Licensing Question: multiple copies on one PC?

[Torr]

I recently purchased a copy of Windows Vista Home Premium x64 OEM. I am interested in installing multiple copies on the same machine (on different hard drives). Would I need two licenses in order to be in compliance? or will one license suffice since both copies will be running on the same system and only one will ever be used at a time?

A closely related question is on the issue of validation. Will the second instance fail validation or am I likely to run into any other problems such as the first instance becoming deactivated when the second instance gets validated?


If anyone knows the answer to either of these questions, please let me know. Also, if you don't know the answer but can provide a link to the text of the license agreement, that would be great too. I can't seem to find a copy of the license agreement anywhere and my copy of Windows has not arrived in the mail yet.

[baryh]

Torr,

If you already have it installed, then do the following:

1. Select Start -> Help and Support
2. In the Search box, type "Windows License Agreement", hit enter.
3. The first result for me was "Read the Microsoft Software License Terms". Select that.
4. Then, select link for "Read the license terms".

I did this using Vista Home Premium (32bit).

Also, you might try: Retail Software License Terms

Here is some of the text that may apply to your situation:

"INSTALLATION AND USE RIGHTS. The software license is permanently assigned to the device with which you acquired the software. That device is the “licensed device.” A hardware partition 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. You may not use the software on any other device."

(The version on the internet has slightly different wording, but is essentially the same.)

I'm no expert, but if the second hard drive is considered a hardware partition, then it sounds like you may have to have a separate license for each hard drive to be legal. (I'm not sure why one would need to install it on multiple hard drives, but I'm sure you have a good reason ).

I'm not sure what Microsoft does, but it is a common strategy to tie a software license to the Disk Volume Serial Number.

Hope this helps,
Bary