OEM Windows

On Sat, 03 Mar 2012 11:13:20 -0600, milt
wrote:

On 3/3/2012 5:30 AM, Allen Drake wrote:

Can not or should not? I have done it so maybe you care to clarify.

Should not, would be the correct term. You CAN do it, however. Its a
grey area, to be sure!



It is certainly *not* a gray area. It is against the licensing terms.
Can you do it and get away with it? Possibly. Undoubtedly some people
have done that.

Can you rob a bank and get away with it? Possibly. Undoubtedly some
people have done that. Does that mean the law against doing it is a
gray area?

Robbing a bank is certainly a bigger crime than violating the terms of
a Windows license, but that doesn't make one of them a gray area and
the other not.

hehe... yeah, it is more than i was remembering. It were $70 Dollars
more. Still, i would have paid the $70 more for the privilege to
install it anywhere.

On Sat, 3 Mar 2012 00:15:02 -0600, VanguardLH wrote:

Allen Drake wrote:

VanguardLH wrote:

noname wrote:

Right now i use a OEM but i was reading that OEM is bound to
particular hardware. That would mean that i can not install this OEM
on a new pc. Is this true?

Yes. This is your very first experience with any version of Windows?

Find End User License Terms for Microsoft Software Licensed by Microsoft
or the Computer Manufacturer
http://www.microsoft.com/About/Legal...s/Default.aspx

Since you're asking about the OEM version which is usually pre-installed
on a pre-built computer (or installed by a system builder which includes
yourself should you elect that position), select the "Pre-installed"
category.

My selections led me to:
http://download.microsoft.com/Docume...eTerms/Windows
7_Professional_English_b7a7153f-1a6c-498c-9350-c86926bb1aa9.pdf

which says " The software license is permanently assigned to the
computer with which the software is distributed."

You didn't bother to mention WHICH edition you have. I picked the
Professional edition (and pre-installed for OEM versions).

If i knew that i would have bought the fullversion which wasn't even
that much more expensive.

Really? OEM versions usually cost me about half of the retail full
version. Maybe you were thinking of the retail upgrade version.

Windows 7 OEM version: $140
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16832116989

Windows 7 retail upgrade version: $180
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16832116714

Windows 7 retail full version: $250
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16832116717

That's a $110 difference between full retail and OEM versions.

$99.00
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Windows+...ci_sku=2731899

Forgot to mention that the prices that I exampled were for the
Professional version. I don't waste my time with the Home editions.

Windows 7 Home OEM: $100
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16832116986

Windows 7 Home retail upgrade: $110
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16832116713

Windows 7 Home retail full: $190
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16832116986

Still a huge savings going OEM versus retail full version whether for
the Home or Professional editions. I'd like to know where the OP would
have been able to obtain the full retail version "which wasn't even that
much more expensive" than the OEM version.
--

Access denied....

On 3/3/2012 12:25 AM, noname wrote:
Just a question regarding OEM Windows.
Right now i use a OEM but i was reading that OEM is bound to
particular hardware. That would mean that i can not install this OEM
on a new pc.
Is this true? If i knew that i would have bought the fullversion which
wasn't even that much more expensive.

There are two types of OEM, generic and branded. Branded is the kind
that comes with a name brand computer like Dell. You bought a generic
type which can be moved to another computer if 120 days have passed
since the last time you activated and/or upgraded hardware since MS
erases all data every 120 days.

--
Alias

On 3/3/2012 3:27 AM, Gene E. Bloch wrote:
Many people have said it in this thread: OEM can not be transferred to a
new computer.

O-E-M CAN NOT BE TRANSFERRED.

Correction: OEM MAY not be transferred but, like XP and Vista, it CAN be.

--
Alias

Honestly, i did not see a benefit to buy a pro version.
Ok, XP mode maybe, but then again i don't have any software that needs
an xp mode.
In my case the home is good enough. But if you need it, why not.

On Sat, 3 Mar 2012 15:52:33 +0000, "J. P. Gilliver (John)"
wrote:

In message , KCB
writes:

"J. P. Gilliver (John)" wrote in message
...
In message , VanguardLH
writes:
[]
Forgot to mention that the prices that I exampled were for the
Professional version. I don't waste my time with the Home editions.

Out of interest, why do you say that - what is missing from the home
editions that would make them a waste of your time?


Start here, then click the various tabs for more information:

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/w...oducts/compare

Yes, I could have found that for myself: I was curious which feature(s)
YOU considered it a waste of time not to have.

To save others the time, the above page lists the differences as:

o XP mode only available in Pro
o company networks easier and more secure in Pro
o backup to a network only available in Pro
o BitLocker encryption only available in Ult
o language-switching only available in Ult
--

Access denied....

