Windows OEM discs on eBay...

[elmagicochrisg]

Been looking to buy my own legal version of Windows 7. But most of the time I seem to find OEM discs, a lot of them are Dell recovery discs like this one:

Windows 7 Professional 64 Bit Multilanguage

I'm pretty sure these are illegal and the only legal way for me to buy Windows 7 without buying a prebuilt PC is buying the full retail package which in most cases costs over €200. Or am I mistaken?...

In any case, paying + €200 for a copy of Windows 7 is just not going to happen.

So either it's a legal OEM, or if that's not an option, an illegal download. I have no intention of paying someone for something that is still illegal in the end. If that is the case that is...

So tell me, what's the deal here?...

[AppleQueso]

Newegg sells OEM versions of it. Dunno if they ship to europe though.

[elmagicochrisg]

Newegg sells OEM versions of it. Dunno if they ship to europe though.

When you click 'details' you will find this:

Use of this OEM System Builder Channel software is subject to the terms of the Microsoft OEM System Builder License. This software is intended for pre-installation on a new personal computer for resale. This OEM System Builder Channel software requires the assembler to provide end user support for the Windows software and cannot be transferred to another computer once it is installed. To acquire Windows software with support provided by Microsoft please see our full package "Retail" product offerings.

So basically to put this on your computer legally as an end user you have to either sell your custom built PC to yourself, or make someone sell it to you. And you -or the person selling it to you- should provide end user support instead of Microsoft...

Also, seems like this OEM stuff is very very restricted. Build a new PC for yourself and you're not even entitled to transfer the OS to your new PC. That's fucked up...

So either you have to be a sheep and only buy pre-builts with Windows pre-installed, or you have to pay an inflated price for a one-time install on a custom built PC presuming you circumvent the end user policy, or you have to pay a ridiculously overinflated price for a retail version you can use on one PC at a time...

[isiolia]

So basically to put this on your computer legally as an end user you have to either sell your custom built PC to yourself, or make someone sell it to you. And you -or the person selling it to you- should provide end user support instead of Microsoft...

Also, seems like this OEM stuff is very very restricted. Build a new PC for yourself and you're not even entitled to transfer the OS to your new PC. That's fucked up...

It used to be that the OEM versions were required to be sold with hardware (though usually worked around by selling with an IDE cable or something ). But, it's the usual thing for folks building their own machines to buy an OEM copy. It's sold at a discounted price due to the limited service and transfer capability. To me, the "intended for" description indicates why those restrictions are there moreso than a legal requirement to limit who can use it.

Realistically, OEM Windows will be bound to the particular motherboard/CPU combo you install it on (though you can often just call them and get it activated on another anyway, claim your mobo broke/etc). I've never broken activation by swapping HDDs, GPUs, or whatever.
While there may be some people out there who rotate through those on a regular basis, I think a lot more of us wind up keeping the ones we built with in the first place.

It does mean factoring a Windows license into build costs when you do upgrade, but it's not like the previous license disappears. It just goes with the old parts, if you choose to repurpose them - which is what I'm inclined to do. Additionally, I tend to see it that if I wind up buying a couple OEM licenses, that allows me to be using Windows on two sets of hardware, versus paying about the same for the ability to use it on one at time.


Still, if what you want to do with your pile of computer parts involves running Windows software, the $100 or so an OEM copy costs is really not that terrible.

The brand-specific licenses are a little different. Usually they'll install with few complaints on the corresponding brand. Using a generic OEM copy with a branded sticker or something usually requires manual activation.