Each with MS OFFICE BASIC OEM, do i need to activate each and every one? legally can i just stick all the licenses in a folder, use the same license on each one, and go from there?

Or do i need to use one license for each one and activate each install of office?

well i havnt heard of having to activate it, you should be able to use the same key, its not like its a stolen key since you have 40 keys, its just easier on you. maybe talk to MS about it and see if its allowed or not.

Yeh,

I bought these 40 machines

First time you open MS WORD, it brings up the PRODUCT KEY screen and asks for it, it wont let you continue without it.

I was planning on throwing all the software in a box and never looking at it again thinking they were installed with serials.. but apparently thats not the case..

When you enter in the CD KEY, you have one of two options.. 1) Register by phone 2) Register over the internet (takes no more then 3 seconds).

The hard part is finding the 40 cd's, making sure one goes to each machine and i dont use it twice etc.. typing in 40 diffrent keys .. etc etc..

i guess i'll call MS or something.

I'll b***h at dell also, they should have installed this with the keys!

I'll b***h at dell also, they should have installed this with the keys!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Well, it's standard dell policy, that you have to enter the product key your self. i just bought 9 dell pc's and i to had to manually insert the product keys

They are just gonna tell you that you need to use each key on a different compuer. It sounds rough, but it's not...just take a few minutes and make a spreadsheet or document that has explains which computer has which CDKey...then you could just save that in a share and grab it when you need to. By law, you need to use a unique one for each computer...that's why Dell doesn't enter them in for you, it's easier for them if you do it. Now if you were to jump up to a different class, like VLK for instance then you could do what you want. But not with OEM or Retail.

What Dell is most likely doing is just sticking in clone of a premastered HDD suited for your specific hardware & software options.

The rate at which they are churning out the boxes would not permit them to customise each individual box, their cost would go up & they would lose their capability to undercut al others.

I was planning on throwing all the software in a box and never looking at it again thinking they were installed with serials.. but apparently thats not the case.

Unless you have a Volume License Plan with Microsoft, this ain't going to happen. Not legally anyhow. So do yourself a favor. Goto the office supply store and get a box of manilla envelopes. Put one Windows and one Office CDROM and CDKey(s) into each envelope and keep it with the PC. This is by far the best way to handle licensing issues in your situation.

It's a lot of work up front, but when your done, your done. The other nice thing is when someone buys something like Visio, you just throw the media and license in the envelope after your done installing.