OEM DVD and Windows 7 Upgrade License

Hi guys,

Here's the deal. Right now I'm on a PC running W7 Pro x64 OEM.

I'm in the process of building a second computer.

I thought that instead of buying another OEM DVD, I might as well take advantage of my student status. So I bought Windows 7 Pro 64bit upgrade edition from Digital River.

Will I be able to install W7 on my second computer, which has a blank hdd, using the OEM DVD and activate it with the upgrade edition key from digital river?

Thank you in advance!

As far as I know, you can use any disk to install win 7, as long as the key you're using is for the version you installed.... meaning using home premium disk with home premium key, regardless of where the disk came from... From my testing, the keys also work for either 32 or 64bit...

You can also easily make the disk universal, meaning you can choose which level you want to install, home prem, pro, etc....

DocBrown said:

I would download the Student .iso & burn to DVD with Freeware Imgburn at 4x speed with verify ON. That way you will have a good install DVD with out the Mfg bloatware on the OEM Disc.

I don't have any spare DVDs.

The OEM DVD is not from a PC manufacturer. There is no 3rd party software. I bought it myself as I assemble my own computers.

In this case, would the OEM DVD be all I need?

DocBrown said:

Yes that should work then. But I really would get a blank DVD & get the student copy since you paid for it. Always have a backup for emergencies. Also printout two copies of your student Key Code & keep them in safe places

Thanks Doc, I will make the backups and see how it goes!

Cheers.

I don't think it's going to work. Your OEM version is good for ONE machine. And I believe the upgrade will verify that you have a valid version to upgrade. You won't because you can't register the OEM version again on a different machine. An upgrade is an upgrade to an existing version, not a second copy that you can load on another machine.

Under the terms of the OEM license you can only use the software on one computer, which means you would need to uninstall it from your first computer before you install it on the second one.

You could give it a try without uninstalling from your first computer to see if it works, but even if the software activates, it will probably fail Microsoft's validation checks, which take place after activation.

What is validation and how does it work? - Microsoft Windows

In view of the fact you are a student, why didn't you buy a full student version of Windows rather than the upgrade? I don't think it would have been anymore expensive and it may even have been cheaper.

Darician said:

Any Windows 7 DVD provided it's the same version as your product key (Home Premium DVD with Home Premium Product Key) can be used to install Windows 7. Whether it's OEM or Retail doesn't really change much as what matters is the product key.

I agree with you 100% but that's not the case here. His OEM version has already been installed on another machine. When it's loaded to a second machine, it WILL validate the key and will fail because the OEM key is already in use. Hence, the update will fail too since there's no valid Windows 7 on the second machine. The upgrade key will not work to install the original OEM version again either because it is an Upgrade key.

Microsoft is very particular with its OEM versions in that they can only be used on ONE machine. This doesn't mean one at a time, it's ONE MACHINE. That machine is defined as the PC on which the OEM version was first installed. The OP would have to purchase another OEM key to install Windows then use the Upgrade key to update the second PC.