Windows 7 Legal Q: Am I allowed to install my Win7Home to my brother's computer after upgrading the OP on my l

sren

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May 8, 2010
Hello, sincere apologies if you know the answer was somewhere in the forum - I just wanted to be really sure that I am doing the right thing. Firstly I'm obsessed with the legal part - I want to leave the shady business behind and have only non-pirated versions on our computers, secondly (tbh, that's kind of motivation for the first part) the anti-piracy dept of Microsoft is intimidating and the last I would want is to see the program I bought from the shop to start showing me the black desktop and terrorise in other ways.

So my case is as follows: I will update the OP on my computer to Win7 Ultimate. Can I simply reinstall the Win7 Home Premium on my brother's computer? Or should I still do the install using the same name that was already once used when installing with that product number? Or lastly (which I don't really want to do because I want my computer to be cooler and edgier than my brothers, lol) - should I simply use the upgrade on his computer and simply not mess with my Win 7 Home Prem?

Thanks a lot if you find a minute to analyse my situation and give some good advice!
 
There are different ways you can acquire Windows 7. There is a three pack, which means you can install that on three computers. There is an OEM version which means you can only install it on the computer it was originally installed on. And the normal license which is good for only one computer at a time.

I am not sure what "OP" means, but if you have one key, you can only install it on one computer.

Was your Ultimate version an upgrade from the Home Premium you want to move?
 
I'm sorry, I was a little in hurry when writing this so actually I meant OS. The thing is, I have one Vista to Win7Home Prem update and I am entitled to download from the internet one Win7 Ultimate Edition. And I think the Home Premium I have is the OEM version. So for example, first I update my Win7 Home Premium to Ultimate and then I can use the same Home Premium CD actually already used once on my brother's computer?
 
I would say that the short answer here is no. Whether the os is upgraded to ultimate or not it still essentially is the same os as you started out with..
 
But if it's not the same OS anymore, I should be able to use it again? At least, will the windows servers (or something, I really don't know how it works, sorry) accept the re-use of the original Home Prem cd?

Or will it produce an error message or something claiming that this OS is already installed and we're trying to be pirates and we'll get the black desktop or some recurring messages advising us to seek help as we 'might be victims of fraud'. In other words, the problems I've seen happening with windows xp's (although yes, they weren't really original versions :p)
 
I should imagine that the key will be one and the same which means it will only be legal for one pc.
 
Yes, the key would stay the same. Well, I guess I will just run the ultimate on my brother's computer :)

Thanks a lot for your answers.
 
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