In the eyes of M$, the motherboard is the computer and if you change it
you are dealing with a different computer. Let's say you have a two year
old Dell and the motherboard goes south. If you can't find an exact
replacement for a reasonable amount of money then a good option is to
upgrade with a "shortblock" (mb,cpu,fan and ram) to newer technology.
If you use an exact replacement the OS on the hard drive will not know
the difference, since the software is not tied to either a motherboard ID
or a CPU ID, at least not yet but I fear it is coming. Anyway, putting in
a different mb will trigger at least a recovery install which requires
putting
in the KEY ID number again. Since this process may work either auto
matically or by calling M$ for activation, it it NOT the legal way to do it.
I know people who have dug out junk computers with stickers on them
and used an OEM cd to do a clean install and a clean activation. The
cdroms that have Windows on them are all generic, it is the key id that
makes the install unique.

I have noticed that the phone call to M$ for activation has changed over
time. Now they ask you more questions.

later.....

"Jupiter Jones [MVP]" <jones_jupiter@hotnomail.com> wrote in message
news:%23rzuTwNFIHA.4544@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl...[color=blue]
> Not the only reason, just one of many reasons why OEM is cheaper than
> retail.
> There is nothing in the license that refers to the motherboard.
> A fried motherboard replaced is an upgrade/replacement and you can do
> that with OEM.
>
> --
> Jupiter Jones [MVP]
> [url]http://www3.telus.net/dandemar[/url]
> [url]http://www.dts-l.org[/url]
>
>
> "***** charles" <me@mine.com> wrote in message
> news:9V5Ti.15683$JD.15482@newssvr21.news.prodigy.net...[color=green]
> > With Retail if the computer goes belly up you can install it on
> > another
> > computer (one at a time). With OEM if the computer/motherboard
> > dies the licence reverts back to Micro$oft and can't legally be
> > installed
> > on another motherboard. That's why OEM's are cheaper.
> >
> > later.[/color][/color]