Unfortunately, if the OS was installed by the builder (an OEM
installation) then this is not correct.  OEM installations are tied to
the specific motherboard that it's installed on.  It cannot be
transferred to another motherboard.
The following comes from a Microsoft System Builder Chat Session held on
Feb. 22, 2005 (the full chat session can be found at
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/community/chats/trans/sysbuild/05_0222_sb.mspx
or http://tinyurl.com/aseca if that doesn't work for you) :

**********
JD - Microsoft (Expert):
Q: Am I wrong or is there different wordage for the different types of
license 's with say XP OS and MS Office,Then why does it say that that u
can install OS on up to 2 systems for personal use in the License agreement?
A: Each and every product we publish has its own EULA. Even different
version of the same product may have different EULAs (for example, XP
Pro SP1 and XP Pro SP2 are different; XP Pro OEM and XP Pro Retail also
have different EULAs). The XP Pro OEM EULA states clearly that the
product can only be installed on a single system and that it cannot be
transfered off that system onto another system.
**********

Tony Mayer


Sven wrote:
> Hello Jeffrey,
>
> The operating system can be legitimately transferred to new hardware. The
> End-User License Agreement (EULA) defines hardware as a single computer
> system, or the computer system with which the hardware operates if the
> hardware is a system component. This is assuming you comply with the other
> terms of the EULA, primarily that of having it installed on only one system
> at any given time. This means that Windows XP Pro would need to be
> uninstalled from the Compaq before installing it on the Acer. You could, in
> turn, reinstall XP Home on the Compaq.

        The NOSPIN Group has added a new feature on our website,
           web based bulletinboard for questions and answers:
              Visit our sister website at http://nospin.com