ACTIVATION AND LICENSING

Windows isn’t free software. You may not have paid for it directly, but when you buy a new PC with Windows preinstalled the price includes a licence to run the operating system. Normally this will be what’s called an OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) licence, meaning it’s tied to the specific hardware. In other words, it allows you to run Windows on that specific computer, but not to move it onto another machine. This has both practical and legal implications. If you’ve ever performed a major hardware upgrade on a desktop PC – such as replacing the motherboard – you may have found that Windows thinks it’s no longer running on the same machine, and requires you to reactivate the OS. Similarly, when you move Windows 10 from physical hardware into a…

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PC Pro (Digital) - 1 Issue, August 2024

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