Technologies (Home Basic and Home Premium editions) and Other Access Technologies (Ultimate edition) sections below, only one user may use the software at a time.

c) Alternative Versions. The software may include more than one version, such as 32-bit and 64-bit. You may use only one version at one time."

By this, I interpret it to mean that you cannot use VM technology to install a second copy of Vista on the same machine without a separate license. There is NO difference here between a copy of the SAME Vista (using the same license key) on one machine with another copy of the same running under VM technology on the same machine and two copies of the SAME Vista running on separate machines. You will need a SEPARATE license key for each copy, although you can use the same physical DVD to install from.

For further information, please see the following link.

http://download.microsoft.com/documents/useterms/Windows%20Vista_Ultimate_English_36d0fe99-75e4-4875-8153-889cf5105718.pdf
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Dwarf Dwf/11/2012 r09/2013
    CPU
    Intel Core-i5-3570K 4-core @ 3.4GHz (Ivy Bridge) (OC 4.2GHz)
    Motherboard
    ASRock Z77 Extreme4-M
    Memory
    4 x 4GB DDR3-1600 Corsair Vengeance CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9B (16GB)
    Graphics Card(s)
    MSI GeForce GTX770 Gaming OC 2GB
    Sound Card
    Realtek High Definition on board solution (ALC 898)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    ViewSonic VA1912w Widescreen
    Screen Resolution
    1440x900
    Hard Drives
    OCZ Agility 3 120GB SATA III x2 (RAID 0)
    Samsung HD501LJ 500GB SATA II x2
    Hitachi HDS721010CLA332 1TB SATA II
    Iomega 1.5TB Ext USB 2.0
    WD 2.0TB Ext USB 3.0
    PSU
    XFX Pro Series 850W Semi-Modular
    Case
    Gigabyte IF233
    Cooling
    1 x 120mm Front Inlet 1 x 120mm Rear Exhaust
    Keyboard
    Microsoft Comfort Curve Keyboard 3000 (USB)
    Mouse
    Microsoft Comfort Mouse 3000 for Business (USB)
    Internet Speed
    NetGear DG834Gv3 ADSL Modem/Router (Ethernet) ~4.0 Mb/s (O2)
    Other Info
    Optical Drive: HL-DT-ST BD-RE BH10LS30 SATA Bluray
    Lexmark S305 Printer/Scanner/Copier (USB)
    WEI Score: 8.1/8.1/8.5/8.5/8.25
    Asus Eee PC 1011PX Netbook (Windows 7 x86 Starter)
So Dwarf,

I'm wrong...or...? Actually at the moment I only have one copy installed on my machine but I was using two.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Operating System
    Win 10 Pro x64 x 2
    Manufacturer/Model
    Alienware ALX x58
    CPU
    Intel® Core™ i7-975 Extreme O/C to 4.02 GHz, 8MB Cache
    Motherboard
    Asus® P6T Deluxe V2 X58 LGA1366
    Memory
    24GB Corsair Vengeance DDR3 SDRAM at 1600MHz - 6 x 4096MB
    Graphics Card(s)
    1792 MB NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 295 Dual Core
    Sound Card
    Onboard Soundmax® High-Definition 7.1 Performance Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung XL2370 HD LED backlit 23" W/S 2ms response time
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1080
    Hard Drives
    2 x 500gb SATA II
    1 x 1TB SATA II
    1 external eSATA LaCie 3TB
    (Non-RAID)
    PSU
    Alienware® 1200 Watt Multi-GPU
    Case
    Unique
    Cooling
    4 case fans @ CPU water cooling.
    Internet Speed
    1gb/s up and down
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