OEM question

[Guest]

Bought a new pc in bits with OEM vista ultimate. I need to understand the
following questions:
Can i reinstall to the same hardware? and reactivate?
Can i change motherboard in future and reinstall and reactivate?
I am asking as some sites suggest you can only install OEM and activate the
once - other sites suggest vista oem will be locked to motherboard emaning if
you replace the board you need to buy a new copy?
Disk and parts arrived yesterday via overclockers.co.uk in the booklet there
is no info from MS over the above questions. The only diff appears to be at
OEM you only get one disk with either 32 or 64 bit - you dont get both, this
is not an issue for me as i only wanted the 32 bit version.

 

[Paul-B]

Bought a new pc in bits with OEM vista ultimate. I need to understand
the following questions:
Can i reinstall to the same hardware? and reactivate?
Can i change motherboard in future and reinstall and reactivate?
I am asking as some sites suggest you can only install OEM and
activate the once - other sites suggest vista oem will be locked to
motherboard emaning if you replace the board you need to buy a new
copy? Disk and parts arrived yesterday via overclockers.co.uk in the
booklet there is no info from MS over the above questions. The only
diff appears to be at OEM you only get one disk with either 32 or 64
bit - you dont get both, this is not an issue for me as i only wanted
the 32 bit version.

What does the EULA you got with your OEM Vista say? I can't find a copy
of any Vista OEM EULA on the Internet.,

 

[Guest]

I will read eula tonight, at work now. I did not notice any info about
reinstalling when i quickly read last night.
I will need to reinstall several times over the comming months due to driver
improvements etc, basically if i install this weekend most of the drivers are
beta for my hardware - hence my concerns about reinstalling. I have no issue
with the disk being locked to my pc, but i must be able to reinstall whenever.

 

[Rick Rogers]

Hi,

Bought a new pc in bits with OEM vista ultimate. I need to understand the
following questions:
Can i reinstall to the same hardware?
Yes.

and reactivate?
Yes.

Can i change motherboard in future and reinstall and reactivate?

No, not usually. There may be exceptions to this, but the intent of an OEM
license is that it is permanently tied to the system upon which it is first
activated. In spirit, the motherboard is considered the heart of the system,
though arguements can be made as the license only refers to a "device". With
XP, some were able to get new activations by phoning in when changing out a
failed motherboard. This trend may continue with Vista, but there is no
solid information at this point.

I am asking as some sites suggest you can only install OEM and activate
the
once - other sites suggest vista oem will be locked to motherboard emaning
if
you replace the board you need to buy a new copy?

Again, yes, that is the intent. A preinstalled OEM copy, like HP or Dell, is
generally BIOS-locked by the manufacturer. These can rarely be installed on
anything other than the system they come with. This differs greatly from the
generic OEM license which is basically a copy of the retail disk that is
intended for a single machine without support from Microsoft.

Disk and parts arrived yesterday via overclockers.co.uk in the booklet
there
is no info from MS over the above questions. The only diff appears to be
at
OEM you only get one disk with either 32 or 64 bit - you dont get both,
this
is not an issue for me as i only wanted the 32 bit version.

To my knowledge, the only purchase that comes with both disks in the box is
retail Ultimate. All others contain the 32 bit disk and offers to get x64
for a small shipping fee.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP

Windows help - www.rickrogers.org

news:[email protected]...

 

[Guest]

Thanks Rick.
For small system builders I see an issue, if the board fails and needs
replacing Vista must be able to reacitivate or a new copy would need to be
purchased for every failed board with an OEM install - surely Microsoft would
not do that to people! Early days time will tell i guess, i may install
tonight, then delete the partition and reinstall at the weekend to see what
the consequences are.

 

[Mike Hall - MS MVP Windows Shell/User]

MS don't do that to people.. they also supply a full retail version that can
be installed to another system.. the price reflects this and the fact that
OEM is not directly supported by MS..

 

[Paul-B]

Again, yes, that is the intent.

Rick, not being confrontational, but do you have a source for this? I
haven't been able to get hold of a OEM EULA anywhere, which presumably
is where this would be stated.

