# Is it possible to transfer licence of OS from one machine to another?



## OM2 (Oct 28, 2007)

Sounds like a crazy idea: say if I have one mac nj ine with Windows 7 or 8

I get another machine with no OS. I want to scrap the first machine. Can I transfer the OS from the fitst machine?

Lets assume I dont have the original OS installation discs?

I'm sure the answer is no
But legally surely you should have the freedom to do this?

Thanks


OM


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## dustyjay (Jan 24, 2003)

If you are talking about an OS that came preinstalled, such as with a Dell or HP/Compaq Computer for instance, then the answer is no. If you have a legal Retail Copy of the OS with Keycode the yes.


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## OM2 (Oct 28, 2007)

Yes I meant pre installed
I think that's unfair you can't do that!


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## dustyjay (Jan 24, 2003)

When you look at it though, it isn't unfair at all. You din't really pay for the OS (not more than $15 anyway) And by using the OS the very first time, you agreed to the End User License Agreement. That preinstalled version of the OS, must live and die with the original computer it was installed on. This is a misconception that happens all the time. You do not own the OS, you just have a license to use it within the limits of that license. If you had a Retail Copy of the OS you would be able to use it on one computer at a time. It can be moved to another computer so long as it is removed from any other computer completely first.


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## TerryNet (Mar 23, 2005)

OM2 said:


> Yes I meant pre installed
> I think that's unfair you can't do that!


*dustyjay *is correct. Let me say it a different way. If you want the right to transfer a Windows to a different machine and/or other Microsoft support buy a full priced retail edition. If you buy a greatly reduced price edition (OEM) accept the fact that you do not get Microsoft support nor the right to transfer it to another machine.

Windows is like any other product--you get what you pay for. Buy an entry level automobile and you don't get the same features and comforts and "free" support as you would with the purchase of a top of the line luxury auto. But you pay a lot less, at least initially.


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## Courtneyc (Dec 7, 2003)

I think that it is very interesting that the install for Windows 8 makes that perfectly clear. The Microsoft lawyers were very busy.


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## dustyjay (Jan 24, 2003)

The problem is, that 98% of people never read the EULA. I must admit that I have not read the new EULA yet. But then I also haven't yet purchased Windows 8. Though, being as Payday is day after tomorrow, I will be buying a retail copy of Win8 Pro not an upgrade. I am sure I will be installing it on a computer in the (hopefully) not too distant future.


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## gurutech (Apr 23, 2004)

With an OEM license, you must also buy a piece of hardware, is that still correct? I always bought an OEM license (and CD/DVD of the OS) when I bought a hard drive, but only installed the OEM when I needed to (most of the time it was on a customer's machine that I had to replace a hard drive anyway...)


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## bbearren (Jul 14, 2006)

dustyjay said:


> The problem is, that 98% of people never read the EULA. I must admit that I have not read the new EULA yet. But then I also haven't yet purchased Windows 8. Though, being as Payday is day after tomorrow, I will be buying a retail copy of Win8 Pro not an upgrade. I am sure I will be installing it on a computer in the (hopefully) not too distant future.


The download of Windows 8 Pro from Microsoft is an upgrade, but it is a Retail upgrade, which gives you 90 days of full, free Microsoft support, and portability from one machine to another.

To make it portable, the machine you wish to move it *to* must have XP, Vista, or Windows 7 installed; and they can be either OEM or Retail.


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## dustyjay (Jan 24, 2003)

I haven't seen an OEM copy of Windows avail in a retail store that sells Windows in many years. I remember buying an OEM Version of Windows 98SE at a Computer Shop and to buy that I had to buy it with a Major Computer Component. In that case it was with a Hard Drive. I can also remember New Egg used to have a requirement that pruchase of an OEM Copy of Windows had to include a Hard Drive, or Motherboard, or Processor. I have not seen that requirement in a few years though.


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## bbearren (Jul 14, 2006)

With Windows 7, Microsoft restricted the licensing for OEM software to builders who were intending to sell, not for users to install for personal use. I haven't read of any changes with Windows 8, although there may well be.


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## dustyjay (Jan 24, 2003)

Actually the EULA for OEM versions of windows was changed in 2005, because too many people were buying an OEM Version and using it for thier personal builds.


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## leroys1000 (Aug 16, 2007)

From what I have seen of the eula,the system builder version
requirements have been relaxed.
They can be used for personal use but still fall under the OEM retrictions.
It can only be used on one PC and is locked to that PC and can't be transfered.
No microsoft support.

