Vista OEM system builders help

[Jungle_Jim]

hey guys i need a bit of help. i bought a new pc recently but it has no operating system. i then bought a copy of vista off ebay, it was advertised for first time installations rather than for upgrades. When i received it i discovered it was the OEM system builders version. is this the correct version for what i need. it also mentions about needing OPK preinstallation kit.
any help would be great as i dont want to open it and then find out its not what i need.
cheers
James

 

[Pettsi]

OEM is the one for system builders. OEM can only be installed on one machine. ie. locked to that particular motherboard. In which case it should be fine.

 

[Richdog]

Yup, will install fine but officially if you ever change motherboard or PC then you will have to buy a brand new copy.

 

[dk]

hey guys i need a bit of help. i bought a new pc recently but it has no operating system. i then bought a copy of vista off ebay, it was advertised for first time installations rather than for upgrades. When i received it i discovered it was the OEM system builders version. is this the correct version for what i need. it also mentions about needing OPK preinstallation kit.
any help would be great as i dont want to open it and then find out its not what i need.
cheers
James

did it come with an OEM license key or is it just the media?

 

[ViolentJ]

Yup, will install fine but officially if you ever change motherboard or PC then you will have to buy a brand new copy.

Does that mean you wouldn't be able to (re)activate it on an upgraded/new system or you could but it wouldn't be legal?

 

[Pettsi]

Yup, will install fine but officially if you ever change motherboard or PC then you will have to buy a brand new copy.

Does that mean you wouldn't be able to (re)activate it on an upgraded/new system or you could but it wouldn't be legal?

If the MB fails, you can ring up Microsoft and they may give you a new key if you say the MB has died.

 

[Richdog]

Yup, will install fine but officially if you ever change motherboard or PC then you will have to buy a brand new copy.

Does that mean you wouldn't be able to (re)activate it on an upgraded/new system or you could but it wouldn't be legal?

Strictly speaking they're not supposed to re-activate it, but they did a lot for XP and always worth a try.

 

[ViolentJ]

How about a non OEM version? I'm thinking about getting Vista soon but don't want to have to buy it again when I next upgrade.

 

[Richdog]

Obviously non OEM does not have the same limitationm you can install it willy-nilly.

 

[ViolentJ]

cheers

Edit: Seems it's cheaper to buy OEM and then buy it again after an upgrade.

OEM Home Premium = £57.87 (ebuyer price)
Non-OEM Home Premium = £175.24 (ebuyer price)

Could get 3 OEM dvd's for the same price as one non OEM.

 

[Gareth]

I have Vista OEM and have used the same code on different machines, MS don't have a clue what they are doing!