Activation after replacement of failed equipment

[Ken Blake, MVP]

In

Well if that's the case what's the difference between the Generic OEM
and the real product?
If the answer is nothing but the price then why would Microsoft
license such an arrangement?
I've never dealt with Generic OEM's so I have no idea but am simply
curious.

As far as the software it contains, the generic OEM version is
identical to the full retail version. However, it has the
following disadvantages as compared with the retail version:

1. Its license ties it permanently to the first computer it's
installed on. It can never legally be moved to another computer,
sold, or given away.

2. It can only do a clean installation, not an upgrade.

3. Microsoft provides no support for OEM versions. You have to
get any needed support from your OEM, and that may range anywhere
between good and non-existent.

 

[Unknown]

Your statement 'Microsoft provides NO support for OEM versions' is totally
misleading. They (Microsoft) provide updates for Windows, drivers and other
programs. The KB and other items are available to OEM users.

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

In

Your statement 'Microsoft provides NO support for OEM versions' is
totally misleading. They (Microsoft) provide updates for Windows,
drivers and other programs. The KB and other items are available to
OEM users.

Yes, they provide all of those things. However those are not what
I meant by "support." The lack of support I'm talking about is
that if you have a problem, you can't call them and ask them for
help.

 

[Chris R. Speaker]

Yes, actually you can if you are willing to pay the $35.00 incident charge.
Or so I was told by a support person from Microsoft.

 

[=?ISO-8859-1?Q?=BBQ=AB?=]

As far as the software it contains, the generic OEM version is
identical to the full retail version. However, it has the
following disadvantages as compared with the retail version:

1. Its license ties it permanently to the first computer it's
installed on. It can never legally be moved to another computer,
sold, or given away.

I was about to post that if this is the case, Microsoft should change
the EULA it puts on OEM disks. But then I realized I don't actually
have an OEM disk. My copy of the Windows XP came directly from
Microsoft. Some idiot dropped my original OEM disk on the floor and
subsequently rolled over it with a desk chair, then had to get a
replacement. (Ok, I'm the idiot, and I paid Microsoft $30 for the
replacement disk.) The disk is marked "NOT FOR RETAIL OR OEM
DISTRIBUTION", and the EULA they granted me with it seems to be the
same as a retail boxed EULA, at least as far as transferring the
product to another internal (owned by me) computer is concerned. On
the phone with them when ordering the replacement, I was very clear
that it was an OEM disk I was replacing, and I had to give them the
serial number etched into the first disk.

4. TRANSFER-Internal. You may move the Product to a different
Workstation Computer. After the transfer, you must
completely remove the Product from the former Workstation
Computer. Transfer to Third Party. The initial user of the
Product may make a one-time transfer of the Product to
another end user. The transfer has to include all
component parts, media, printed materials, this EULA, and
if applicable, the Certificate of Authenticity. The
transfer may not be an indirect transfer, such as a
consignment. Prior to the transfer, the end user receiving
the transferred Product must agree to all the EULA terms.
No Rental. You may not rent, lease, lend or provide
commercial hosting services to third parties with the
Product.

Maybe someone with an actual OEM disk could post the relevant section
of the EULA? It lives at %systemroot%/system32/eula.txt.

 

[wojo]

Well my experience with Microsoft is that the best support they have is the
atomatic updates and diffrent FAQ's and patches available to anybody that
goes to their website so if that's the only difference then I just may start
buying the OEM versions instead. hmmmm, something to think about.

 

[wojo]

I just responded to >Q< saying MS support isn't worth the extra price of
retail but the fact that you can't legally uninstall it from one box and
install it on another is a different story since I regularly build myself
new computers and sell the old ones w/o any software or OS on it.and the
Clean Install only is also a big disadvantage. I'll stick with retail.

 

[Alex Nichol]

Now, some people believe that the motherboard is the key component
that defines the "original computer," but the OEM EULA does not make
any such distinction. Others have said that one could successfully
argue that it's the PC's case that is the deciding component, as that
is where one is instructed to affix the OEM CoA label w/Product Key.
Again, the EULA does not specifically define any single component as
the computer.

I think confusion in this arises from the 'BIOS Lock' alternative used
by the big OEMs, where the system is tied to the BIOS of the
motherboard, and you can change other hardware as much as you like.

Two points: at the technical level, if you change such a board, the
system then becomes 'unactivated' and can be activated by the normal
means: I don't think there is any specific provision to detect that the
product id used is associated with such a machine

The amount you can change an OEM system that was not BIOS locked is very
much a grey area. I would think a reasonable guide would be that if the
system on boot thinks it is still the same as originally you are OK, if
it decides 'This ain't Kansas any more' and calls on an activation by
phone you might well be seen as having a different machine. For the
criteria for this break-point see my page www.aumha.org/win5/a/wpa.htm