Retail and upgrade versions can be transfered to a new computer as
long as they are removed from the previous computer.
For upgrades,the previous version of windows and the upgrade
are tied together.
They both have to stay together.
You can't use the previous version and upgrade on two different
computers at the same time.

I don't know about other versions,but windows 8 pro has a windows
to go mode where it can be made portable and run from a usb flash drive.
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/jj592680.aspx


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## bbearren (Jul 14, 2006)

leroys1000 said:


> Retail and upgrade versions can be transfered to a new computer as
> long as they are removed from the previous computer.
> For upgrades,the previous version of windows and the upgrade
> are tied together.
> ...


The Windows 8 Pro Upgrade license *replaces* the license of the upgraded software. They don't have to stay together as there is only one license, the license to Windows 8 Pro Upgrade. The Retail Windows 8 Pro Upgrade can be transferred to another machine that you own, or transferred to another individual along with the media, the product key, COA, and proof of purchase.

The license terms can be found using the search form here.


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## TerryNet (Mar 23, 2005)

> From what I have seen of the eula,the system builder version
> requirements have been relaxed.
> They can be used for personal use but still fall under the OEM retrictions.


That's good to know. Do you have a link handy?


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## leroys1000 (Aug 16, 2007)

Right,but if you want to reinstall,you have to
reinstall the previuos version again first.
With windows 8 upgrade,windows 8 creates a 320MB
partition for license and activation files.
Both the previous version and new windows 8 license
files are stored on that partition together.
Windows 8 upgrade will not activate without all those
files present on the drive.


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## bbearren (Jul 14, 2006)

TerryNet said:


> That's good to know. Do you have a link handy?


The link I posted is to a Microsoft search form. You can look up any Microsoft license using that form.


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## dustyjay (Jan 24, 2003)

Here is the EULA as included with Win 7 OEM http://oem.microsoft.com/public/sblicense/2008_sb_licenses/fy08_sb_license_english.pdf


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## leroys1000 (Aug 16, 2007)

TerryNet said:


> That's good to know. Do you have a link handy?


Here is a page with more information on it............

PERSONAL USE LICENSE (SYSTEM BUILDER) FOR WINDOWS 8 PRO

We do not sell our software or your copy of it  we only license it.Under our license, we grant you the right to install and run that one copy on one computer (the licensed computer) as the operating system on a computer that you build for your personal use, or as an additional operating system running on a local virtual machine or a separate partition, subject to the restrictions outlined under Are there things Im not allowed to do with the software?

http://www.zdnet.com/microsoft-radically-overhauls-license-agreements-for-windows-8-7000002866/


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## leroys1000 (Aug 16, 2007)

bbearren said:


> The Windows 8 Pro Upgrade license *replaces* the license of the upgraded software. They don't have to stay together as there is only one license, the license to Windows 8 Pro Upgrade. The Retail Windows 8 Pro Upgrade can be transferred to another machine that you own, or transferred to another individual along with the media, the product key, COA, and proof of purchase.
> 
> The license terms can be found using the search form here.


Windows 8 and system builder packs do not seem to
be present on that list.


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## leroys1000 (Aug 16, 2007)

Well according to the eula for system builder,it actually can be transfered
to another computer.
That's a plus.
Nice.
Here is the eula.............
http://personaluselicense.windows.com/en-US/default.aspx


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## TerryNet (Mar 23, 2005)

On the bbearen link I discovered you have to select 'Windows' as the Product, then the list of Versions contains a lot.

The info I found by searches there make no distinction--don't even mention-- between "retail" and "OEM system builder's," so I don't know how much we can rely on that.

The EULA linked by dustyjay seems to say (to me) that OEM System Builder's Windows 7 is still for a computer to be sold.

And the info from ZDNet is, well, information from ZDNet. May be accurate, maybe not.


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## bbearren (Jul 14, 2006)

leroys1000 said:


> Right,but if you want to reinstall,you have to
> reinstall the previuos version again first.
> With windows 8 upgrade,windows 8 creates a 320MB
> partition for license and activation files.
> ...


This is incorrect. The Windows 8 Pro Upgrade that I bought and downloaded from Microsoft is my first use of Windows 8 in any way, shape or form. There has been no 320MB partition created by the Windows 8 Pro upgrade. I double-checked with BootIt Bare Metal from Terabyte Unlimited; no hidden partition, either. The license terms posted online by Microsoft states that the Windows 8 Pro Upgrade license *replaces* the license of the software that was upgraded. The specifics listed by Microsoft for *transfer* of the retail upgrade in the license terms makes absolutely no mention of the previous software license.

Also, Windows 8 Pro Upgrade will reinstall on top of the existing Windows 8 Pro Upgrade without having to install the previous version first. I've done that to check my DVD that I burned the ISO file to.