On Fri, 02 Mar 2012 17:17:00 -0800, noname wrote:

What i want to do is to eventually build a new pc discard the old
one (or load it with Linux) and install my OEM Win7 on the new
pc. I haven't tried it so far since i only have one pc.

If you want to swap machines using the one copy of Win7 OEM, it will
complain. You can phone the activation number and try to ague that
you had to swap motherboard and so on following an electrical spike,
good luck with that.

On Sat, 03 Mar 2012 09:43:33 -0800, Anthony Buckland wrote:

I am confused right now. But i want to be clear once more. Its
not a new computer and it did not came with the computer. I
bought it off a store ...

I'd be concerned about the ethics of that store.

Why? OEMs are supposed to know what they're doing.

On 3/3/2012 12:24 PM, Ken Blake wrote:
On Fri, 02 Mar 2012 15:25:27 -0800,
wrote:

Just a question regarding OEM Windows.
Right now i use a OEM but i was reading that OEM is bound to
particular hardware. That would mean that i can not install this OEM
on a new pc.
Is this true? If i knew that i would have bought the fullversion which
wasn't even that much more expensive.

Yes, it's true. That's the single biggest disadvantage of an OEM
version, and the reason I almost always recommend against them for
anyone.

I have six Gateway M465 laptops (the most of any one model, but some
others come close). They all have OEM XP Pro licenses. And I have done
for testing purposes and sometimes for recovery measures, taken one
drive and swapped it with another M465 machine.

While most people believe making backups of your software is important.
I go an extra step. As I believe having hardware backups are just as
important.

Say for example this laptop that I am on right now suddenly starts
smoking or something and powers off. And it refuses to power up or
anything. Well a software backup will do me zero good if it isn't the
hard drive or software related, now will it?

Now I can just throw this hard drive into another M465 machine and I am
back and running once again in seconds. No big deal and figure out what
went wrong with the other one later. Plus I have lots of parts to swap
so I could figure out what really failed later as well.

It even helps when something goes wrong with the software too. Say
something goofy happens and my video display starts to act up. Is it
software or hardware? Who knows for sure. But swapping hard drives
between two machines will tell me in a heart beat, now won't it?

Alias heard me say this publicly on the newsgroups before one time and
claimed he (I think of him as a he anyway) turned me into Microsoft.
Although I heard nothing about it from Microsoft. I am sure they know
who I am and all.

Since under the OEM license you are allowed to replace virtually
anything and it is still legal on the OEM machine. Microsoft has never
defined how far you can go except to say some part must remain. Although
while never legally clear, this could even mean one screw of the
original machine is the only thing that is left.

--
Bill
Gateway M465e ('06 era) - Thunderbird v3.0
Centrino Core2 Duo 2GHz - 1.5GB - Windows 7

In message , VanguardLH
writes:
J. P. Gilliver (John) wrote:
[]
If the transition to the new hardware is gradual enough - i. e., you
change the hardware a bit at a time - it could be considered as (and the
Windows installation will see it as) an upgrade; whether that is illegal
in terms of the licence isn't definite one way or the other. Certainly,
if you put it on a second machine and then take it off the first, that's
against the terms of an OEM System Builder, but not a full retail.

The upgrade-until-you-have-a-new-computer scheme is an "out" to their
license. However, during the upgrades or after them all, you still only
have one host (the old one that became a new one) on which to use the
OEM license. You don't end up with 2 hosts consisting of all the old
hardware and another with all the new hardware and the same license used
on both hosts.

Oh, having two machines running one licence - _whatever_ sort the
licence is - is right out.

_Moving_ a licence from one machine to another - i. e. you _remove_ it
from the first, such that that now has no OS - is allowed for a full,
but not an OEM, licence. It will _work_ for an OEM licence, provided you
wait long enough (others are saying 120 days), but it's not what you're
supposed to do.

Gradually morphing the old machine into the new one (and, possibly,
putting all the old bits back together to make a working machine - as
long as it _doesn't_ have the Windows on it) is probably allowed with
just the OEM licence, but sounds like a lot of effort to me.
--
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/1985 MB++G.5AL-IS-P--Ch++(p)Ar@T0H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

The first objective of any tyrant in Whitehall would be to make Parliament
utterly subservient to his will; and the next to overturn or diminish trial by
jury ..." Lord Devlin (http://www.holbornchambers.co.uk)

On 3/03/2012, Joerg Jaeger posted:
Honestly, i did not see a benefit to buy a pro version.
Ok, XP mode maybe, but then again i don't have any software that needs
an xp mode.
In my case the home is good enough. But if you need it, why not.

I bought Win 7 Pro for this computer. My opinion after the fact is the
same as yours.

Mostly, I wanted to run XP mode, but it ends up that XP under VMware
works better with my particular situation (old Philips Pronto remote
controls).

