W7 Versions Versus Keys

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  1. Posts : 2,899
    Windows 7 Ult x64(x2), HomePrem x32(x4), Server 08 (+VM), 08 R2 (VM) , SuSe 11.2 (VM), XP 32 (VM)
       #11

    as people said the only difference on the dvd itself is the ei.cfg which is checked on install and the key...
    the most important stuff (install.wim among other things) is still the same

    there is a article on Paul's site where if for some reason you had a genuinely licenced win xp, vista and i believe 2000 you can do a clean install from a upgrade media and let that install allow the key to activate...
    so pretty much if you are not able to activate install you can try this....
    http://www.winsupersite.com/win7/cle...rade_media.asp
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  2. Posts : 12,012
    Windows 7 Home Premium SP1, 64-bit
       #12

    Newegg is selling the full retail for $183.

    Out of curiosity, why are you choosing full for this machine?
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  3. Posts : 6,618
    W7x64 Pro, SuSe 12.1/** W7 x64 Pro, XP MCE
    Thread Starter
       #13

    poin2,

    I will probably take your advise and stay away from separate keys, and I shall get the full retail version, because I do not want the OS tied to any particular hardware. The offers that I have been looking at recently were supposed to be factory seal boxes, and the photos of the boxes looked right. The ones that I'm still leary of are the ones that look the same, except that they only offer one disk instead of two. Though they still have photos of the regular box, it sounds as though it doesn't come with the box, and if anything is factory sealed, it would have to be the envelope that they came in. Since 99% of the offers are boxed, I suspect that the individual disks aren't legit.
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  4. Posts : 6,618
    W7x64 Pro, SuSe 12.1/** W7 x64 Pro, XP MCE
    Thread Starter
       #14

    ignatzatsonic said:
    Newegg is selling the full retail for $183.

    Out of curiosity, why are you choosing full for this machine?
    I wouldn't buy from Newegg at half that price, but my reasons for that are not something that I intend to discuss. I believe that I answered your question regarding my choice of versions in my previous post to poin2.
      My Computer


  5. Posts : 17,796
    Windows 10, Home Clean Install
       #15

    seekermeister said:
    poin2,

    I will probably take your advise and stay away from separate keys, and I shall get the full retail version, because I do not want the OS tied to any particular hardware. The offers that I have been looking at recently were supposed to be factory seal boxes, and the photos of the boxes looked right. The ones that I'm still leary of are the ones that look the same, except that they only offer one disk instead of two. Though they still have photos of the regular box, it sounds as though it doesn't come with the box, and if anything is factory sealed, it would have to be the envelope that they came in. Since 99% of the offers are boxed, I suspect that the individual disks aren't legit.
    Any version, other than OEM, is not tied to specific hardware. The upgrade version can be used on any computer, as long as it is one at a time.
      My Computer


  6. Posts : 6,618
    W7x64 Pro, SuSe 12.1/** W7 x64 Pro, XP MCE
    Thread Starter
       #16

    It is true that the upgrade can be used on a different rig, if removed from the first, but it is still partially tied to the hardware. If I pull a harddrive from one machine and install it in the second, it will have to be reactivated. I guess the same is true for the full retail, but I don't believe that reactivation would be as touchy.

    I just removed my WS2K8 installation, because after some shuffling of hardware, when it wanted to reactivate, it gave a message saying that it had been moved too much and refused to reactivate, even though there was only one move with only one major hardware change (motherboard) that it would have been able to know about. I got WS2K8 from a person who got it from eBay, so I suspect that it was OEM, but I saw nothing that said so.
      My Computer


  7. Posts : 2,899
    Windows 7 Ult x64(x2), HomePrem x32(x4), Server 08 (+VM), 08 R2 (VM) , SuSe 11.2 (VM), XP 32 (VM)
       #17

    seekermeister said:

    I just removed my WS2K8 installation, because after some shuffling of hardware, when it wanted to reactivate, it gave a message saying that it had been moved too much and refused to reactivate, even though there was only one move with only one major hardware change (motherboard) that it would have been able to know about. I got WS2K8 from a person who got it from eBay, so I suspect that it was OEM, but I saw nothing that said so.

    i personally have not done this with winserver 2008
    but with xp and vista (and 2003 xp and vista were OEM while 2003 was a student download) all i did was call the ms activation number and someone oversees (after the machine on phoneline failed to help) asked me a few questions and gave me a activation code and had me activated (what i did was replace some failing hardware on the machine a nic and a video card and plop came up the windows needs to be reactivated) ...:)
      My Computer


  8. Posts : 6,618
    W7x64 Pro, SuSe 12.1/** W7 x64 Pro, XP MCE
    Thread Starter
       #18

    Yes, I have done the same in the past, but when attempting to activate online, all that it said was that it wasn't able to connect to the activation server, not flatly tell me that it would not be allowed to reactivate because of too many hardware changes, as it did with WS2K8. If I needed or liked that OS enough, I would have attempted to activate on the telephone, but I really wasn't using it very much at all. I only bought it out of curiousity.
      My Computer


  9. Posts : 31,242
    Windows 11 Pro x64 [Latest Release and Release Preview]
       #19

    As far as I am aware all versions of Windows 7 have the limitation on the number of hardware upgrades allowed. The difference between Retail and OEM is one of the amount of leeway Microsoft's policy allows.

    If you have a retail copy it is likely that you will not be asked the same depth of questioning, as an OEM copy, if you end up talking to an actual Rep.

    The old issue of tying a Licence to the bios is the work of certain OEM manufacturers rather than Microsoft

    I have always found that Microsoft are very helpful when a re-activation is required and as long as the reason given is reasonable it is a non issue
      My Computers


  10. Posts : 2,036
    Windows 7 Professional x64
       #20

    darkassain said:
    as people said the only difference on the dvd itself is the ei.cfg which is checked on install and the key...
    the most important stuff (install.wim among other things) is still the same

    there is a article on Paul's site where if for some reason you had a genuinely licenced win xp, vista and i believe 2000 you can do a clean install from a upgrade media and let that install allow the key to activate...
    so pretty much if you are not able to activate install you can try this....
    http://www.winsupersite.com/win7/cle...rade_media.asp
    I can confirm that if you extract the contents of an install DVD and remove the ei.cfg file, it will then let you install ANY version of Windows 7. I used this method to make an install USB drive which I have used to install Windows 7 Pro and Home Premium. I then use the key I purchased to activate Windows. It's really working good.

    When you remove that file it will give you a choice (like Vista) to install any version.

    FYI
      My Computer


 
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