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IT Professional Top Licensing FAQs – August 08

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Q) How do I downgrade?
A) As an end user you have the right to downgrade as set out in your Software Licence Terms.

Example: You’re buying a new computer system and it needs to run the same operating system as your existing 10 systems — Windows XP Professional. Pre-installed Windows Vista Business and Windows Vista Ultimate both include downgrade rights to Windows XP Professional.

You need to source your own media which should be a legally licensed version (bought as either boxed or pre-installed software, or through a Volume Licensing agreement). You don’t need to have one set of Windows XP Professional media for each PC you are downgrading because you have legitimate full operating system licences for Windows Vista Business/Ultimate, which gives you the right to downgrade. You can then run Windows XP Professional until you are ready to upgrade the system to Windows Vista Business/Ultimate—when you would already be licensed.

When you downgrade Windows Vista Business and Ultimate as set out in your Software Licence Terms and you use both Windows XP media and the associated product key that was previously activated you need to activate via the phone only, 0800 0188 354, Once confirmed that you have a valid Vista Business or Ultimate licence, the Customer Service Representative will help you activate your software.

Q) Can I reimage a PC using Volume Licensing media instead of the pre-installed Microsoft Windows desktop operating system media?
A) Yes. Volume Licensing customers can use their Volume Licensing media to reimage their pre-installed Windows desktop operating system provided that it is the same version and product as shown on the Certificate of Authenticity (COA) label that came with the PC. For more information, click here.

Q) What are the licensing options for Microsoft Exchange Server 2007?
A) You can buy the Microsoft Exchange Standard (Client Access Licence CAL) which offers the basic functionality of Exchange, or you can buy the Exchange Standard CAL plus the Exchange Enterprise CAL if you want advanced functionality. We will continue to offer two server editions: Exchange Server Enterprise Edition and Exchange Server Standard Edition. Either CAL can be run against either server edition.

For more information, click here.

Q) How does the “Server + Client Access Licence (CAL)” licensing model for Microsoft SQL Server work?
A)Under this model, you needa separate server licence for each server on which your software is installed, plus either a user CAL (for each user accessing the server) or a device CAL (for each device accessing the server).

You need a SQL Server CAL for a user or device (for example, a personal computer, workstation, terminal, personal digital assistant, or mobile phone) to access or use the services or functionality of either edition of SQL Server. For more information on the requirements for devices that use SQL Server functionality without directly accessing the database, please click here.

For more information on SQL licensing in general, click here.

Q) Can I reinstall Microsoft Windows if I have lost my recovery media/partition?
A) Your first port of call should be your PC manufacturer, who may give you something that allows you to re-install Windows Vista or XP. If they are unable to supply replacement media, call the Microsoft UK customer helpline on 0870 60 10 100, and select option 2, then option 4. This will connect you to a customer service agent who will talk to you about your specific situation and advise you on your best option for getting replacement media.

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