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## leroys1000 (Aug 16, 2007)

Yes ,it will reinstall on top of itself.
The files are already there.
It can also be reinstalled from change PC settings.
Where it says remove everything and reinstall windows.
But in all those cases,the activation files are already there.
I'm not saying that is a license issue,it's just the way it is setup.
All I am saying is you can't use both the previous version and the upgrade
on different computers at the sametime,but in case of a serious system
crash where you can't recover,you will need to reinstall the previous version again first.
That ties them together.

As a test,try doing a clean install of a windows 8 upgrade.
What happens is it creates a 320MB partition for those files
but won't activate because the previous version files are not there.
Activation kicks out an error that it is not licensed for a full install.

In any case,activation hasn't been a problem as I had a lot
of install and hardware problems trying to get running and
no activation problems when properly installed.
Even though I activated multiple times to finally get running.
Activation seems to be pretyy forgiving in windows 8.
I have had to call in for both my old version of XP and vista
where I didn't have to do that before.

I don't know if they found a way to completely hide that partition or
just integrate the files after install.
I did read they were getting tougher on hackers as all that
was needed to activate windows 7 was to use OEM activation
certificates in the activation partition.


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## dustyjay (Jan 24, 2003)

I get some abiguity in this, "Can I transfer the software to another computer or user? You may transfer the software to another computer that belongs to you. You may also transfer the software (together with the license) to a computer owned by someone else if a) you are the first licensed user of the software and b) the new user agrees to the terms of this agreement. To make that transfer, you must transfer the original media, the certificate of authenticity, the product key and the proof of purchase directly to that other person, without retaining any copies of the software. You may use the backup copy we allow you to make or the media that the software came on to transfer the software. Anytime you transfer the software to a new computer, you must remove the software from the prior computer. You may not transfer the software to share licenses between computers. You may transfer Get Genuine Windows software, Pro Pack or Media Center Pack software only together with the licensed computer." (highlight by me)

Does this mean that as the system builder, you are the first user, and that it can only be transfered one time, to the end user?


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## leroys1000 (Aug 16, 2007)

Sound like you can transfer it to someone else once,
but how many times can you transfer it anyway.
What I like is you can transfer it to your own computers
as much as you want,so upgrades and new computers aren't a problem
as long as it is removed for the old one.

The major restriction that might affect some users,is people that
want to run a web server or web hosting server.
The license forbids that.


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## bbearren (Jul 14, 2006)

leroys1000 said:


> Yes ,it will reinstall on top of itself.
> The files are already there.
> It can also be reinstalled from change PC settings.
> Where it says remove everything and reinstall windows.
> ...


Actually, a clean install from the Windows 8 Pro Upgrade is as simple as booting the DVD on which one burned the ISO file. And it will activate.

Paul Thurrott's method.

Tim Fisher's walk-through.


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## leroys1000 (Aug 16, 2007)

I tried it.
It said windows 8 upgrade is not
licensed for a full install.
It would not activate.
I tried it because I tried to upgrade windows 7
and my hard drive crashed.
It will install,it just won't activate.
If you have the previous version of windows
on the drive,it might then.
I tried by deleting and creating new partitions
on my crashed drive and no go.
After changing out a bunch of hardware,I found
out that loose molex connectors were causing me all
the problems.
Pain in the rear.
I installed vista,then windows 8 and ran remove and reinstall windows
and got the equivelant of a clean install.


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## bbearren (Jul 14, 2006)

leroys1000 said:


> I tried it.


From Paul Thurrott's "Clean Install Windows 8" page:
"Now, I know things arent usually this easy. And Im guessing that some of you havent had the string of positive experiences Ive had with this new Setup type. If thats the case, please do write me an email and let me know whats happened. Ditto for any questions about this process. As always, the aim here is to remove the doubts and document whats possible when things go wrong. But from what I can seeafter an admittedly short examinationMicrosoft has done the right thing this time around. And unlike with Windows 7, Windows 8 really does make it easy for upgraders to install Windows the way they want to. Bravo to that."

If you click on the Paul Thurrott link I posted, there's an email link at the bottom of the page where you can email Paul Thurrott; he's wanting more input.

I have some other things going right now, but as soon as I can I'll image the hard drive on my laptop and give the clean install method a whirl.


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## leroys1000 (Aug 16, 2007)

Well,dang drive crashed again.
Looks like that drive is just not going to do.
It is actually reimaging to a different drive.
I couldn't get windows 7 to do that for some reason.


