Top Licensing FAQs in February

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Q) What documents should I get with my Microsoft software?

A) If you bought a Full Packaged Product (boxed software), you should have:

  • All physical media supplied when you bought the software, such as the CD-ROM
  • The accompanying paper documents
  • The end user licence agreement (EULA), if supplied as a hard copy
  • The Certificate of Authenticity (COA) from the box
  • Your invoice, which should list the software title and full details of what was supplied, as well as the stock-keeping unit number

If you bought your PC with pre-installed software, you should have a manual and either a recovery disk or a back-up copy of the operating system on a partitioned section of your hard disk. You should also find a Certificate of Authenticity (COA) label in at least one of the following places:

  • On the chassis of the PC, on the original CDs and on the documents that accompanied the CDs
  • On the manual covers (for PCs more than three years old)
  • As separate COA documents (for software more than four years old)

Always keep evidence of your purchases (such as receipts) from your retailer.

For holders of Open Value, Select or Enterprise licences:

For holders of Open Licences:

  • Check your agreement via the eOpen licence tracking tool

Q) What happens if my PC is stolen or I lose my End User Licence Agreement?

A) If the software is pre-installed, it is tied to that PC and your only course of action is to claim against your insurance to replace the PC and software.

If you have a Full Packaged Product (boxed software) licence and still have all the original documents and CDs, you have the right to re-install the software on a new PC. If you've lost the documents and CDs or they have been stolen, you will need to claim against your insurance.

If your licence was bought through a Volume Licensing agreement, you can reinstall the software onto a new PC.

Q) Can I transfer my pre-installed (OEM) server licence to a new server/PC?

A) Pre-installed (OEM) software is tied to the PC that is installed on. So it lives and dies with it. There is one exception to this rule:

· If you purchase Software Assurance within 90 days of buying an OEM server licence then you can transfer it to another server/PC. (The reason for this is that the OEM licence then takes on Volume Licensing rights.) Click here to view all Volume Licensing rights.

Q) I have bought a pre-installed (OEM) server licence. If I retire the server hardware can I re-install this copy of software on another server?

A) No, a pre-installed (OEM) server licence is tied to the original server/PC and cannot be moved.

Q) How is System Center Operations Manager 2007 licensed?

A) Microsoft System Center Operations Manager 2007 requires a server licence. You need to buy an Operations Management Licence (OML) for each physical and virtual Operating System Environment (OSE) you want the System Center Operations Manager 2007 Server to manage.

There are 3 types of OMLs:

1. Enterprise Server OML: you need to buy an Enterprise OML for every physical device and virtual server you want to manage (full workload of the server, including server physical and virtual operating systems, server application and services). Enterprise OMLs are assigned to an OSE

2. Standard Server OML: you need to buy a Standard OML for every physical and virtual OSE you want to manage (basic workload of the OSEs). You will need to buy a Standard OML for every OSE you wish to manage

3. Client OML: there are two types of Client OMLs:

a. Client User OML: assigned to a user, manages a user’s virtual and physical OSE

b. Client OSE OML: assigned to each OSE you wish to manage, physical or virtual