Such a restriction would almost certainly be unlawful under EC
regulations, given that a motherboard can fail within weeks of
powering-up and such a restriction would effectively be unfair to both
the consumer and the builder.

If I were to buy a PC from a systems builder which had an OEM Vista
o/s, and the motherboard failed within 12 months I would have the right
to demand that the motherboard be replaced and that the supplier would
bear the cost. In that case surely the supplier would not be forced to
pay for another copy of the o/s from Microsoft?

 

[Carey Frisch [MVP]]

Questions regarding OEM licensing are addressed in the
OEM system builders newsgroup:
http://www.microsoft.com/oem/default.mspx

"Generally, you may upgrade or replace all of the hardware components on
your customer's computer and the end user may maintain the license for the
original Microsoft OEM operating system software, with the exception of an
upgrade or replacement of the motherboard. An upgrade of the motherboard is
considered to result in a "new personal computer" to which Microsoft OEM
operating system software cannot be transferred from another computer. If
the motherboard is upgraded or replaced for reasons other than a defect,
then a new computer has been created and the license of new operating system
software is required. If the motherboard is replaced because it is
defective, you do NOT need to acquire a new operating system license for the
PC as long as the replacement motherboard is the same make/model or the same
manufacturer's replacement/equivalent, as defined by the manufacturer's
warranty.

The reason for this licensing rule primarily relates to the end-user license
agreement (EULA) and the support of the software covered by that EULA. The
EULA is a set of usage rights granted to the end-user by the PC manufacturer
and relates only to rights for that software as installed on for that
particular PC. The System Builder is required to support the software on
that original PC. Understanding that end users, over time, upgrade their PC
with different components, Microsoft needed to have one base component "left
standing" that would still define that original PC. Since the motherboard
contains the CPU and is the "heart and soul" of the PC, when the motherboard
is replaced (for reasons other than defect) a new PC is essentially created.
The original System Builder, therefore, can not be expected to support this
new PC that they in effect, did not manufacture."

--
Carey Frisch
Microsoft MVP
Windows - Shell/User

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

:

in message

Again, yes, that is the intent.

Rick, not being confrontational, but do you have a source for this? I
haven't been able to get hold of a OEM EULA anywhere, which presumably
is where this would be stated.

Such a restriction would almost certainly be unlawful under EC
regulations, given that a motherboard can fail within weeks of
powering-up and such a restriction would effectively be unfair to both
the consumer and the builder.

If I were to buy a PC from a systems builder which had an OEM Vista
o/s, and the motherboard failed within 12 months I would have the right
to demand that the motherboard be replaced and that the supplier would
bear the cost. In that case surely the supplier would not be forced to
pay for another copy of the o/s from Microsoft?

 

[Paul-B]

Questions regarding OEM licensing are addressed in the
OEM system builders newsgroup:
http://www.microsoft.com/oem/default.mspx

"Generally, you may upgrade or replace all of the hardware components
on your customer's computer and the end user may maintain the license
for the original Microsoft OEM operating system software, with the
exception of an upgrade or replacement of the motherboard. An upgrade
of the motherboard is considered to result in a "new personal
computer" to which Microsoft OEM operating system software cannot be
transferred from another computer. If the motherboard is upgraded or
replaced for reasons other than a defect, then a new computer has
been created and the license of new operating system software is
required. If the motherboard is replaced because it is defective, you
do NOT need to acquire a new operating system license for the PC as
long as the replacement motherboard is the same make/model or the
same manufacturer's replacement/equivalent, as defined by the
manufacturer's warranty.

The reason for this licensing rule primarily relates to the end-user
license agreement (EULA) and the support of the software covered by
that EULA. The EULA is a set of usage rights granted to the end-user
by the PC manufacturer and relates only to rights for that software
as installed on for that particular PC. The System Builder is
required to support the software on that original PC. Understanding
that end users, over time, upgrade their PC with different
components, Microsoft needed to have one base component "left
standing" that would still define that original PC. Since the
motherboard contains the CPU and is the "heart and soul" of the PC,
when the motherboard is replaced (for reasons other than defect) a
new PC is essentially created. The original System Builder,
therefore, can not be expected to support this new PC that they in
effect, did not manufacture."

