The difference between OEM and Retail

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Guest

I am about to uy XP, probably pro, maybe home, my biggest concern is this: I
am planning on upgrarding my motherboard and processor in the next year or
so, but I just got a new HDD, so will I be able to transplant the HDD into
the new system with an OEM version? or must I buy a retail box? Will it
work with either?

Thanks
 
You can only buy OEM with a computer or nonperipheral hardware and it must remain with that unit for the rest of time and if the unit breaks you cannot use it on another unit.
 
Exactly what constitutes non-peripheral hardware? I am hoping for a working
definition of peripheral, not just examples of things that are or aren't.
assuming that the non-peripheral "unit" moves with my HDD to the new
motherboard, will I be able to continue using the OEM copy? also, I am more
interested in what is possible than in what the EULA says, though obviously
that is a major concern. Thanks,
 
Kipski said:
I am about to uy XP, probably pro, maybe home, my biggest concern is this: I
am planning on upgrarding my motherboard and processor in the next year or
so, but I just got a new HDD, so will I be able to transplant the HDD into
the new system with an OEM version? or must I buy a retail box? Will it
work with either?

Thanks
Click to expand...

I had a dream that said after 120 days the activation file that MS
keeps is deleted, so WinXP can be installed and activated as if it was
for the first time.

jimbo
 
A new motherboard will certainly cause XP to want to re-activate, since that
almost always means a new CPU, new RAM, new NIC adapter, etc, etc. A retail
copy of XP can be reactivated on new hardware, an OEM copy can not.

You may need to call the Microsoft 800 number (which will appear on the
screen, only if the internet re-activation fails). But, that is no big
deal. The one time I needed to do this, the MS representative was actually
friendly. If it happen to you, just explain what you are doing.

See the following article for a case study in swapping motherboards:

http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1558,10333,00.asp

You should alos be prepared to do a "repair" installation of XP, if you
attempt to keep the current hard drive with the current XP installation and
programs. A new motherboard almost always requires the repair installation,
unless of course, you choose to do a clean installation, which will erase
all data on the target partition (usually C:\) before installing XP. As
always, have a backup of all personal files, just in case something goes
wrong during the upgrade.

Here are some links that might be useful:

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;315341



http://www.webtree.ca/windowsxp/repair_xp.htm



http://www.extremetech.com/print_article/0,3998,a=23979,00.asp
 
Greetings --

A non-proprietary, generic OEM version should work for you, as
long as you plan on installed the new motherboard into the same
computer on which you've installed WinXP.

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 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 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.


Bruce Chambers
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