Buying new Windows because of PC UPgrade - Pricing

I'm going to have to re-buy my windows licences because I am going to replace 3 PCs primary components; Motherboard, CPU and RAM. The only active component not being replaced is the HDD.

When I talked to Microsoft they said I have to re-buy Windows. The $1300 I spent on licences When Windows 7 was first released is now a dead investment.

It's no wonder that people pirate windows!

When doing research on pricing I came across these sites...

Microsoft - 3x3pk Win7 Ult64B+10x1PK DVDRW - Catalogue | Alphastore

and

MICROSOFT GLC-00894 - 3x3pk Win7 Ult64B+10x1PK DVDRW

Both have the same product code. Now I'm assuming 3 x 3pk only means 3 licences, not nine, since retailers are renowned for splitting 3pk OEI OEM DVD packs and selling off individually.

I've emailed both companies twice now and asked for clarification on number of licences and how many unique software keys I actually get with the purchase. But neither have answered.

Anyone have any ideas why one price can be more than 5 times the other, when neither say upgrade, full or OEM??

Anyone have any recommendations on the cheapest place to buy 3 copies of legit licences with individual keys... I am assuming of course that each machine must have a unique key..

thanks
Tanya

I have several questions.

1) What kind of win7 licenses do you have right now? If you bought them from a store and they came in a nice shiny package with a product key they would be retail, if the package says system builder then that would be an OEM license. There are also other kinds of licenses such as msdn. FYI, a retail license is freely transferrable to a new computer, as long as its used on only one computer at a given time. OEM licenses- whether system builder or preinstalled are not transferrable. So first make sure what type of license it is.

2) Please check the veracity of the 2 links you have posted. There are lots of scams going on and I would buy only after checking the store's credentials, customer reviews etc. In any case its hard to trust a store that doesnt clarify what its selling.

3) The cheapest deal for a 3 pack license is the win7 home premium upgrade family pack. You can get it for USD 150 from amazon. An upgrade license can legally only be used if you have a qualifying base license such as xp or vista. Plus do you really need ultimate or home premium is fine?

Bill2 said:

I have several questions.

1) What kind of win7 licenses do you have right now? If you bought them from a store and they came in a nice shiny package with a product key they would be retail, if the package says system builder then that would be an OEM license. There are also other kinds of licenses such as msdn. FYI, a retail license is freely transferrable to a new computer, as long as its used on only one computer at a given time. OEM licenses- whether system builder or preinstalled are not transferrable. So first make sure what type of license it is.

2) Please check the veracity of the 2 links you have posted. There are lots of scams going on and I would buy only after checking the store's credentials, customer reviews etc. In any case its hard to trust a store that doesnt clarify what its selling.

3) The cheapest deal for a 3 pack license is the win7 home premium upgrade family pack. You can get it for USD 150 from amazon. An upgrade license can legally only be used if you have a qualifying base license such as xp or vista. Plus do you really need ultimate or home premium is fine?

I typically build my own systems and use OEM licences. The systems I have now are built from scratch and I used OEM licences.

I have 12 machines. I use XP mode on several. I use bitlocker on mine because of theft of some of my documents which were attempted to be used against me in a custody battle.

If I understand my versions correctly I need at least professional to use XP Mode and Ultimate to use bitlocker.

I could replace two PCs with WDTV HD Live boxes as they are used for media players on two TVs. But media players are flakey and PCs allow us to do other things on the TV apart from playing media files.

I generally try to keep everything identical. Up until now I've managed to achieve that.

I'm changing over all the machines over the next 6 months. At full retail I will be up for $5000 AUD or more.

JaidynM said:

Hi Tanyam,
It is perfectly legal (and possible) to download and burn an .iso of Windows 7 Ultimate x64 and burn it to a disc and use it....... IF you use your current product key.

Burn Disc Image - ISO or IMG file

Refer to the above link on how to burn the image to a disc. If you own a file-sharing program such as BitTorrent or uTorrent, you should be able to use it to download an .iso. If you need help finding a good . iso, I'll be glad to help. I can also find you a non torrent download if you wish.

Hope this helps,
Jaidyn

Getting copies of the software (iso's or otherwise), it not a problem. When you buy windows you are really only renting a CD-Key.

The problem is that M$ are telling me a new mobo, cpu and RAM = new machine. OEM versions are not transferrable to new machines, hence the "Your Windows is not genuine" message I now get, and M$'s refusal to "re-activate" it.

Yes, MS is right. A new mobo= new machine from their point of view. Thats why if you upgrade hardware frequently, OEM licenses are a bad idea.

Maybe you can examine whether you need ultimate/xp mode on each of those 12 machines, a bit of mix and match can save you a substantial amount. As for your security concerns, I appreciate those but bitlocker is not the only encryption method available, there are other paid/free software as well. In any case do you need bitlocker on EVERY machine? You can try and keep important data on 2 or 3 machines or less. Just some ideas.

Bill2 said:

Yes, MS is right. A new mobo= new machine from their point of view. Thats why if you upgrade hardware frequently, OEM licenses are a bad idea.

Maybe you can examine whether you need ultimate/xp mode on each of those 12 machines, a bit of mix and match can save you a substantial amount. As for your security concerns, I appreciate those but bitlocker is not the only encryption method available, there are other paid/free software as well. In any case do you need bitlocker on EVERY machine? You can try and keep important data on 2 or 3 machines or less. Just some ideas.

Yes, I agree. The days of 'standards' and 'consistency' are over for me. Having all machines the same for ease of everything is going to have to change.

I've been pondering this all night.

I'm going to go Home Premium for 5 machines, Ultimate for 2. 3 I am going to convert to a linux flavour. and I will replace two with WDTV live. I will sell those two PCs to help cover the costs of the licences. Over time as Linux compatability increases, and support for gaming (for the kids), and other applications increases I will move to Linux and hopefully one day in the not too distant future dump windows completely.

I have 4 years experience running Linux from a technical point of view (I used to run a hobby ISP in the younger days of the Internet). I may have some catching up to do, but IT is the industry I've always worked in so it shouln't be too hard.

One of the ultimates is a desktop, the other is a laptop.

I try to run as few applications as possible. If it is built into the operating system, then I don't install a third party app to replace that OS "feature". That's why I run IE and not firefox or chrome. With the exception of Office 2010, everything else I run is free software.

The only exception is the Desksoft WindowManager, which I had to purchase because M$ completely butchered explorer in Windows 7.

I never upgrade windows. All installs are always clean installs. The best price I have seen that I know for sure is legit is $275 per licence, so I'm still going to be up for just under $1400. It appears the family pack is an upgrade pack only

Unless I can use my existing OEM Ultimate DVD for the upgrade. And I assuume that If I use an upgrade I cannot clean install at all?

IIRC, in the old days Windows would ask you to load the OS CD to validate your eligibility to use the upgrade software.. If The requirement is now you do an inplace upgrade that is going to be an annoyance.. I have to do extra work with drivers and what-not before I can do the upgrade. I am used to installing the new hardware, booting from the DVD and installing clean with the new hardware.

Bill2 said:

Maybe you can examine whether you need ultimate/xp mode on each of those 12 machines, a bit of mix and match can save you a substantial amount. As for your security concerns, I appreciate those but bitlocker is not the only encryption method available, there are other paid/free software as well. In any case do you need bitlocker on EVERY machine? You can try and keep important data on 2 or 3 machines or less. Just some ideas.

Darn it.. Just looked at the comparison of versions. All my nightly backups go to a server and Home Premium doesn't appear to support backups to a server...

God, M$ really want to rip people off. This is getting really aggravating

Sorry... One more question....

I dont use homegroups. I use the traditional networking methodology. I have a server where EVERYTHING is stored. The clients for all intents and purposes are thin clients (in relative terms).

If I use home premium am I still going to be able to set my network up that way, with mapped drives and UNC connections to the server and other devices (TVs, PVRs, etc)?

Shell folder locations have been changed to point to server locations, and I have set up a plethora of libraries also pointing to the server locations. I don't use the navigation pane in explorer - ever.

Or am I going to have to change everything?

thanks
Tanya

Upgrade media can be legally used to clean install windows, as long as you have a valid, qualifying license such as xp/vista (not necessarily installed, possession is sufficient). Functionally theres no difference from a clean install with a full disk.

Clean Install with a Upgrade Windows 7 Version

Home premium doesnt support backup over the network, though you can backup to internal or usb attached local drives. I suggest you ask for advice on this in the networking subforum here before making up your mind.

Bill2 said:

Upgrade media can be legally used to clean install windows, as long as you have a valid, qualifying license such as xp/vista (not necessarily installed, possession is sufficient). Functionally theres no difference from a clean install with a full disk.

Clean Install with a Upgrade Windows 7 Version

Home premium doesnt support backup over the network, though you can backup to internal or usb attached local drives. I suggest you ask for advice on this in the networking subforum here before making up your mind.

The computers are single drive machines. IIRC, you can't backup to the same drive you are backing up. The backups are kept for 30 days. Each daily backup is anywhere from 100mb to 4gig per day. Full system images are created monthly, including the system drive and the application drive. Typically a Windows Image is 22 - 25 gigs per machine.

Much as I dont want to I can use Comodo Free backup version to perform the backup, though IIRC, last time I tried it there were limitations.

Thanks for the tip with using upgrade media for clean installs. I will read shortly.