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## OM2 (Oct 28, 2007)

Lots of interesting replies

Question: can the Windows 8 upgrade be applied multiple times on different machines AND have all machines running simultaneously?

Forget the legal terms for a minute, can this be done or not?

My suspicions are that it can be done 
(For the record, no I haven't done myself - actually I haven't even tried Windows 7 yet!)

For there lies the problem. Do Microsoft do their damn best to stop this? Making as foolproof as possible?

Are there online checks to see if one copy is being run many many times?

Making it illegal IMHO is an illegal act itself

It's like dangling sweets in front of a child and saying they're not allowed to have - while at the same time the sweets are just in front of the child and all they have to do is reach out

Apple have the policy of allowing you to install on all machines in 'your control'. I'm sure there are terms that state that this then does not mean you can setup factory shipping out ready made machines. Whether or not this solves the problem or not, I can't say - but its a better step in the right direction.


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## bbearren (Jul 14, 2006)

OM2 said:


> Lots of interesting replies
> 
> Question: can the Windows 8 upgrade be applied multiple times on different machines AND have all machines running simultaneously?


Offhand I would say no. This is the first time Microsoft has provided a downloadable Windows OS. Activation takes place through Microsoft's servers, and must be accomplished before installation is complete. My guess is that there is a server farm handling a database of Product Key's installed to prevent more than one activation of any given key; no confirmation on this, but the hint for it is in the fact that Microsoft is hosting the process in-house.

They are quite clearly "dangling sweets" for $39.99 each.


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## OM2 (Oct 28, 2007)

bbearren said:


> Offhand I would say no. This is the first time Microsoft has provided a downloadable Windows OS. Activation takes place through Microsoft's servers, and must be accomplished before installation is complete. My guess is that there is a server farm handling a database of Product Key's installed to prevent more than one activation of any given key; no confirmation on this, but the hint for it is in the fact that Microsoft is hosting the process in-house.
> 
> They are quite clearly "dangling sweets" for $39.99 each.


$39.99 is an awesome price for me 
If I was asked for $400 say, then I'd be honest and say that I'd be looking to 'circumvent' with no loss of sleep
(Don't shoot me for being honest!)

It would be interesting to find out for certain if they do actually stop the practice via online verification
There would need to be a running server that kept track if a specific account was online at the same time as one or more extra ones

But do you know what I think? I think they will allow for this. They will allow this hole to exist. I think it's in the interests of Microsoft to have 1000 million users, with maybe 60% paying and 40% 'dodging'
(I've just made those numbers up to illustrate)


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## TerryNet (Mar 23, 2005)

> Forget the legal terms for a minute, can this be done or not?


I'm not sure if I should give you an infraction for that or not. I guess I won't since you didn't ask _how _to do something illegal. But you are awfully close.

Pretty sure that you can use the upgrade download multiple times. But you need to buy a license for each use.


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## OM2 (Oct 28, 2007)

TerryNet said:


> I'm not sure if I should give you an infraction for that or not. I guess I won't since you didn't ask _how _to do something illegal. But you are awfully close.
> 
> Pretty sure that you can use the upgrade download multiple times. But you need to buy a license for each use.


terry... there was no harm intended or requests for illegal activities in my question
i didn't realise it would be read that way
the discussion itself and responses received are great


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## leroys1000 (Aug 16, 2007)

I don't think that would be possible any way.
Windows 8 automatically activates and doesn't
give you the option to wait.
From that error I got from trying to do a clean
install on an empty drive,they appear to be
doing real time tracking.
I would guess that if 2 or more computers with
the same key came online and connected there
would probably be at least a message,if not limited
functionality or deactivation.
There is also the hardware ID.
When I took the drive that wasn't working properly
out and installed on another drive,I went to connect 
the first drive to format it and it gave me fits and
didn't want to enable because it had the same ID
as the windows drive as they both had the same files.
Caused a conflict.
Seems to be quite a bit of stuff going on to prevent
multiple installs.


