OEM vs Retail

Hello

I am starting this bew topic to seperate it from my query about downloading the Windows iso.

I have read numerous forums and keep getting conflicting results.

1) Does the Windows 7 Pro 64Bit OEM dvd contain the exact same software and structure as the retail disk?

2) Can the OEM DVD be converted to a all version disk?

3) Can the ei.cfg be edited to change the edition to another version or the channel be changed to retail?

I have read that the OEM and Retail dvd restriction has been removed and the retail and oem disk data is exactly the same since Windows 7 and it does not matter what disk you use.

However this seems to be shot down on various forums.

Does anyone have a oem and retail version that they can check?

ozrobbo said:

1) Does the Windows 7 Pro 64Bit OEM dvd contain the exact same software and structure as the retail disk?

There is nothing like an "OEM" disk or a "Retail" disk. The installer is exactly the same in both cases and Windows behaves in the very same way. The OEM/Retail is just a characteristic in the key used to activate, that just tell MS if it allows unlimited activation or just in the very first PC it was used.

ozrobbo said:

2) Can the OEM DVD be converted to a all version disk?

Again, there is nothing like "an OEM disk". It's just the very same Windows installer. But yes, it can be changed to install whatever version you want. The only difference is the x86/x64 versions.

ozrobbo said:

3) Can the ei.cfg be edited to change the edition to another version or the channel be changed to retail?

The channel doesn't depends on the disk, but the edition can be easily changed with ei.cfg. Moreover, just deleting it altogether will make the installer ask you when installing what edition do you want (home premium, professional, etc.). Of course, you can only activate the edition that matches your serial.

I'll add this post from your other thread which I think is what you are confused about,

ozrobbo said:

That's what I thought

But I have read you cannot make a vanilla disk using an oem disk as its locked to the oem version. I know I can edit ei.cfg and change the version or change the retail or oem channel or even delete it and make it a multiple version boot disk but only on the retail iso and not oem

What I believe you were reading about were branded OEM disc's which come from manufacturers like Dell, HP, etc. They don't require a product key in most cases because they will be made with their factory key already installed.

When most people talk about OEM discs they are referring to a system builder OEM which is the same disc as retail, but an OEM product key that cannot be transferred after installed, like a retail can. (One install at a time of course)