OEM product key

My final word is: yes you can activate a retail Windows using OEM key
but you cannot activate it using the key you read from the preinstalled OS
(actually you can, but that's hacking)


The diff between a OEM and a Retail disk is packaging, manuals,warranty...etc

sergiogarcia9 said:

Zidane24 said:

ratePV said:

You cannot use the oem key to activate a retail version
(...if it stayed same as vista,tryed it on a vista home basic-came with a invalid key error and i had to grab the one from the sticker on my laptop)

Incorrect...the OEM key will activate a retail ISO of Vista/7

All of the Windows images are the same...it is the product keys that differ

No.
There is both OEM and Retail.
Well the ISO's around the net is.

Read more here: Retail and OEM Components

I know that but those editions are normally tailored to the machine they are being installed on PLUS they have the one-use one-machine key. I never recieved an OEM disc for my custom laptop BUT I have an OEM license...

Solution? Got myself a retail image of Vista and applied my product key...

Never had any issue otherwise

sup3rsprt said:

Zidane24 said:

the OEM key will activate a retail ISO of Vista/7

That's true

(btw, zidane24 where is my invite?? )

Err...you didn't get an invite?

Hold on a sec...

Zidane24 said:

sup3rsprt said:

Zidane24 said:

the OEM key will activate a retail ISO of Vista/7

That's true

(btw, zidane24 where is my invite?? )

Err...you didn't get an invite?

Hold on a sec...

Well I missed something

DarkNovaGamer said:

Zidane24 said:

sup3rsprt said:

That's true

(btw, zidane24 where is my invite?? )

Err...you didn't get an invite?

Hold on a sec...

Well I missed something

Invite to the Seven Gurus Group

Zidane24 said:

DarkNovaGamer said:

Zidane24 said:

Err...you didn't get an invite?

Hold on a sec...

Well I missed something

Invite to the Seven Gurus Group

Ah

ferraridave said:

Hi,

Can anybody answer this question for me, I've just brought a new Sony Vaio laptop, and it has Win7 Home Premium pre-installed, but also comes pre loaded with loads of crapware.
What I intend to do is use a downloaded iso of the same os, to do a nice clean install with, but, what I want to know is, can I then use the product key that came with the laptop to legally activate it, or do I have to buy another OEM version to get a new product key ?

Thanks' in advance for any help given, Dave.

Some OEMs, not sure about Sony, have no bloat ware on their re-installation DVD and possibly the same on the restore partition.

Kind of a long process to find out, maybe someone with a Sony can tell us.

It's worth a try.