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## OM2 (Oct 28, 2007)

leroys1000 said:


> I don't think that would be possible any way.
> Windows 8 automatically activates and doesn't
> give you the option to wait.
> From that error I got from trying to do a clean
> ...


really...?
i am sick and tired of running windows and sloooowy getting a machine that comes to a grinding halt
so i have an image that i restore every month - means i stay virus free and have an optimal machine that is fast as it was the first day i got the laptop

from what u are saying... i may have problems if i install the image on a different hard drive? (not exactly the same situation u describe, but similar)
doesn't make sense to me. if u formatted ur hard drive and sold to someone else, then would they have trouble installing windows 8? maybe not - but if microsoft are doing this then it maybe a recipe for many unhappy users if something doesn't go as microsoft planned


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## leroys1000 (Aug 16, 2007)

I don't think you would have problem imaging as long as
the original drive was removed after imaging.
I had to get into disk management a manually enable the drive
and format it.
I just reimaged to a different drive and had no problem.
I went from an IDE to a sata and it worked,but the drives
were the same size.
I never had any luck in windows 7 imaging to any different drives
with the built in backup utility,but windows 8 worked.
What I am thinking,is that hardware ID just gives microsoft
another way to detect if multiple copies are installed on
different computers.
When the drive is formatted the hardware ID is removed,so 
an install should not be a problem.
I'm just hoping my old maxtor sata drive holds up a while
or I'll have to pull the backup drive out of my main computer.


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## OM2 (Oct 28, 2007)

@leroys1000 thanks. that's great info all the same
i purchased an ssd. i might have to switch back to the older sata if space becomes an issue
i use acronis on vista. this works well. they've assured me windows 8 will work
(for windows 8 u do need the latest version though)


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## leroys1000 (Aug 16, 2007)

I hope acronis will.
I have already seen posts about problems
and I had problems with every backup and
cloning utility I tried,but I was having hardware
problems,so that could have been it.
You may want to make a backup with the
windows 8 utility anyway.
I don't know if it works across different size drives,
but it is an extra option to try anyway.
Look in control panel for windows 7 file recovey.
That is the backup utility.
You can make a system image there and use
the repair your computer link in the windows 8
install disk to restore it.
You need to use advanced options to get to restore from image.


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## leroys1000 (Aug 16, 2007)

Ok,I was wrong.
My old drive was a 120GB and this one is 160GB,
So it does reimage to a different size drive but it
does not adjust the image to fit the entire drive.
I have 32GB of unallocated space I need to try to recover.
Lets see if resizing crashes it.LOL


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## leroys1000 (Aug 16, 2007)

Well,it didn't like that at all.
Seemed to resize ok in windows,but
when I rebooted,it crashed again.
Oh well,reinstall again.
This has to be the most crash happy windows
I have seen so far,LOL


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## TerryNet (Mar 23, 2005)

OM2 said:


> terry... there was no harm intended or requests for illegal activities in my question
> i didn't realise it would be read that way
> the discussion itself and responses received are great


No worries; I just wanted to make sure we stayed "clean." I too like the discussion even though we've gone far afield from whatever it was you originally asked.  Thanks for letting us hijack your thread.


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## OM2 (Oct 28, 2007)

leroys1000 said:


> Ok,I was wrong.
> My old drive was a 120GB and this one is 160GB,
> So it does reimage to a different size drive but it
> does not adjust the image to fit the entire drive.
> ...


how do u recover the unallocated space?
can u easily do using windows own tools?
i have restored from 100gb to a 120gb hard drive
i'm going to test if all ok

only been using a few hours now
somehow whole day went yesterday installing 
no crashing so far
i have an ssd
i could swear that it takes less than 10 seconds to start AND close down
my laptop is a dell studio 2.5ghz dual core - 4 years old
if everything is this fast, no need to buy another laptop for another 4 years!


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## TerryNet (Mar 23, 2005)

> how do u recover the unallocated space?


Depends on what you want to do with it. If you want to add it to an existing partition you resize the partition to include the space. The unallocated space needs to be adjacent. If it is to the right of the partition you can use Windows' Disk Management. For anything more "complicated" I use EASEUS Partition Master. There are many other free and for-pay partitioning tools that run standalone (bootable) or as Windows applications.

Remember that _any _partitioning work you do puts your data at more risk, so proceed accordingly.


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## OM2 (Oct 28, 2007)

thanks for the easeus - i'll try that later
dont like 'risking' my data - but then again playing around with disk partitions isnt something done everyday


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## leroys1000 (Aug 16, 2007)

The unallocated space on mine was right next to the
windows partition,so I just had to go into andministrative tools/
computer management/disk management and extend the
windows partition onto the unallocated space.
I found out it wasn't extending the drive that crashed the system.
Windows 8 apparently has a bios overlay that takes over bios settings
and it was messing up booting to my 2 older hard drives.
I also found out that the allowable reinstall activation count
on their server is 5 times before it forces you to call in and activate.
This was 3 on previous versions,so maybe they were expecting more problems.
This doesn't mean you can install this on 5 computers,it just means you have 5 chances
to get it installed properly before you get blocked from online activation.
I wish windows 8 would allow you to wait before activating so
you could make sure the computer is stable first,but it just activates
as soon as you connect to the internet.


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