product key help

Hi, i am getting a macbook pro on monday and wanted to dual boot it with
bootcamp, the problem is i do not have my vista cd's. If i obtain cd's from a
friend is it possible to use the cd key that i have on this computer with the
different disks and different computer?

Both for your current Product key, and for the borrowed disks, you could not
do it if they are OEM products, married to a certain hardware configuration.
If they were both the same Edition of Vista, and they were standard install
disk and key from MS, you could mix and match.

--
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Mark L. Ferguson

"josh" <> wrote in message
news:73815204-AC5F-4FDB-9494-...
> Hi, i am getting a macbook pro on monday and wanted to dual boot it with
> bootcamp, the problem is i do not have my vista cd's. If i obtain cd's
> from a
> friend is it possible to use the cd key that i have on this computer with
> the
> different disks and different computer?

how can i tell if i got an OEM version or not? I have a toshiba and when i
use magial jelly bean it tells me my code and vista home edition premium.

"Mark L. Ferguson" wrote:

> Both for your current Product key, and for the borrowed disks, you could not
> do it if they are OEM products, married to a certain hardware configuration.
> If they were both the same Edition of Vista, and they were standard install
> disk and key from MS, you could mix and match.
>
> --
> click the Ratings button. Voting helps the web interface.
> http://www.microsoft.com/wn3/locales...help_en-us.htm see ''rate a post''
> Mark L. Ferguson
>
> "josh" <> wrote in message
> news:73815204-AC5F-4FDB-9494-...
> > Hi, i am getting a macbook pro on monday and wanted to dual boot it with
> > bootcamp, the problem is i do not have my vista cd's. If i obtain cd's
> > from a
> > friend is it possible to use the cd key that i have on this computer with
> > the
> > different disks and different computer?
>

An OEM version has a Cert. of Authority sticker on the back, and a standard
MS install CD has the Product key on the disk sleeve somewhere.

--
click the Ratings button. Voting helps the web interface.
http://www.microsoft.com/wn3/locales...help_en-us.htm see ''rate a post''
Mark L. Ferguson

"josh" <> wrote in message
news:A0623EE1-3193-4431-BC7C-...
> how can i tell if i got an OEM version or not? I have a toshiba and when i
> use magial jelly bean it tells me my code and vista home edition premium.
>
> "Mark L. Ferguson" wrote:
>
>> Both for your current Product key, and for the borrowed disks, you could
>> not
>> do it if they are OEM products, married to a certain hardware
>> configuration.
>> If they were both the same Edition of Vista, and they were standard
>> install
>> disk and key from MS, you could mix and match.
>>
>> --
>> click the Ratings button. Voting helps the web interface.
>> http://www.microsoft.com/wn3/locales...help_en-us.htm see ''rate a
>> post''
>> Mark L. Ferguson
>>
>> "josh" <> wrote in message
>> news:73815204-AC5F-4FDB-9494-...
>> > Hi, i am getting a macbook pro on monday and wanted to dual boot it
>> > with
>> > bootcamp, the problem is i do not have my vista cd's. If i obtain cd's
>> > from a
>> > friend is it possible to use the cd key that i have on this computer
>> > with
>> > the
>> > different disks and different computer?
>>

ah, there in lies the problem that i dont have my disks which is why this
whole predicament started

"Mark L. Ferguson" wrote:

> An OEM version has a Cert. of Authority sticker on the back, and a standard
> MS install CD has the Product key on the disk sleeve somewhere.
>
> --
> click the Ratings button. Voting helps the web interface.
> http://www.microsoft.com/wn3/locales...help_en-us.htm see ''rate a post''
> Mark L. Ferguson
>
> "josh" <> wrote in message
> news:A0623EE1-3193-4431-BC7C-...
> > how can i tell if i got an OEM version or not? I have a toshiba and when i
> > use magial jelly bean it tells me my code and vista home edition premium.
> >
> > "Mark L. Ferguson" wrote:
> >
> >> Both for your current Product key, and for the borrowed disks, you could
> >> not
> >> do it if they are OEM products, married to a certain hardware
> >> configuration.
> >> If they were both the same Edition of Vista, and they were standard
> >> install
> >> disk and key from MS, you could mix and match.
> >>
> >> --
> >> click the Ratings button. Voting helps the web interface.
> >> http://www.microsoft.com/wn3/locales...help_en-us.htm see ''rate a
> >> post''
> >> Mark L. Ferguson
> >>
> >> "josh" <> wrote in message
> >> news:73815204-AC5F-4FDB-9494-...
> >> > Hi, i am getting a macbook pro on monday and wanted to dual boot it
> >> > with
> >> > bootcamp, the problem is i do not have my vista cd's. If i obtain cd's
> >> > from a
> >> > friend is it possible to use the cd key that i have on this computer
> >> > with
> >> > the
> >> > different disks and different computer?
> >>

You will have to buy a retail copy of Vista (standard, not upgrade) to use
with Boot Camp. You cannot use the product key from another computer. If
you have a computer with Vista and did not get disks it is because Vista
came preinstalled on the computer. You cannot use a product key from the
bottom of that computer with any other computer. You can use a retail Vista
dvd from any source but you still have to buy the product key and that means
buying a copy of Vista.

I also run Windows on a MacBook Pro and used Boot Camp to set it up for
installation. Take my advice and allow at least 40GB for the Windows
partition.

"josh" <> wrote in message
news:7218CE87-34CB-43E1-972E-...
> ah, there in lies the problem that i dont have my disks which is why this
> whole predicament started
>
> "Mark L. Ferguson" wrote:
>
>> An OEM version has a Cert. of Authority sticker on the back, and a
>> standard
>> MS install CD has the Product key on the disk sleeve somewhere.
>>
>> --
>> click the Ratings button. Voting helps the web interface.
>> http://www.microsoft.com/wn3/locales...help_en-us.htm see ''rate a
>> post''
>> Mark L. Ferguson
>>
>> "josh" <> wrote in message
>> news:A0623EE1-3193-4431-BC7C-...
>> > how can i tell if i got an OEM version or not? I have a toshiba and
>> > when i
>> > use magial jelly bean it tells me my code and vista home edition
>> > premium.
>> >
>> > "Mark L. Ferguson" wrote:
>> >
>> >> Both for your current Product key, and for the borrowed disks, you
>> >> could
>> >> not
>> >> do it if they are OEM products, married to a certain hardware
>> >> configuration.
>> >> If they were both the same Edition of Vista, and they were standard
>> >> install
>> >> disk and key from MS, you could mix and match.
>> >>
>> >> --
>> >> click the Ratings button. Voting helps the web interface.
>> >> http://www.microsoft.com/wn3/locales...help_en-us.htm see ''rate a
>> >> post''
>> >> Mark L. Ferguson
>> >>
>> >> "josh" <> wrote in message
>> >> news:73815204-AC5F-4FDB-9494-...
>> >> > Hi, i am getting a macbook pro on monday and wanted to dual boot it
>> >> > with
>> >> > bootcamp, the problem is i do not have my vista cd's. If i obtain
>> >> > cd's
>> >> > from a
>> >> > friend is it possible to use the cd key that i have on this computer
>> >> > with
>> >> > the
>> >> > different disks and different computer?
>> >>