installing XP on 2 pcs

helloim planning to install xp over vista but the problem is i want to use my friends xp cd. he bought a dell pc and he got a windows xp cd that came with it. its not OEM i believe. i believe that i will be able to install it on my pc too with the same cd key... or not? couple of things im wondering, is this legal? (does microsoft allow it?) if microsoft catches me (can someone explain how they would) would my pc be disabled or something. also, how does the verifying key work? can one key only be verified and after it gets verified, no one else can use it? do you have to verify it? anything else i should know?thanksinstalling XP on 2 pcs
You will have to get your own copy. It's going to be detected that it uses a key that already has been activated. And then you won't be able to get any updates. You basically have to have a disc with the OS for yourself.installing XP on 2 pcs
dam, that sucks.then whats the difference between OEM and retail version? when they do the same thing and OEM is 100$ less:shock:
O.E.M. can be installed on one rig while retail I believe you can install on 4 or 5 computers. You can try to call MS and claim that your hard drive crashed and that you need a new O.S. key.
ah well, dont wanna go through all that trouble guess ill just keep vista :(