--
Gene E. Bloch (Stumbling Bloch)

On 3/03/2012, BillW50 posted:
Well I have taken up their offer dozens of times and I never ever got my
money back. Not once in decades of computer use. So what is the deal with
that? I've lost thousands of dollars from this nonsense over the years. And I
see nobody protecting the consumer about this problem.

Not my experience.

I have gotten money back for software. It was a few years ago, so no
details are available to you - because they're not avaiable to me :-)

--
Gene E. Bloch (Stumbling Bloch)

On 3/3/2012 2:06 PM, Gene E. Bloch wrote:
On 3/03/2012, BillW50 posted:
Well I have taken up their offer dozens of times and I never ever got
my money back. Not once in decades of computer use. So what is the
deal with that? I've lost thousands of dollars from this nonsense over
the years. And I see nobody protecting the consumer about this problem.

Not my experience.

I have gotten money back for software. It was a few years ago, so no
details are available to you - because they're not avaiable to me :-)

Really? Wow that is wonderful. The first one that I didn't get my money
back was from IBM's OS/2. As on the newsgroups I was told you can get
your money back if it doesn't work on your machine. I bought it at a
popular software store. It didn't work well.

Tried to get my money back and the store said they don't accept opened
software for returns. Contacted IBM and IBM said it wasn't their
problem. They only guarantee it if you bought it directly through them.

Tons of other horror stories skipped...

The last one was from Paragon (I like Paragon generally and I have
bought a lot from them). But the latest one restores a XP machine that I
had a dualboot XP and Windows 7 on it once. Now it only has XP on it and
I removed all traces of Windows 7 that I know of. But it restores a
previously working XP system and sets it up to boot Windows 7 instead.

I asked for my money back and I bought it from Paragon directly. I
dunno, like a year later still no comment from Paragon.

--
Bill
Gateway M465e ('06 era) - Thunderbird v3.0
Centrino Core2 Duo 2GHz - 1.5GB - Windows 7

Ho, Joerg.

It was ever thus...more or less.

A greatly oversimplified explanation:

There are 3 "flavors" (my word) of OEM Windows.

1. Big Boy OEM - as in HP and Dell. They buy Windows by the millions,
customize them and pre-install them on the machines they sell. This OEM
Windows cannot be installed on any other machine, not even identical models
sold by the same maker.

2. Mom and Pop OEM. Your local computer dealer buys this - perhaps by
the dozens - and sells it to you and me, along with a computer. At least,
it is supposed to be sold only with a new computer, or some significant part
of a computer, but this restriction was so frequently ignored that it is no
long enforced, I think.

3. System Builder - same as #2, but the local shop pre-installs it on a
new computer that the shop assembles from components and sell.

The key feature of ALL of these is that the OEM - the assembler of the
computer - whether Dell or the local shop or the end-user himself, assumes
the obligation for support of that copy of Windows, relieving Microsoft of
that burden. Also, all of these OEM versions are licensed only for the
computer on which they are first installed; they cannot legally be installed
on a different computer, even if they are removed from the original machine.
A "retail" package of Windows, on the other hand, whether Full or Upgrade,
can be installed on a different computer, so long as it is removed from the
first one and never exists on two computers at once. (A well-known but
seldom mentioned feature is that the Activation process stops checking after
120 days, so activation of a second installation is possible after about 4
months.)

There are plenty of debates and arguments about what is no longer "the same
computer", which we'll save for another day. As I said, this is a greatly
oversimplified explanation, but I hope it clarifies the basic idea of OEM
versus Retail packages.

RC
--
R. C. White, CPA
San Marcos, TX

Microsoft Windows MVP (2002-2010)
Windows Live Mail 2011 (Build 15.4.3538.0513) in Win7 Ultimate x64 SP1


"Joerg Jaeger" wrote in message
...

Ok, got it. Made the wrong choice.
But i wonder, was this always like that? Just wondering.
In any case, i have to buy a fullversion next time.

Thanks for the info.


On Fri, 02 Mar 2012 20:21:03 -0600, Char Jackson
wrote:

On Fri, 02 Mar 2012 17:17:00 -0800, noname
wrote:

To clarify. I build my pc myself (its old now) and installed Win7 new
onto it. I had XP preciously but tossed it.
The Version i got was labeld OEM.

That was a fine choice, but it didn't position you for the long term.

I am not sure where i read that Win7 OEM binds the OS to lets say a
motherboard.
What i want to do is to eventually build a new pc discard the old one
(or load it with Linux) and install my OEM Win7 on the new pc.

That's exactly what OEM doesn't allow. You should have gone with an
Upgrade or full Retail copy. Your choices now are to get another OEM
version or move up to a higher edition.
--

Access denied....

