The Official OcUK Vista Licencing Questions FAQ Thread

Burnsy2023 · 14 Jan 2007 at 13:55

Servo said:
I wonder if you guys can help me. My wife starts Uni as a very very mature student, doing a nursing degree, can she get vista cheaper? I can't seem to find the answer anywhere.

Cheers
Robert

There is usually a student a teacher upgrade version avaliable, but that would require an existing PC with either an OEm or retail licence.

Burnsy

Burnsy2023 · 14 Jan 2007 at 14:15

D3lirious said:
1. The 'upgrade' package simply converts license from oem xp to oem vista, or if you have retail xp, retail xp to retail vista? If so, I'm thinking clever microsoft, since 99% of joe public will all have oem versions that shipped with their machines from new and when they feel like trying vista out they probably wont have the faintest idea what oem means, therefore buying the upgrade and in turn, paying microsoft twice as much money as they could have paid by buying an oem version instead. So essentially, they pay twice the price for the same product: oem vista? Nice one MS.

Not quite, the upgrade licence does not convert the OEM or retail licence. It's an extension rather than replacement.

D3lirious said:
4. What if I bought the full retail version of XP, does that help if I used the voucher with it? No, as far as I can see, the voucher doesn't even apply.

Correct.

D3lirious said:
5. Since I'm getting a nice spanking new system with all the trimmings, it would seem logical to move to 64bit windows with vista since driver availability should be much better now than with XP 64bit. Well I'm stuck there, because the voucher only upgrades to the 32 bit version vista. Is that right?

It depends from OEM to OEM whether you can choose what version you upgrade to, but you can't swap between 32 and 64bit on the OEM licence once the voucher has been redeemed.

6. I want to dual boot for a few months so I can start trying out and getting used to Vista whilst having a stable XP that I will know will just 'work'. Well, in this case I would be stuffed since I would have to buy two copies of XP oem. One to use as normal, and one to use the expressupgrade on to convert it to vista.

Correct.

D3lirious said:
7. Is it worth buying from the U.S. ? How does import duty (if that's the right term) work and how much would it likely add to the U.S. price? I have a funny feeling I'll be stuck here too since if it's as cheap as the conversion rate would suggest, everyone would be doing it.

There has been discussion on this, and as far as we can tell, there isn't any major prolems, but I doubt anyone will know until they have tried it.

Burnsy

Lysander · 14 Jan 2007 at 14:22

Nickg said:
dude when did MS force you to buy vista? thats right, they didnt.

Any computer user who doesn't buy Dells or HPs where the OS is OEM will need to buy a MS OS at some point. True, I don't need to buy Vista now, but as software improves, one needs to upgrade one's hardware and eventually the OS for compatibility. It gets to a point where you can't not buy Windows if you're a frequent PC user.

To this extent I think MS should be a little more lenient on their customers. 200 GBP for an OS is disgusting and this whole thing of 'different' versions of Windows is just another way of getting more cash out of people. Yes I'll buy Vista, but grudgingly.

AssaTM · 14 Jan 2007 at 21:57

Ok so can someone clear this up for me once and for all? I have an OEM version of Windows XP, all I have changed is my GFX card, I have the CD key for the OEM Windows XP, and it is of course activated online, can I buy Windows Vista OEM and use it legally un all without any problems? ty

mrochester · 14 Jan 2007 at 22:00

AssaTM said:
Ok so can someone clear this up for me once and for all? I have an OEM version of Windows XP, all I have changed is my GFX card, I have the CD key for the OEM Windows XP, and it is of course activated online, can I buy Windows Vista OEM and use it legally un all without any problems? ty

Yes, you'll just have to do a clean install of Vista.

D3lirious · 14 Jan 2007 at 22:14

burnsy2023 said:
Not quite, the upgrade licence does not convert the OEM or retail licence. It's an extension rather than replacement.

Hi, I'm not sure what you mean by an extension. Do you mean that the license to use XP still stands after upgrading to Vista i.e. the license has been extended to cover vists aswell as XP?

Burnsy2023 · 14 Jan 2007 at 22:24

D3lirious said:
Hi, I'm not sure what you mean by an extension. Do you mean that the license to use XP still stands after upgrading to Vista i.e. the license has been extended to cover vists aswell as XP?

Well, yes, you have downgrade rights but that wasn't what I meant. If you use an upgrade, you still need to abide by the EULA of the qualifying product, i.e you still have hardware restrictions.

Burnsy

r1ch · 15 Jan 2007 at 00:42

mrochester said:
If you then change your hard drive and need to reinstall, you just need to boot straight from the Vista DVD. When you tell it to install, the setup will ask you to pop your XP CD into the drive. The setup then checks that you are entitled to use the Upgrade version, and continues the install. So, with Vista Upgrade, you can do BOTH an over the top install, and a clean install, depending on your situation. The choice is yours!

