OEM or Retail

[ingeborgdot]

I am looking at getting W7 for another one of my computers. I have never really had to buy my software before because my sister in law worked for Microsoft and I got it for free. She has since went on to another job and I don't get those benefits anymore. So I now am faced with buying W7. Should I buy OEM or retail. I know OEM is cheaper but what happens when something goes bad and you have to put in a new part. How is MS about dealing with this?

 

[lxskllr]

OEM is tied to the MB. If the motherboard goes up and you replace it, you can still use the OEM copy. Other small parts don't factor in so much, but I know in the past Windows would sometimes flake out with a small change, and you'd have to call in to activate. Either way, it should keep running.

Retail lets you use it on any single computer you own in perpetuity. The only restriction is it can only be on one computer at a time.

 

[postmortemIA]

It is not worth it to get OEM if you are computer enthusiast. Do you have valid XP or Vista license so that you can at least buy cheaper retail upgrade?
Year is 2012, XP came out in 2001 and is still in use. I lost count of how many PCs I have upgraded since then. So buying OEM = buying more than one license.

 

[Nothinman]

I am looking at getting W7 for another one of my computers. I have never really had to buy my software before because my sister in law worked for Microsoft and I got it for free. She has since went on to another job and I don't get those benefits anymore. So I now am faced with buying W7. Should I buy OEM or retail. I know OEM is cheaper but what happens when something goes bad and you have to put in a new part. How is MS about dealing with this?

You can get a full copy of Win7 Home Premium for around a hundred bucks. That's something you will effectively use every day for several years, you don't think that's a good enough deal? If you use it for 4 years before buying another copy of Windows that's about $2/mo.

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

If you don't plan on selling the system, OEM is fine. While the OS is officially tied to the MB. I can tell you that I have replaced MB's of the same manufacturer/generation but different models with no problem. Automatic updates continued to work just fine with no activation problems. There is no issue with other components being changed on an OEM license.

 

[fng01]

The only real difference is a full version copy gives you Microsoft technical help for free. Thats about it. With OEM you can upgrade, add software, add hardware, replace smoked parts...including motherboards, CPU's, HD...you name it. At the very worsed inconvienence you may have is that the software reports a none-genuine copy of windows. It will then ask you to verify on-line, if it still doesn't like something it will ask you to call a number and speak to a Microsoft rep. and it gives you the number to call for you. You tell him you upgraded some major components, he gives you a new license. Simple as that, slam dunk your all set....if you don't need Microsoft technical support don't bother with the full retail. How do I know this...becasue I just build a new machine and I called MS technical support and asked these questions. SO long as you buy a lagit copy with a lagit license key, its all yours to do and change as you wish. Don't listen to the fools that think they know. It so happends after I build my new rig and reloaded my copy of Office 2010 that I had on my old machine, I accually did get this massage that my license had been used up. Told me to call a number, I did, and was given a code to activate, no questions asked. It frustrates me that people give bad advice that accualy cost others extra money. If your smart enough to build your computer and load the software, you don't need customer support, you dont need Retail. YOU WANT OEM.

 

[RU482]

DERP, just realized you are talking Win7

****

on Win 8, if you have a touchscreen with less than 5 points of touch (say, a resistive 4-wire touchpanel), it will work with the Full retail version, but not the OEM version. OEM disables it

There are other oddities like this, but this is the main one that comes to mind

MS did this so the OEMs will offer products that give the "ideal" win8 experience. If you go out and buy it on your own as a full retail copy.....you paid the premium.

/honestly, not even sure they have OEM vs retail with Win8 like they did with Win7/XP/ect, those are just differences I know between the Win8 OEM and Enterprise versions

 

[RU482]

OEM is tied to the MB. If the motherboard goes up and you replace it, you can still use the OEM copy. Other small parts don't factor in so much, but I know in the past Windows would sometimes flake out with a small change, and you'd have to call in to activate. Either way, it should keep running.

Retail lets you use it on any single computer you own in perpetuity. The only restriction is it can only be on one computer at a time.

