Vista oem hows this work ?????

sacredsacred
edited February 2007 in Nerdery
ok im thinking of going to home premuim and getting oem version once activated do i have to buy it again if i change my motherboard or will it be like xp where i just phone microsoft and reactivate it ?

Comments

  • ThraxThrax 🐌 Austin, TX Icrontian
    edited February 2007
    Yes, if you change your motherboard on the OEM copy, officially speaking (coughcough) you have to purchase a new license.
  • LeonardoLeonardo Wake up and smell the glaciers Eagle River, Alaska Icrontian
    edited February 2007
    By the letter of the law, or according to the fine print, yes, you would have to repurchase Windows if you swapped motherboards. However, it's been my personal experience that Microsoft doesn't always strictly uphold that part of EULA (fine print - user's agreement). Believe it or not, they've actually got human contractors working in their validation call-up centers. I've performed several motherboard replacements/upgrades to machines with XP OEM installed. Each time I was very polite with the phone reps whom I spoke with for activation, explaining that the motherboard had failed (told the truth), or that I was swapping out an obsolete board (again, the truth), and that the Windows installation was on one computer only.

    Being polite and respectful to a tech rep can go a LONG way. I've even re-validated one of my computers that started life several years ago as Alienware machine. There have been so many upgrades that this machine now has NO original parts, not even the case! I do have the original OEM "Certificate of Authenticity" sticker, but I have not affixed it to the computer case as the EULA requires.
  • sacredsacred
    edited February 2007
    lol cool well im hoping to go core2 shortly :D

    so hopfully should be a while before il need to change the board
  • LeonardoLeonardo Wake up and smell the glaciers Eagle River, Alaska Icrontian
    edited February 2007
    No guarantee that the MS activation rep will allow the motherboard upgrade, but he/she probably will.
  • MissilemanMissileman Orlando, Florida Icrontian
    edited February 2007
    Actually the licensing documentation says that the OEM license can be activated on another motherboard, but only if the current board has a catastrophic failure and is being replaced with an identical new unit.

    So you just have to tell them your current board died, corrupted the drive and you are installing the RMA replacement.
  • test_tube_tonytest_tube_tony Dallas TX Member
    edited February 2007
    i take it they arent so fussy with the retail version?
  • primesuspectprimesuspect Beepin n' Boopin Detroit, MI Icrontian
    edited February 2007
    You are completely allowed to transfer the retail version. There are no restrictions on transfers, as long as you have it installed on only one computer at a time.
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