Matt said:
I was wondering if anyone could tell me what the actual differences between
the OEM versions of Windows XP home and Professional and the standard are.
Somebody told me that the OEM version only supports a small number of
hardware upgrades etc, any truth in this?
If you're dealing with a BIOS-locked (a.k.a., SLP) OEM CD or Recovery
CD, it'll be bound to the motherboard. I've even seen some reports (but
haven't personally encountered) that some manufacturer's Recovery CDs
will balk even if only the RAM or hard drive has been changed. However,
there are no upgrade limitations to a generic OEM installation CD.
There are some very important reasons that an OEM license costs so
much less than a retail license. OEM licenses are very limited:
1) OEM versions must be sold with a piece of non-peripheral
hardware (normally a motherboard or hard drive, if not an entire PC,
although Microsoft has greatly relaxed the hardware criteria for WinXP)
and are _permanently_ bound to the first PC on which they are installed.
An OEM license, once installed, is not legally transferable to another
computer under any circumstances. This is the main reason some people
avoid OEM versions; if the PC dies or is otherwise disposed of (even
stolen), you cannot re-use your OEM license on a new PC. The only
legitimate way to transfer the ownership of an OEM license is to
transfer ownership of the entire PC.
2) Microsoft provides no free support for OEM versions. If you
have any problems that require outside assistance, your only recourse is
to contact the manufacturer/builder of the PC or the vendor of the OEM
license. This would include such issues as lost a Product Key or
replacing damaged installation media. (Microsoft does make allowances
for those instances when you can prove that the OEM has gone out of
business.) This doesn't mean that you can't download patches and
service packs from Microsoft -- just no free telephone or email support
for problems with the OS.
3) An OEM CD cannot be used to perform an upgrade of an earlier
OS, as it was designed to be installed _only_ upon an empty hard drive.
It can still be used to perform a repair installation (a.k.a. an
in-place upgrade) of an existing WinXP installation.
4) If the OEM CD was designed by a specific manufacturer, such as
eMachines, Sony, Dell, Gateway, etc., it will most likely only install
on the same brand of PC, as an additional anti-piracy feature. Further,
such CDs are severely customized to contain only the minimum of device
drivers, and a lot of extra nonsense, that the manufacturer feels
necessary for the specific model of PC for which the CD was designed.
(To be honest, such CDs should _not_ be available on the open market;
but, if you're shopping someplace on-line like eBay, swap meets, or
computer fairs, there's often no telling what you're buying until it's
too late.) The "generic" OEM CDs, such as are manufactured by Microsoft
and sold to small systems builders, don't have this particular problem,
though, and are pretty much the same as their retail counterparts, apart
from the licensing, support, and upgrading restrictions.
Furthermore, I was considering creating an unattended setup disk to
reinstall peoples computers with, slipstreamed with the latest hot fixes
etc. If I use my personal copies of XP Home and XP Professional for the
basis of such a disk, is it enough to create a disk like that then just
input each persons unique XP key, then reactivate the operating system? Or
is it only OK to do that in cases where the individual is not running an OEM
version of windows xp?
This plan won't work, unless each of your customers has the same type
of license as you do.
Product Keys are bound to the specific type and language of
CD/license (OEM, Volume, retail, full, or Upgrade) with which they are
purchased. For example, a WinXP Home OEM Product Key won't work for any
retail version of WinXP Home, or for any version of WinXP Pro, and vice
versa. An upgrade's Product Key cannot be used with a full version CD,
and vice versa. An OEM Product Key will not work to install a retail
product. An Italian Product Key will not work with an English CD. Bottom
line: Product Keys and CD types cannot be mixed & matched.
--
Bruce Chambers
Help us help you:
You can have peace. Or you can have freedom. Don't ever count on having
both at once. - RAH
