Question on reinstalling OEM / Upgrades on new mobo

[J-Money]

I'm looking at upgrading my motherboard / cpu / ram.

I currently use Windows 7, but install it from a Vista OEM disk then windows 7 upgrade afterwards.

Now since when you replace your mobo, OEM OS won't activate, right? Since it's a new mobo.

So with me installing Vista OEM, not activating, Upgrading to Windows 7 and activating that, will that work and activate properly?

Or does Vista secretly activate at some point prior to upgrade?

Or am I best off just paying $100 for an OEM version is Windows 7?

 

[ViRGE]

So here's the deal: while retail copies of Windows can be transferred between computers, OEM copies cannot - this is the deal you make to get OEM copies for so much less than retail. So regardless of whether Vista will active, it's not within the agreement to transfer it to your new mobo (MS's definition of a computer). As such while you can transfer the Win7 upgrade, in order to use it you'd need a legitimate copy of Vista to use as the base OS & license.

Unless you can snag another copy of Vista for cheap, buying a new full copy of Win7 is your best bet. Plus it certainly beats having to do an upgrade install every time.

 

[Arkaign]

Wait, lemme get this straight :

You have a Vista OEM disc, and a retail Windows 7 Upgrade (I don't believe 'upgrades' have ever been OEM?)

I think you're fine. Your Windows 7 license is still transferable, and you're not violating the fundamental terms of the EULA as you're still not using the Vista that you're upgrading from.

So yes, install Vista, skip activating it for now, install Win7 upgrade from there. There are even some ways you can just install W7 from upgrade disc without having a previous OS.

^^ I say the above because it's indeed possible to take a working Win7 install and just move it to the new PC and then just have to go through the reactivation process.

 

[ViRGE]

I think you're fine. Your Windows 7 license is still transferable,

Only the upgrade is retail, and hence only the upgrade is transferable. Which doesn't do you any good if there isn't a base OS to upgrade from. Basically count the number of motherboards you have; if you haven't purchased that many full versions of Windows, you're probably doing something wrong.