Full, Upgrade, Retail or OEM

[kevvyb]

Are all the pre-order deals for upgrade software rather the full retail versions?

I have shelled out quite a bit on WinXP over the past few years and more recently due to both desktop and laptop falling over at the same time.

I want to be able to install any new operating system I buy on new hardware when that becomes necessary.

I have to be very sure. I am not wasting any more dosh on OEM versions.

It seems to me that just because you get a full version rather than an upgrade, that is something different to the license being OEM or Retail.

Full or upgrade version is not really the issue (although full is obviously better). For me it is about the license to install on new hardware as I upgrade that without buying a new copy of windows.

Does 'full' also mean that the install will not be tied to a previous copy of windows being installed first (or having the key for that version to hand)?

 

[grouchpunk08]

Full means that you can do a clean install on a clean hard drive, without having to prove you owned a previous version or doing the double install upgrade disk method. You wouldn't necessarily benifit from getting the full version, as you can clean install the upgrade disk, then upgrade the newly installed 7 to 7 again then your key will work, or you could insert the previous OS disk during the setup and the key will work. And yeah, only the upgrade version is being offered at low sale prices, and even that ends on the 11th.

 

[nate42nd]

Full means that you can do a clean install on a clean hard drive, without having to prove you owned a previous version or doing the double install upgrade disk method. You wouldn't necessarily benifit from getting the full version, as you can clean install the upgrade disk, then upgrade the newly installed 7 to 7 again then your key will work, or you could insert the previous OS disk during the setup and the key will work. And yeah, only the upgrade version is being offered at low sale prices, and even that ends on the 11th.

I can't seem to get into my head if I can do a clean install with an upgrade version on a new drive with no previous version. I think no. However I have been told I can. What is the final verdict on this?

 

[grouchpunk08]

I can't seem to get into my head if I can do a clean install with an upgrade version on a new drive with no previous version. I think no. However I have been told I can. What is the final verdict on this?

According to a call to microsoft a couple weeks ago, even when performing an upgrade, clean installing is the recommended method. I was told that when performing the upgrade, if there was no previous version on it, it would ask for a previous OS disk, just like it has in other versions of windows. And if you don't have the disk, you can continue, then you can upgrade your newly installed win7 to win7 using the same upgrade disk, and this will make it to where your upgrade key will work.

 

[kevvyb]

According to a call to microsoft a couple weeks ago, even when performing an upgrade, clean installing is the recommended method. I was told that when performing the upgrade, if there was no previous version on it, it would ask for a previous OS disk, just like it has in other versions of windows. And if you don't have the disk, you can continue,

Got it up to there.....

then you can upgrade your newly installed win7 to win7 using the same upgrade disk, and this will make it to where your upgrade key will work.

Could you explain this bit again......it's probably so obvious to you but you lost me there

 

[nate42nd]

Okay...I have been told if you don't have the disk for the previous version ytou cannot continue and I will have wasted my money. You are saying it will let you continue without the disk.......

Well, thanks for the info.

 

[grouchpunk08]

Got it up to there.....



Could you explain this bit again......it's probably so obvious to you but you lost me there

Ok, when you are clean installing from an upgrade disk without putting in a previous OS disk, and you try to activate, it will fail, because you haven't "proven" you own a previous version. The way to clean install on a blank harddrive using an upgrade disk without putting in a previous OS disk is this.

Boot from the DVD, and choose setup to start the install.

Choose advanced and select where you want to install.

When it asks you for a key or a previous OS disk, dont put in a key, and dont put in a disk, and just continue.

Let it finish, and then it will go to your desktop. Don't try to activate now either, as you have an 'upgrade' key.

To get your key to be able to work, you will run the upgrade disk from inside this newly installed windows 7. Then you choose upgrade. It will basically upgrade from 7 to 7. Then once this 'upgrade' is complete, you can use your 'upgrade key to activate you windows 7 installation. Cuz you 'upgraded'.

MS has put this little workaround in all their upgrade media since XP I believe. Hope this is a clear enough explanation

 

[grouchpunk08]

Okay...I have been told if you don't have the disk for the previous version ytou cannot continue and I will have wasted my money. You are saying it will let you continue without the disk.......

Well, thanks for the info.

Anytime. This exact process worked for XP and vista, and will work for 7 as well.

 

[kevvyb]

Thanks. I can follow that and Know what I need to do but it still sounds like it doesn't really make sense, or shouldn't sense

Of course here in the UK because the fuss the EU is making, if I am lucky enough to get hold of a copy(s), they will be the full (E) versions.

Will that mean that I just install with the key that comes with the E disk and won't have to go through that upgrade process....?

Tell me if I am wrong but I don't think this answers the OEM/retail question which I suppose comes down to the licence agreement.

I need to know if I go for the offer that this will not restrict me to installing on just the one machine.

 

[grouchpunk08]

Thanks. I can follow that and Know what I need to do but it still sounds like it doesn't really make sense, or shouldn't sense

Of course here in the UK because the fuss the EU is making, if I am lucky enough to get hold of a copy(s), they will be the full (E) versions.

Will that mean that I just install with the key that comes with the E disk and won't have to go through that upgrade process....?

Tell me if I am wrong but I don't think this answers the OEM/retail question which I suppose comes down to the licence agreement.

