Volume Discounts to 'Get Genuine'

Volume customers with computers that have been intentionally or unintentionally set up with a nonlegal version of Windows can now work with volume resellers to become properly licensed for Windows XP. Although earlier programs let retail customers get discounted legal copies of Windows to replace pirated or counterfeit copies, volume customers have not had a discounted route to legalization. Get Genuine Windows Agreements are now available through volume resellers and Large Account Resellers (LARs), and provide legal product keys for copies of Windows and, in many cases, the option to get legal without having to reinstall the OS.

The Mislicensing Problem

Legalization programs for volume customers let them get what their PCs should have had in the first place: a full copy of the Windows OS from an OEM. Full copies of Windows are not available through standard Microsoft volume programs—the company sells only upgrades that way.

Customers could have acquired an improperly or unlicensed copy of the OS on a PC in several ways, including the following: