Is My Windows 7 Home Premium OEM, Or Not?

[flybeech]

I bought my daughter an Asus Eee PC that was equipped with Windows 7 Starter (OEM). Shortly after she got the netbook, I performed an Anytime Upgrade to Windows 7 Home Premium.

Is the upgraded copy of Windows 7 Home Premium still an OEM copy that remains tied to the motherboard, or not?

 

[zigzag3143]

I bought my daughter an Asus Eee PC that was equipped with Windows 7 Starter (OEM). Shortly after she got the netbook, I performed an Anytime Upgrade to Windows 7 Home Premium.

Is the upgraded copy of Windows 7 Home Premium still an OEM copy that remains tied to the motherboard, or not?

Where did you get the upgrade and how much did it cost? Those will be pretty good indicators. If not we can check the version

 

[whs]

On the bottom of this page ( Control Panel\System and Security\System ) is the Product Id. Does it say OEM in there?

 

[flybeech]

I bought the Windows 7 Home Premium upgrade from the Microsoft store and I believe it was about $80.

 

[Kari]

On the bottom of this page ( Control Panel\System and Security\System ) is the Product Id. Does it say OEM in there?

Here:

 

[flybeech]

On the bottom of this page ( Control Panel\System and Security\System ) is the Product Id. Does it say OEM in there?

Here:

View attachment 139172

Ahhh! OK. Thanx. She's away at school, so next time she calls, I'll ask her to look there to see if "OEM" appears, or not. I was hoping someone here has already upgraded an OEM copy of Starter to something else and already knew whether the cursed OEM license remains, or if the upgrade does away with the dreaded OEM status.

 

[whs]

Why is the OEM status dreaded. There is nothing wrong with it, except that you call the OEM in case of problems in lieu of MS.

 

[pparks1]

I was hoping someone here has already upgraded an OEM copy of Starter to something else and already knew whether the cursed OEM license remains, or if the upgrade does away with the dreaded OEM status.

I'm unsure why you have such a problem with the OEM version. It's what all mfg's use and it saves you money on the initial purchase of the machine. Sure, you cannot move it to another computer, but you also didn't pay very much for the copy of Windows 7 Starter when you bought the machine.

 

[flybeech]

I was hoping someone here has already upgraded an OEM copy of Starter to something else and already knew whether the cursed OEM license remains, or if the upgrade does away with the dreaded OEM status.

I'm unsure why you have such a problem with the OEM version. It's what all mfg's use and it saves you money on the initial purchase of the machine. Sure, you cannot move it to another computer, but you also didn't pay very much for the copy of Windows 7 Starter when you bought the machine.

I dunno. Maybe it's just an obsession. I've thrown away enough Windows licenses when the motherboard died and also, I just like to change motherboards more often than Microsoft releases new versions. I have three computers that have Windows upgrade licenses that trace back to Windows 3.1. Since the early 90's, I've upgraded Windows from 3.1 to Win95, to Win 98, to XP, skipping Vista and finally Windows 7. Unless I take the shortcut, I've got to Install XP upgrade, which makes me insert my Win 98SE disk before I can finally install Windows 7. Crazy, huh?

 

[pparks1]

If you are upgrading and building this much for personal use, sounds like you should invest in a Technet subscription to me. Well worth it's price.

 

[flybeech]

I called her and got her to inspect the Product ID under System Information, as posters have indicated. I can confirm that the Product ID does NOT contain the letters OEM within the number, so her copy of Windows 7 can go to upgrade any other machine.

I suspect that means that she could take the Microsoft Anytime-Upgrade product key for Windows 7 Home Premium and legally install and activate it on any machine she wants. Thanks to all for showing me how to determine what is and what is not, an OEM copy of Windows.

 

[gregrocker]

The Anytime Upgrade key is a retail key which can migrate to any qualifying machine of your choice for life.

Best to have her save externally a Win7 Backup Image now in case Win7 ever becomes irreparable, to use in place of a reinstall. Just boot the Repair CD (which can be made during imaging) to reimage the HD or it's replacement: http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/663-backup-complete-computer-create-image-backup.html