Well, it does make sense. All i wanted to know is answered.
So now i know that i made the wrong purchase but with knowing that my
next purchase will be more selective.
On the other hand it wasn't expensive so i can live with it.

Thanks again for explaining. It really did help.

On Sat, 3 Mar 2012 14:49:17 -0600, "R. C. White"
wrote:

Ho, Joerg.

It was ever thus...more or less.

A greatly oversimplified explanation:

There are 3 "flavors" (my word) of OEM Windows.

1. Big Boy OEM - as in HP and Dell. They buy Windows by the millions,
customize them and pre-install them on the machines they sell. This OEM
Windows cannot be installed on any other machine, not even identical models
sold by the same maker.

2. Mom and Pop OEM. Your local computer dealer buys this - perhaps by
the dozens - and sells it to you and me, along with a computer. At least,
it is supposed to be sold only with a new computer, or some significant part
of a computer, but this restriction was so frequently ignored that it is no
long enforced, I think.

3. System Builder - same as #2, but the local shop pre-installs it on a
new computer that the shop assembles from components and sell.

The key feature of ALL of these is that the OEM - the assembler of the
computer - whether Dell or the local shop or the end-user himself, assumes
the obligation for support of that copy of Windows, relieving Microsoft of
that burden. Also, all of these OEM versions are licensed only for the
computer on which they are first installed; they cannot legally be installed
on a different computer, even if they are removed from the original machine.
A "retail" package of Windows, on the other hand, whether Full or Upgrade,
can be installed on a different computer, so long as it is removed from the
first one and never exists on two computers at once. (A well-known but
seldom mentioned feature is that the Activation process stops checking after
120 days, so activation of a second installation is possible after about 4
months.)

There are plenty of debates and arguments about what is no longer "the same
computer", which we'll save for another day. As I said, this is a greatly
oversimplified explanation, but I hope it clarifies the basic idea of OEM
versus Retail packages.

RC
--
R. C. White, CPA
San Marcos, TX

Microsoft Windows MVP (2002-2010)
Windows Live Mail 2011 (Build 15.4.3538.0513) in Win7 Ultimate x64 SP1


"Joerg Jaeger" wrote in message
.. .

Ok, got it. Made the wrong choice.
But i wonder, was this always like that? Just wondering.
In any case, i have to buy a fullversion next time.

Thanks for the info.


On Fri, 02 Mar 2012 20:21:03 -0600, Char Jackson
wrote:

On Fri, 02 Mar 2012 17:17:00 -0800, noname
wrote:

To clarify. I build my pc myself (its old now) and installed Win7 new
onto it. I had XP preciously but tossed it.
The Version i got was labeld OEM.

That was a fine choice, but it didn't position you for the long term.

I am not sure where i read that Win7 OEM binds the OS to lets say a
motherboard.
What i want to do is to eventually build a new pc discard the old one
(or load it with Linux) and install my OEM Win7 on the new pc.

That's exactly what OEM doesn't allow. You should have gone with an
Upgrade or full Retail copy. Your choices now are to get another OEM
version or move up to a higher edition.
--

Access denied....

My concern would be the motherboard. My understanding was that the
motherboard consitutes as a computer. I mean, does Win7 not collect
information and send it then to MS? I actually thought that is what
they are doing. So in my logic they would know what hardware i run the
copy of Win7 on.

On Sat, 3 Mar 2012 19:46:31 +0000, "J. P. Gilliver (John)"
wrote:

In message , VanguardLH
writes:
J. P. Gilliver (John) wrote:
[]
If the transition to the new hardware is gradual enough - i. e., you
change the hardware a bit at a time - it could be considered as (and the
Windows installation will see it as) an upgrade; whether that is illegal
in terms of the licence isn't definite one way or the other. Certainly,
if you put it on a second machine and then take it off the first, that's
against the terms of an OEM System Builder, but not a full retail.

The upgrade-until-you-have-a-new-computer scheme is an "out" to their
license. However, during the upgrades or after them all, you still only
have one host (the old one that became a new one) on which to use the
OEM license. You don't end up with 2 hosts consisting of all the old
hardware and another with all the new hardware and the same license used
on both hosts.

Oh, having two machines running one licence - _whatever_ sort the
licence is - is right out.

_Moving_ a licence from one machine to another - i. e. you _remove_ it
from the first, such that that now has no OS - is allowed for a full,
but not an OEM, licence. It will _work_ for an OEM licence, provided you
wait long enough (others are saying 120 days), but it's not what you're
supposed to do.

Gradually morphing the old machine into the new one (and, possibly,
putting all the old bits back together to make a working machine - as
long as it _doesn't_ have the Windows on it) is probably allowed with
just the OEM licence, but sounds like a lot of effort to me.
--

Access denied....