Windows XP OEM - legal?
Discussion
I'm looking at buying Win XP Home Edition, and the prices vary considerably. This one: www.fastekcomputers.co.uk/shop/microsoft-windows-home-edition-p-209.html says OEM - I always thought OEM meant it was pre-installed on a PC, so is this a legit way of purchasing?
Or you can get it a tenner cheaper from www.aria.co.uk/ along with a free upgrade to Vista
rsvmilly said:
Or you can get it a tenner cheaper from www.aria.co.uk/ along with a free upgrade to Vista
Cheaper? My link has it for £65, yours looks like £87.60...
So it's legit and will pass the validation checks that MS does now?
microsoft wouldn't know if u brought a mouse or not.. it will always pass validation as it is an official version of windows with a legit key... but.. it is OEM therefore must be brought with hardware.. it's not so much you that has to buy hardware its the computer company that shouldn't sell it to YOU without u purchasing hardware.
Regards
Liam
Regards
Liam
gavstar said:
rsvmilly said:
Or you can get it a tenner cheaper from www.aria.co.uk/ along with a free upgrade to Vista
Cheaper? My link has it for £65, yours looks like £87.60...
So it's legit and will pass the validation checks that MS does now?
£55.81
Yes, it is perfectly legit.
gavstar said:
rsvmilly said:
Or you can get it a tenner cheaper from www.aria.co.uk/ along with a free upgrade to Vista
Cheaper? My link has it for £65, yours looks like £87.60...
So it's legit and will pass the validation checks that MS does now?
You're reading the wrong line, £87.60 is for XP Pro 64 bit -
shocker-z said:
microsoft wouldn't know if u brought a mouse or not.. it will always pass validation as it is an official version of windows with a legit key... but.. it is OEM therefore must be brought with hardware.. it's not so much you that has to buy hardware its the computer company that shouldn't sell it to YOU without u purchasing hardware.
Regards
Liam
Regards
Liam
I think technically, they should only sell to systems builders.
rsvmilly said:
shocker-z said:
microsoft wouldn't know if u brought a mouse or not.. it will always pass validation as it is an official version of windows with a legit key... but.. it is OEM therefore must be brought with hardware.. it's not so much you that has to buy hardware its the computer company that shouldn't sell it to YOU without u purchasing hardware.
Regards
Liam
Regards
Liam
I think technically, they should only sell to systems builders.
Ah, wel that's alright then, cos i'm rebuilding my brother's PC and will upgrade his mouse when I do it.
chrisrwc said:
Is there any difficulty installing vista premium OEM onto a XP machine?
You would need to reformat your HD first. Any traces of XP and the installation would halt, telling you to buy the upgrade version (much pricier). I normally just buy another hard disk, unplug the existing, run the installation of the new OS and then put the old HD in as a slave. (Means you have your old OS as a backup, too).
gavstar said:
rsvmilly said:
shocker-z said:
microsoft wouldn't know if u brought a mouse or not.. it will always pass validation as it is an official version of windows with a legit key... but.. it is OEM therefore must be brought with hardware.. it's not so much you that has to buy hardware its the computer company that shouldn't sell it to YOU without u purchasing hardware.
Regards
Liam
Regards
Liam
I think technically, they should only sell to systems builders.
Ah, wel that's alright then, cos i'm rebuilding my brother's PC and will upgrade his mouse when I do it.
You need to buy a motherboard or CPU, depends on the retailer.
Another point with the OEM license is that if you were to remove the components in the PC that you bought the license with technically the license would be invalid. The OEM license is non-transferable.
annodomini2 said:
You need to buy a motherboard or CPU, depends on the retailer.
Another point with the OEM license is that if you were to remove the components in the PC that you bought the license with technically the license would be invalid. The OEM license is non-transferable.
No you need to buy a complete PC. The system builder terms & conditions have been updated to remove the qualifying hardware clause. If you are a system builder or a MS disti you can only sell OEM software to a system builder or sell it to an end user with a PC. See here for previous discussions about this.
plasticpig said:
annodomini2 said:
You need to buy a motherboard or CPU, depends on the retailer.
Another point with the OEM license is that if you were to remove the components in the PC that you bought the license with technically the license would be invalid. The OEM license is non-transferable.
No you need to buy a complete PC. The system builder terms & conditions have been updated to remove the qualifying hardware clause. If you are a system builder or a MS disti you can only sell OEM software to a system builder or sell it to an end user with a PC. See here for previous discussions about this.
gavstar said:
There is a thread on the Aria website where a consumer is asking if they have to buy hardware and they say a mouse is enough
...and there is an FAQ on the OEM Licensing section of Microsoft's website where they explicitly say that it isn't. If you're asking whether it is legal, then the strict answer is no. If you're asking whether you'd get away with it, then probably yes.
gavstar said:
plasticpig said:
annodomini2 said:
You need to buy a motherboard or CPU, depends on the retailer.
Another point with the OEM license is that if you were to remove the components in the PC that you bought the license with technically the license would be invalid. The OEM license is non-transferable.
No you need to buy a complete PC. The system builder terms & conditions have been updated to remove the qualifying hardware clause. If you are a system builder or a MS disti you can only sell OEM software to a system builder or sell it to an end user with a PC. See here for previous discussions about this.
Aria are wrong. I am a system builder. Microsoft says that these are the rules:
System builder Windows XP Professional and Home editions are available in packs of 1, 3, or 30.
If you open the pack, you must preinstall the software onto a fully assembled computer system.
Unopened OEM system builder packs can be redistributed to other system builders without any additional hardware. They are not intended to be distributed to end-users.
The system builder who installs the Windows software is responsible for supporting that software.
Once an OEM software version has been installed on one PC, it cannot be transferred to another PC, even if that PC is no longer in use.
The system builder preinstalling Windows software is required to affix the Certificate of Authenticity (COA) that accompanies the Windows software to the PC.
The media and manual that accompany OEM system builder Windows software must be distributed to the end-user with the PC.
Windows XP Professional contains end user downgrade rights, Windows XP Home does not
This is directly from Microsofts System Builder website.
jamieboy said:
If you're asking whether it is legal, then the strict answer is no. If you're asking whether you'd get away with it, then probably yes.
That is the point I was making. Technically no. But yes, the retailer will sell it with the minimum of qualifying hardware - ie £1.50 mouse rsvmilly said:
jamieboy said:
If you're asking whether it is legal, then the strict answer is no. If you're asking whether you'd get away with it, then probably yes.
That is the point I was making. Technically no. But yes, the retailer will sell it with the minimum of qualifying hardware - ie £1.50 mouse See my post. The minmum qualifying hardware is a complete PC.
plasticpig said:
See my post. The minmum qualifying hardware is a complete PC.
rsvmilly should have said:
That is the point I was making. Technically no. But yes, the retailer will sell it with their (wrong) interpretation of the qualifying hardware
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