Thank you. Given that motherboards come and go with ever-increasing
rapidity nowadays I suspect that this could be said to be an unfair
condition under EC consumer law, and therefore able to be challenged in
court. Whether anyone would actually do this is a moot point, although
Brussels is increasingly hostile to Microsoft and I suspect that the
ruling would not go Microsoft's way.

 

[Kerry Brown]

If someone sold you an OEM version of Windows that was not installed on a pc
then you should have received it a package that has the OEM license on the
outside of it. If this is not the case then I would ask them why. They are
breaking the terms of the OEM license. In the OEM license it states that
motherboards can only be replaced if defective on warranty. As you are in
essence the System Builder it is up to you to determine the warranty of the
system.

 

[Guest]

Okay I am at home with the disk, its in a dvd case within a dvd case size
cardboard box, sealed at each end with MS lables. The rear of the cardboard
box has the EULA. No where does it mention anything about reinstalls or
reactivation, or begin tied to a motherboard! Not a mention.

 

[Colin Barnhorst]

There should be no reason to reinstall the whole OS just because of drivers,
good or bad.

 

[Colin Barnhorst]

You can replace a defective mobo with the same model and revision. If you
are talking about replacing an old mobo with a different model, then no.

 

[Colin Barnhorst]

If you intend to replace the mobo often, buy a retail edition of Vista. The
right to change computers without replacing the OS is included in the
difference in pricing between OEM and retail editions.

 

[Colin Barnhorst]

Read the license file that is on dvd.

Okay I am at home with the disk, its in a dvd case within a dvd case size
cardboard box, sealed at each end with MS lables. The rear of the
cardboard
box has the EULA. No where does it mention anything about reinstalls or
reactivation, or begin tied to a motherboard! Not a mention.

 

[Paul-B]

If you intend to replace the mobo often, buy a retail edition of
Vista. The right to change computers without replacing the OS is
included in the difference in pricing between OEM and retail editions.

<sigh>

You haven't grasped what I'm trying to say. I'm a systems-builder for
sme's... I build around 100-120 pc's per year, so I use OEM editions of
XP Pro. Now, with XP it was and still is possible to replace any of the
major components and re-activate... on occasion this has been because
of the failure of the motherboard. Over any period of time it is
sometimes not possible to buy the same make/model/version of the
original motherboard, because it has been discontinued by the
manufacturer, or is not available from my supplier/s.

That's not a new pc, or an upgrade, it's a replacement for a damaged
component.

 

[Kerry Brown]

You haven't grasped what I'm trying to say. I'm a systems-builder for
sme's... I build around 100-120 pc's per year, so I use OEM editions of
XP Pro. Now, with XP it was and still is possible to replace any of the
major components and re-activate... on occasion this has been because
of the failure of the motherboard. Over any period of time it is
sometimes not possible to buy the same make/model/version of the
original motherboard, because it has been discontinued by the
manufacturer, or is not available from my supplier/s.

That's not a new pc, or an upgrade, it's a replacement for a damaged
component.

If you are an OEM then I assume you've seen the OEM license. It's on every
pack of OEM software. The OEM website also has several pages explaining how
OEM licenses work and Microsoft's current interpretation of the OEM license.
While a system is on warranty it is OK to change the motherboard. If an
exact replacement is not available a substitute can be used. This has been
the policy since August 2005. Out of warranty motherboard replacements means
the license is not valid. This has nothing to do with activation. Just
because something activates doesn't mean the license is valid. I'm not
defending this policy or even saying I like it. I'm just stating the facts.

I am also a small OEM and have had to change motherboards on warranty a few
times. A couple of times I had to phone for activation as the customer had
already activated several times in their repair attempts. I explained to the
activation phone person that the motherboard was changed on warranty and was
given an activation code with no problems. As you are the OEM System Builder
how long the warranty is, is up to you. For the price of a new motherboard
and labour to install it you could sell the customer an extended warranty.
I'm assuming Vista will work the same but as I haven't seen a Vista OEM pack
yet I don't know for sure if the license is the same. Only time will tell
how hard it is to re-activate an OEM system after a motherboard change.