I need to know if I go for the offer that this will not restrict me to installing on just the one machine.

With a full disk, no, you will not have to bother with any kind of upgrading. With a full disk, you can just clean install, and activate right there. But its usually one key-one machine. I may be wrong, but I'm pretty sure even a full version would restrict you to one machine... unless you were to buy multiple keys, as I'm pretty sure its still one key-one machine for retail full versions

 

[xendrome]

Just to chime in on the title of this post.

Full and Upgrade are types of installs

OEM and Retail are types of licenses..

 

[kevvyb]

Just to chime in on the title of this post.

Full and Upgrade are types of installs

OEM and Retail are types of licenses..

That's exactly what I was trying to get at as I thought that was the case. Do you have any view on the licensing for retail versions? I had understood that they could be moved from one machine to another (as long as on o only one machine at a time) and were not restricted to the machine by hardware hash like OEM copies. I thought that was why OEM copies were cheaper.

 

[xendrome]

That's exactly what I was trying to get at as I thought that was the case. Do you have any view on the licensing for retail versions? I had understood that they could be moved from one machine to another (as long as on o only one machine at a time) and were not restricted to the machine by hardware hash like OEM copies. I thought that was why OEM copies were cheaper.

Yea OEM is restricted to the origional system it was put on.

Retail can be used on unlimited systems, but only 1 at a time.

 

[grouchpunk08]

Sorry kev, I completely misunderstood the question you were asking. my last post is somewhat related, although not explained well. Retail licenses, as far as I know, able to be transferred from machine to machine, as long as you only have one activated machine running. Like, if you install on one machine, ok, then once you install on another machine, you're not allowed to run the first machines installation anymore. I thnk thats how it works, someone correct me if I'm wrong

 

[kevvyb]

licensing

I probably didn't ask the question very clearly.

I have never seen this working except with Adobe Photoshop. That app somehow registers the installation on up to two machines. Beyond that you get an error message advising that it is already installed on two machines (as allowed by license). The process of uninstalling can be done with an operation to move the license to another machine. Very clever. If you forget to do the 'official transfer' operation you're stuffed. Lost one bit of the license!!

Never used anything other than OEM versions of windows so far so have not idea how MS does it.

So can I assume that the versions of Win 7 on offer will be retail versions?

 

[grouchpunk08]

I probably didn't ask the question very clearly.

I have never seen this working except with Adobe Photoshop. That app somehow registers the installation on up to two machines. Beyond that you get an error message advising that it is already installed on two machines (as allowed by license). The process of uninstalling can be done with an operation to move the license to another machine. Very clever. If you forget to do the 'official transfer' operation you're stuffed. Lost one bit of the license!!

Never used anything other than OEM versions of windows so far so have not idea how MS does it.

So can I assume that the versions of Win 7 on offer will be retail versions?

yeah, when you buy windows 7 either from a store or from the MS website, it will be a retail license.

 

[7echno7im]

clean install is probably the best solution.

 

[v8ornot2v8]

Thanks for the info - that's great to know. I don't have my initial disk for VIsta. Thanks!

 

[pparks1]

yeah, when you buy windows 7 either from a store or from the MS website, it will be a retail license.

However, if you do purchase Windows 7 or Vista online...you have to watch to see if you are buying an OEM copy or a retail copy. I just picked up Windows Vista 64 Ultimate from NewEgg.com with a free upgrade voucher to Windows 7 64 bit ultimate. The cost was $189 for the license for OEM and $249 for the retail license.

As discussed in this thread, had I gone with the retail, I could have moved it to another computer if I had wanted to. With the OEM copy, it's really tied to my specific computer that I activated it on. However, if you change enough hardware out on the machine, you have to reactivate and that sometimes fails if the machine "appears" too different to Microsoft. Generally speaking, a phone call to MS gets you activated again. I've heard of cases where people have moved the OEM to a completely different computer and called MS and did get activated again. I however am content with having this OS on this 1 and only 1 computer and following the license agreement. For all of my other computers, i run various flavors of Linux.

 

[srq2625]

I have never seen this working except with Adobe Photoshop. That app somehow registers the installation on up to two machines. Beyond that you get an error message advising that it is already installed on two machines (as allowed by license). The process of uninstalling can be done with an operation to move the license to another machine. Very clever. If you forget to do the 'official transfer' operation you're stuffed. Lost one bit of the license!!

Never used anything other than OEM versions of windows so far so have not idea how MS does it.

So can I assume that the versions of Win 7 on offer will be retail versions?

re: Photoshop - if you happen to do this, just call Adobe. They have the ability to make the activation count right. I had to go through this when a computer on which I had PS CS3 installed crashed. Basically had to rebuild the machine (new MBO, HDD, etc). Adobe on-line activate saw it as a 3rd activation attempt and kicked me to the curb. A phone call got it all squared away.

Retail vs. OEM - As has been stated above, retail can be moved from one machine to another with no issues as long as you don't have more than one machine activated at a time. I don't know how MS knows you've "deactivated" a previous build .... maybe it has something to do with timing of the activation attempts. I don't know.

I believe OEM versions are distributed to resellers ... as in machine builders and retail versions are distributed to real people. That being the case, I think we can all count on getting retail versions. I would sure hope so!