| Windows 7: Licensing confusion, reinstalling Win 7 |
25 May 2012
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#1 | | |
Licensing confusion, reinstalling Win 7 Please excuse my laziness in posting a question that most likely has been answered before, but I am exhausted from searching and reading conflicting, poorly explained articles and wanted to get a straight answer from the place where the best answers come from...forums..
I have two questions and will do my best to keep them short and concise. First, I purchased an OEM copy of windows 7 to put on a new build and everything is working great. My confusion is if down the line I need to rebuild that system that requires a new install of the OS. Can I reuse the Key for that rebuild?
Secondly, I have a laptop that is running Vista that I can't stand dealing with anymore and want to install Win 7. I want to do a clean install and don't know if I should purchase another OEM copy -better price then retail and I don't care about tech support- or go for the upgrade. I assume ether way I go the both come with the 32- or 64-bit version, I have not decided which I want to install. I should mention that I do not have any Vista disks, none came with the laptop when I bought it.
Thanks | My System Specs |
| OS Win 7 Home Premium 32bit |
25 May 2012
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#2 | | Windows 7 SP1, Home Premium, 64-bit |
Re the first question: You cannot legally reuse the OEM key if you move to a new motherboard. I have heard of some cases where MS will allow you to replace a motherboard if the replacement is the same model or if the same model is no longer available. It can depend on the mercy of the person you happen to get on the phone at MS. The general advice is to use a retail license if you are a regular upgrader.
Re the second question: you could go with OEM or retail. You could do a clean install or an upgrade install. Most would tell you to do a clean install. On a laptop, there might be more incentive to stay with OEM because you are less likely to put a new motherboard into a laptop. Most would also tell you to go with 64-bit if your hardware will support it and if you have at least 4 gb of RAM. | My System Specs | | System Manufacturer/Model Number Ignatz Special; 4 speed manual gearbox; factory air conditioning; one of one OS Windows 7 SP1, Home Premium, 64-bit CPU Intel Sandy Bridge i5-2500, not overclocked Motherboard Gigabyte H67A-UD3H-B3, full ATX Memory 4 GB Crucial DDR3-1333 Graphics Card none; graphics are integrated on CPU Sound Card onboard: Realtek ALC892; external: USB Behringer UF0-202 Monitor(s) Displays NEC 90GX2-BK 19" LCD Screen Resolution 800 x 640 Keyboard Leopold Tenkeyless with Cherry Blue switches, USB Mouse Logitech or Microsoft optical wired; either USB or PS 2 PSU Seasonic SS-560KM, modular Case Antec Solo II Cooling CPU: Scythe Big Shuriken; Case: Scythe Slipstream 800 & 500 Hard Drives System: Intel 320 Series SSD, 80 GB;
Data: Samsung Spinpoint 103SJ, 1 TB;
Backup: WD Caviar Green WD15EADS-00P8B0, 1.5TB Other Info Power consumption of this system, including monitor: 68 watts at idle; 144 watts at full load |
25 May 2012
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#3 | | Vista, Windows7, Mint Mate, Zorin, Windows 8 Florida in winter, Black Forest/Germany |
1. Yes - provided that you do not install a new mobo.
2. What is your question? But an OEM version would work. | My System Specs | | System Manufacturer/Model Number HP, Dell, Gateway, Toshiba - 4 laptops and 2 desktops OS Vista, Windows7, Mint Mate, Zorin, Windows 8 CPU from 1.6GHz Duo to i7 Monitor(s) Displays 2x HP w2207 Keyboard with trackball - no mices Mouse Trackball mice Hard Drives 5x HDD, 7x SSD, 12x Externals Internet Speed DSL 6000 |
25 May 2012
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#4 | | |
1). Like others said, if you don't change the hardware you can reinstall that OEM copy over and over again.
2). You need another key for the second machine. It can be either OEM or Retail. So, you can save money with OEM and lose ability to move to another machine later, or pay for retail and have the piece of mind knowing that you can reuse it later on another machine and get support from MS. | My System Specs | | System Manufacturer/Model Number Self-Built in July 2009 OS Windows 7 Ultimate x64 CPU Intel Q9550 2.83Ghz OC'd to 3.40Ghz Motherboard Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3R rev. 1.1, F12 BIOS Memory 8GB G.Skill PI DDR2-800, 4-4-4-12 timings Graphics Card EVGA 1280MB Nvidia GeForce GTX570 Sound Card Realtek ALC899A 8 channel onboard audio Monitor(s) Displays 23" Acer x233H Screen Resolution 1920x1080 Keyboard ABS M1 Mechanical Mouse Logitech G9 Laser Mouse PSU Corsair 620HX modular Case Antec P182 Cooling stock Hard Drives Intel X25-M 80GB Gen 2 SSD
Western Digital 1TB Caviar Black, 32MB cache. WD1001FALS Internet Speed 15/2 cable modem Other Info Windows and Linux enthusiast. Logitech G35 Headset. |
25 May 2012
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#5 | | Win7 x 6 PC's California, Florida, Boston |
You can change any hardware except the mobo and reinstall OEM as often as you want.
You want Upgrade version from Vista. OEM is for System Builders. | My System Specs | | |
25 May 2012
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#6 | | Windows 7 Pro X64 SP1 Danbury, CT |

Quote: Originally Posted by jsabol Secondly, I have a laptop that is running Vista that I can't stand dealing with anymore and want to install Win 7. I want to do a clean install and don't know if I should purchase another OEM copy -better price then retail and I don't care about tech support- or go for the upgrade. I assume ether way I go the both come with the 32- or 64-bit version, I have not decided which I want to install. I should mention that I do not have any Vista disks, none came with the laptop when I bought it.
Thanks The System Builder (generic OEM) comes with an installation DVD for just one version: 32 bit or 64 bit. I've read that the key works with either version, but you'd have to come up with an installation disk for the one that you didn't buy. As far as I know, there'd be nothing about that to violate the EULA (end user license agreement). Using a System Builder license is already a violation of the license (it's intended solely for resale), but there appears to be no enforcement of that. | My System Specs | | System Manufacturer/Model Number homegrown OS Windows 7 Pro X64 SP1 CPU Intel Core I7-3930k Motherboard Asus P9X79 Pro Memory 16 GB Gskill DDR3-2133 Graphics Card eVGA GTX680 Sound Card Creative X-Fi Titanium Monitor(s) Displays As PA246Q Screen Resolution 1920 X 1200 Keyboard cheap Logitech USB Mouse Microsoft Intellimouse Explorer (old optical) USB PSU PCP&C Silencer 750 Crossfire Case Silverstone FT02 Cooling Noctua NH-D14 Hard Drives Corsair Force GT, 120 GB
WDC 1.5TB Caviar Black Internet Speed 6Mb cable Other Info Pioneer BDR-205
Samsung SH-203B
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