I assume you speak of Win7 here. Nah, you can pretty much use OEM perpetually too, you just have to phone in at some point (after 2-5 activations) and verify that you are only installing it on one PC "at a time". Meaning, if I installed Win7 to system A....and system A got hit by lightning and totally douched, I can build system B and install it. repeat x+1 even with the OEM version

 

[dagamer34]

OEM wil make you jump through a few more hoops if you replace your mobo, but it's absolutely no reason to go buy a retail copy of Windows. That SKU (the $200-300 version) sold so terribly that they practically did away with it with Windows 8. Anyone who is smart enough to buy an OS by itself can provide their own tech support.

 

[Nothinman]

OEM wil make you jump through a few more hoops if you replace your mobo, but it's absolutely no reason to go buy a retail copy of Windows. That SKU (the $200-300 version) sold so terribly that they practically did away with it with Windows 8. Anyone who is smart enough to buy an OS by itself can provide their own tech support.

Not violating the license isn't a valid reason to buy a retail copy? Really?

 

[fng01]

Nothinman,
are you on crack? Retail and OEM are both licensed copies. Retail cost more because it comes with MS support. OEM is disigned for people that build their own systems and don't need tech support. Some people get confused with this and think they can not upgrade or make changes. The point of this thread is to explain that the OEM copy of Windows does indeed give you the legal right to make any changes including completley rebuilding your system. The copy is specificaly designed for one system at a time though. You can not load the same copy on multible machines that are in service. You can however continue to use your copy on as many PC that you want to install it on so long as the previous one is taken out of service.

 

[lxskllr]

Nothinman,
are you on crack? Retail and OEM are both licensed copies. Retail cost more because it comes with MS support. OEM is disigned for people that build their own systems and don't need tech support. Some people get confused with this and think they can not upgrade or make changes. The point of this threat is to explain that the OEM copy of Windows does indeed give you the legal right to make any changes including completley rebuilding your system. The copy is specificaly designed for one system at a time though. You can not load the same copy on multible machines that are in service. You can however continue to use your copy on as many PC that you want to install it on so long as the previous one is taken out of service.

That's incorrect. The oem copy is tied to the mb. If you scrap the computer, you scrap the license. If the mb goes up, and you replace it, that would be a warranty repair, and allowable. It's up to your conscience to determine what is a valid warranty repair. I put it at the same socket architecture. Intel478-Intel478 was ok. AMD-Intel, or 478-775 was not.

 

[fng01]

Lxskllr you are incorrect. I just built my current system. My Asus P8Z77-V pro had to be returned to Amazon because of a sound problem. I had already fully loaded all my software and been using the computor for several days after my Microsoft windows had been activated and verified. I then experienced the motherboard losing sound. After working with ASUS and determining it was indeed a faulty board I returned it to Amazon for a completely new board. Installed it into tmy system and pushed the button. It booted up was running like normal. Never needed to install the windows CD or anything. No error message, no nothing.

See this is why I am so passionate about this. I was confussed by others misleading definition of OEM. SO much so I called and spoke with a MicroSoft Rep. Asked all these questions and this was his reply. Its my copy, its my License, I can do what I want with it. Upgrade, repair, rebuild. He thought I was crazy to think I couldn't. He stated Microsoft would never stop you from doing something to you own computer so long as you are the original purchaser of the licensed software OEM or retail. The OEM version does not include Microsoft technical support. IF you have an issue your on your own. Thats the difference.

 

[lxskllr]

We seem to have a problem then. That one guy has contradicted everything I've read in MS documentation. When concerned with legalities, I always defer to written documents. I may or may not choose to follow them, but I take that risk on myself, and calculate consequences based on what was written.

Users who run a Microsoft Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) operating system may upgrade or replace most of the hardware components on the computer and still maintain the license for the original Microsoft OEM operating system software provided by the OEM, with the exception of an upgrade or a replacement of the motherboard. An upgrade or a replacement of the motherboard is considered to create a new personal computer. Therefore, Microsoft OEM operating system software cannot be transferred from another computer. If the motherboard is upgraded or replaced for reasons other than a defect then a new computer is created, and a new operating system license is required. If the motherboard is replaced because of a defect, the user does not need to acquire a new operating system license for the computer. The motherboard replacement must be the same make and model, or the same manufacturer’s replacement or equivalent, as defined by that manufacturer’s warranty. The reason for this licensing rule primarily relates to the end-user license agreement (EULA) and the support of the software covered by that EULA. The EULA is a set of usage rights granted to the end-user by the computer manufacturer. The EULA relates only to rights for that software as installed on that particular computer. The System Builder is required to support the software on that individual computer.

