How can i update microsoft word on my dell pc
- #HOW CAN I UPDATE MICROSOFT WORD ON MY DELL PC INSTALL#
- #HOW CAN I UPDATE MICROSOFT WORD ON MY DELL PC UPGRADE#
- #HOW CAN I UPDATE MICROSOFT WORD ON MY DELL PC FULL#
- #HOW CAN I UPDATE MICROSOFT WORD ON MY DELL PC SOFTWARE#
Sure, you can abuse an OEM license (or an academic license, or any other discount) by justifying yourself with a loophole. Here's a tricky one: What if you put the computer in a different case? The Windows OEM license stickers are always placed on the case, and can rarely be removed without destroying them. But any significant change to multiple components signifies a new computer. Even a CPU upgrade, alone, doesn't make it a new computer. Hard drives are sometimes questionable, and this definition has changed over time, but they're allowed to be part of the "same" computer now. Trivial upgrades, like adding RAM or upgrading the video card, don't make a new computer.
#HOW CAN I UPDATE MICROSOFT WORD ON MY DELL PC UPGRADE#
But significant upgrades do not qualify, even if the old parts die: if you upgrade to a newer motherboard with a different CPU and RAM, that's a "new" computer. If your motherboard dies and you replace it, that's still considered to be the same computer. Microsoft allows an exception for repairs. It's usually assumed to mean the motherboard. Microsoft also defines this approximately as "core hardware critical to the computer's operation", but they change their definition often to close loopholes. (My boss owes me $1,000,000 because he lost a bet with me on this.)īut what would constitute a "different" computer? Here's where it gets tricky.
#HOW CAN I UPDATE MICROSOFT WORD ON MY DELL PC SOFTWARE#
Microsoft specifies that OEM software is permanently bound to the computer it came with. Unlike a retail license, transferring a Microsoft OEM license between computers is not permitted. Technically, an OEM license must be purchased with a core component required for the computer's operation. The "OEM" provision rests with Microsoft, not the retailer, so it's their rules you need to follow. The legality of this with Microsoft's license is questionable. OEM software is meant to be sold with a complete computer, but usually any piece of hardware will satisfy the store's criteria, including something trivial like a $1 floppy drive cable. This technically satisfies the OEM license requirement, but they stretch the definition of "hardware".
Internet retailers often sell OEM copies with the provision that they "must be purchased with hardware". OEM copies are all "full" versions - there are no upgrades, because that wouldn't make sense in this context. And if that copy of Windows XP was preinstalled by Dell, it's definitely OEM. Anything that comes with the computer is usually OEM, like if you tacked Word 2002 onto your Dell order. If your copy didn't come with a box, it's probably an OEM copy. Retail software is more expensive than OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) copies. Then the person in India reads you another 54-digit number, 6 digits at a time, that you type into 9 boxes in the Activation Wizard. What's the next group of numbers?" Then it transfers you to India where you have to explain that you only have it installed on one computer and you're not pirating it.
You'll have to re-activate, though, and it won't work online, so you'll have to go through an incredibly painful process: you call a hotline and read a 54-digit number into a speech recognition system that stops you every 6 digits to say "Great! You're almost done. You are permitted to transfer them to a new computer as long as you remove them from the first one.
#HOW CAN I UPDATE MICROSOFT WORD ON MY DELL PC INSTALL#
Retail copies of Windows and Office work the way you describe: you can install them on one computer at a time.
#HOW CAN I UPDATE MICROSOFT WORD ON MY DELL PC FULL#
Windows XP Pro at retail is $299 for a full copy or $199 for an upgrade.
When you buy Microsoft software in a store, with a box and everything, you're buying a retail license. Short answer: only if it's a retail copy. SporkTim:I can legally install my copies of Windows XP Pro and Word 2002 on a new computer as long as I erase them from this computer, correct?