<p>idad, </p>
<p>It depends on what OEM deal the mfgr signed with Microsoft. And with XP's product activation, license terms are much easier to enforce. </p>
<p>Think of it this way: if the license says "for use on one machine" MS could argue that means something different from saying "for use on any one machine"...</p>
<p>An interesting example is my D's Dell. I did a clean install on a new hard drive for her recently. (her old drive failed - hard - she lost all her mp3s). I never even needed to enter the OS serial number. And product activation went without a hitch.</p>
<p>Most computer mfgrs no longer provide the OS disk anyway. Instead, they provide a "restore" disk that is customized for that particular machine. If you see an attempt to make OS transfers even more impossible, I share your suspicions.</p>