Understanding that end-users, over time, upgrade their computers with different components, Microsoft views the CPU as the one remaining base component that still defines that original computer. Because the motherboard contains the CPU, when the motherboard is replaced for reasons other than defect, a new computer is essentially created. Therefore, the original OEM cannot be expected to support this new computer that they did not manufacture.

http://support.microsoft.com/?scid=kb;en-us;824125&x=10&y=9

 

[seepy83]

We seem to have a problem then. That one guy has contradicted everything I've read in MS documentation. When concerned with legalities, I always defer to written documents. I may or may not choose to follow them, but I take that risk on myself, and calculate consequences based on what was written.

Users who run a Microsoft Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) operating system may upgrade or replace most of the hardware components on the computer and still maintain the license for the original Microsoft OEM operating system software provided by the OEM, with the exception of an upgrade or a replacement of the motherboard. An upgrade or a replacement of the motherboard is considered to create a new personal computer. Therefore, Microsoft OEM operating system software cannot be transferred from another computer. If the motherboard is upgraded or replaced for reasons other than a defect then a new computer is created, and a new operating system license is required. If the motherboard is replaced because of a defect, the user does not need to acquire a new operating system license for the computer. The motherboard replacement must be the same make and model, or the same manufacturer’s replacement or equivalent, as defined by that manufacturer’s warranty. The reason for this licensing rule primarily relates to the end-user license agreement (EULA) and the support of the software covered by that EULA. The EULA is a set of usage rights granted to the end-user by the computer manufacturer. The EULA relates only to rights for that software as installed on that particular computer. The System Builder is required to support the software on that individual computer.

Understanding that end-users, over time, upgrade their computers with different components, Microsoft views the CPU as the one remaining base component that still defines that original computer. Because the motherboard contains the CPU, when the motherboard is replaced for reasons other than defect, a new computer is essentially created. Therefore, the original OEM cannot be expected to support this new computer that they did not manufacture.

http://support.microsoft.com/?scid=kb;en-us;824125&x=10&y=9

The bolded part is what's important. fng01, you had a Warranty replacement. If you replaced or upgraded the motherboard for any other reason, then you would be legally required to buy a new license, because the OEM that you originally purchased would be (legally) invalid.

 

[Nothinman]

Lxskllr you are incorrect. I just built my current system. My Asus P8Z77-V pro had to be returned to Amazon because of a sound problem. I had already fully loaded all my software and been using the computor for several days after my Microsoft windows had been activated and verified. I then experienced the motherboard losing sound. After working with ASUS and determining it was indeed a faulty board I returned it to Amazon for a completely new board. Installed it into tmy system and pushed the button. It booted up was running like normal. Never needed to install the windows CD or anything. No error message, no nothing.

See this is why I am so passionate about this. I was confussed by others misleading definition of OEM. SO much so I called and spoke with a MicroSoft Rep. Asked all these questions and this was his reply. Its my copy, its my License, I can do what I want with it. Upgrade, repair, rebuild. He thought I was crazy to think I couldn't. He stated Microsoft would never stop you from doing something to you own computer so long as you are the original purchaser of the licensed software OEM or retail. The OEM version does not include Microsoft technical support. IF you have an issue your on your own. Thats the difference.

That's just proof that not even MS can keep track of their own licensing. lxskllr posted the link contradicting your sales rep so you may want to call him back and let him know that he's been handing out misinformation to his clients.

OEM licenses weren't intended to be sold the way they are now by the likes of NewEgg and Tiger Direct. They were intended for big companies like Dell to include with their systems where they'll be doing the level 1 support and the licenses are sold at a cheap discount because they're supposed to be discarded with the system. If MS wanted you to be able to buy them at those prices why wouldn't they just have a retail license at that price without support?

That's not saying that MS won't still activate your OEM license when you call with a motherboard replacement, but that's at their discretion and is probably done with the idea that they'd rather have you own and violate an OEM license than pirate a retail or MSDN one. But the fact remains that it's a violation of the license on your part.

 

[fng01]

wow seems the tech I spoke too doesn't have all the facts either. My motherboard replacement was indeed the same make and model. Suppose the OS recognized this.

So from what I read above my OS is good so long as I do not try to upgrade the MB. Guess I can live with that.
My bad lxskllr. Please understand I thought I was informed by the horses mouth.