Off topic query

[Doug]

On 03/13/2011 01:07 AM, squareyes wrote:
> On 13/03/11 10:43, squareyes wrote:
>> Hi all,
>> sorry if this is too off topic, have googled but don't
>> seem to be asking the right question.
>> Have a friend who has just bought a second new machine that came with 
>> Win7
>> pre-installed. Now has One machine with Ubuntu 10.04, and one with 
>> Win 7.
>> Does anyone in Aust know if he is entitled to a hard copy of Win 7 
>> and relevant drivers
>> e.g. Nvidia etc?
>>
>> Many thanks in advance.
>> Take Care
>> Winton
>>
> Sorry, left out that he is thinking of installing Ubuntu on this newer 
> machine
> and win7 on his older machine, and as he has in reality purchased a 
> license for one machine
> he should be able to do this, but backup cd will not be any good.
> Winton
>
>
I'm not sure about this, but I believe that he is entitled to a hard copy.
He should make a big fuss with the dealer he got the machine from.
There is a way to get the install key off the installed copy.  Google 
for it.
Or the machine in which Windows is installed may have a sticker on the
back or the bottom with the code key on it.  Actually, it should.

If your friend were to use a clone program like HDClone from Miray.DE,
or something like it (it's bootable) then copy Windows from new computer
to old, I think it should run. (You do this by putting both HDs in one 
machine,
or, if you have a big enough flash drive, you can use that as an 
intermediate.)
He might have trouble because the hardware is different.  OTOH, Windows
may just say "Found new hardware and installing." It might call M/S and say
the computer is different, and if so, your friend will have to get on 
the horn
to M/S and beg them to let him move the system. Probably they will let him.

Before calling M/S, if it becomes necessary, install Ubuntu on the new
computer, and let M/S call into it via the Internet and see the setup and
hardware, so they  can see that's what the OS _used_ to be on.  They do
know how to deal with Linux/Unix systems, even if they don't brag about it.
(In the days of NT, their Internet server was a Unix system.  One of the 
Linux
guys caught them at it!)

(I used the clone routine with a large flash drive when I put a larger 
hard drive
in my laptop, and Windows XP ran fine with no problem, as did Linux on the
second partition, but this, of course, is the same hardware, except for the
hd, so no M/S difficulty.)

Good luck.  --doug

-- 
Blessed are the peacemakers...for they shall be shot at from both sides. --A. M. Greeley