OEM software

[David Rowland]

hi alan, this is the normal trend, OEM software is normally bundled by computer re-sellers, we had a debate on this recently.
You will get a CD with wrapper, a sticker CD-KEY to put on the PC and away u go. IT cannot be used as an upgrade though, it has to be clean install.

Buying OEM over Retail really is a decision down to you, I think thre is grey area as it was always the trend to buy OEM with hardware, but I am thinking it is not actually a legal problem as Microsoft are incoraging purchasing their software more and more these days. I think it is down to Box or no box tbh.

[Alan Wharton]

Well for a saving of over £100 i think its a no brainer really OEM 😛

[Nick Minall]

Can you just buy OEM softwear on its own? do you not have to buy a computer part to get it?

Nick

[David Rowland]

OEM license is for that software to be installed on that computer only.
A retail license is for that software to be installed on one computer only, so if u scrap the computer you have talk to microsoft and hope they release the license on the software.

Anyone can buy Microsoft OEM software, however it is printed “For distribution with a new PC only”, “for Product Support, contact the manufacturer of your PC”. The intention is the system builders can buy it however it will install on New and older PC’s.

In my view, if you buying the OEM software to place on a computer now and you are going to upgrade a part of the computer in 3-4 months time, then wait until you do upgrade.

[eman]

the pc business i have here in the states, i have always loaded up oem stuff for money watching customers, you can buy it for any reason and buy it off the shelf here. there is one catch tho..always one right .. 🙂 there is no support with oem, you have to go to the pc builder for support. microsoft will charge you for support on oem software. there is no difference in the software other than no support what so ever unless you pay. soooo if you have a problem they will get there other hundred bucks or so if the pc builder doesnt know. i can install win xp pro for about 120 us dollars versus full version retail for 300. some guys have been selling it on ebay here in the us dirt cheap too i have seen 70 dollars get a copy. thats cheaper than i can get it wholesale !!!! i have been on the phone for ever with microsoft over this one and its the only difference… NO SUPPORT WITHOUT PAYING. if you have retail they will sing like a bird to fix you up !!!

Eric

[teknocomp]

If you do have an OEM XP and need to upgrade here’s how. And from my experience with Microsoft on changing machines or just reactivation for some reason they normally do it with a fuss only time they have ever refused was on an upgrade for a customer using an xp cd on a Packard bell but using the Packard bell licence key. I assume the reason is they use their own recovery disks and not an Microsoft XP cd. The only real difference between Home and Pro is Pro has lots more when it comes to the networking side see http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/ … sing2.mspx. which lists all the differences, Hope this help.

WinXP’s setupp.ini controls how the CD acts. IE is it an OEM version or retail? First, find your setupp.ini file in the i386 directory on your Wimp CD. Open it up, it’ll look something like this:

ExtraData=707A667567736F696F697911AE7E05
Pid=55034000

The Pid value is what we’re interested in. What’s there now looks like a standard default. There are special numbers that determine if it’s a retail, OEM, or volume license edition. First, we break down that number into two parts. The first five digits determines how the CD will behave, i.e. is it a retail cd that lets you clean install or upgrade, or an oem cd that only lets you perform a clean install? The last three digits determines what CD key it will accept. You are able to mix and match these values. For example you could make a WinXP cd that acted like a retail cd, yet accepted OEM keys.

Now, for the actual values. Remember the first and last values are interchangeable, but usually you’d keep them as a pair:

Retail = 51882 335
Volume License = 51883 270
OEM = 82503 OEM

So if you wanted a retail CD that took retail keys, the last line of your setupp.ini file would read:

Pid=51882335

And if you wanted a retail CD that took OEM keys, you’d use:

Pid=51882OEM