This actually isn't true. I have got an email from a guy on the Microsoft Vista Ultimate team that says that you cannot boot directly from the Vista DVD. It will not ask you for the qualifying product CD. This doesn't happen anymore. You must actually have XP installed to perform an upgrade - install over the top or a clean install. Cerainly with the 32bit version anyway. This means that if you like to format your drive and reinstall every few months as some people like to - if you have purchased the upgrade edition of Vista you will have to install XP first before upgrading to Vista.

Burnsy2023 · 15 Jan 2007 at 00:53

r1ch said:
This actually isn't true. I have got an email from a guy on the Microsoft Vista Ultimate team that says that you cannot boot directly from the Vista DVD. It will not ask you for the qualifying product CD. This doesn't happen anymore. You must actually have XP installed to perform an upgrade - install over the top or a clean install. Cerainly with the 32bit version anyway. This means that if you like to format your drive and reinstall every few months as some people like to - if you have purchased the upgrade edition of Vista you will have to install XP first before upgrading to Vista.

I didn't know that, and I find it surprising but I suppose it makes sense. It can also check to make sure your qualifying product is genuine before allowing you to upgrade.

Interesting.

Burnsy

Hudzy · 15 Jan 2007 at 00:58

Can't it check that without installing XP? Surely your key would be enough to validate that it's genuine.

I'm considering buying Ultimate Upgrade Edition because I own XP retail. I was hoping not to have to install XP every time I installed Vista. Seems a bit backward to me.

Burnsy2023 · 15 Jan 2007 at 01:00

Hudzy said:
Can't it check that without installing XP? Surely your key would be enough to validate that it's genuine.

I'm considering buying Ultimate Upgrade Edition because I own XP retail. I was hoping not to have to install XP every time I installed Vista. Seems a bit backward to me.

Ghost for the win!

Burnsy

Hudzy · 15 Jan 2007 at 01:01

Not really sure what's involved in that. Not tried it before. Might well be worth doing though if this is the case.

FatRakoon · 15 Jan 2007 at 01:05

Can I just pull youyback a smidge here...

post 565 is my reply... Can everyone else see how many times I have been editted out with warnings of not posting about competitors!!!????

Can anyone decipher this because I never once mentioned anything of the sort?

I know that one word is CASE ( C-A-S-E as in the box around your computer parts ) another is OS ( 2 letters meaning Operating system ) and also PC ( P & C as in short for Personal Computer ).

Im thinking that either someone is having a laugh or that some BOT has just gone and editted my post and gone OTT on the fixings.

Right, lets get back on track...

Burnsy2023 · 15 Jan 2007 at 01:12

FatRakoon: I did think that was a bit wierd :confused:

Hudzy, what you do is make a image (snapshot of the system as it is currently) of a fresh install and put it onto either removable media (DVD) or on a separate partition. When you need to you can just restore the image and viola! It's the same technology OEM's use on their recovery discs.

Burnsy

Syph · 15 Jan 2007 at 09:06

FatRakoon said:
Can I just pull youyback a smidge here...

post 565 is my reply... Can everyone else see how many times I have been editted out with warnings of not posting about competitors!!!????

Can anyone decipher this because I never once mentioned anything of the sort?

I know that one word is CASE ( C-A-S-E as in the box around your computer parts ) another is OS ( 2 letters meaning Operating system ) and also PC ( P & C as in short for Personal Computer ).

Im thinking that either someone is having a laugh or that some BOT has just gone and editted my post and gone OTT on the fixings.

Right, lets get back on track...

It's because you mentioned a company name prior to case, PC, etc.

FatRakoon · 15 Jan 2007 at 09:37

I didnt you know?

I had thought that, but no... Not once did I mention any kind of competitors name such as ....

SNIP!

Meatball · 15 Jan 2007 at 10:14

Quick question although the answer is more than likely no. My friend got a free 'Vista Home Premium upgrade' with her computer which I know she will not use so is it possible for me to use it, or is it tied to that computer?

FatRakoon · 15 Jan 2007 at 12:24

If its unopened and not installed and activated, then I think that you are fine in doing this.

Burnsy2023 · 15 Jan 2007 at 13:07

Meatball said:
Quick question although the answer is more than likely no. My friend got a free 'Vista Home Premium upgrade' with her computer which I know she will not use so is it possible for me to use it, or is it tied to that computer?

Nope, to upgrade you are required to have a invioce for the PC which is to be upgraded and during the process the XP key will be deactivated.

Burnsy

bigtallgeezer · 15 Jan 2007 at 13:21

Can I get an OEM version?

I read through here, but have to say a lot of it has gone over my non expert head.

I have a PC which I had made up when an older one broke (not worth repairing) and used a 32 bit OEM version of XP home from my dead machine as the OS. It's activated, fully updated and I didn't have to telephone anyone to get it going. The MS site tells me Vista will work fine with my setup and I'm going to order it through overclockers.

I was not aware that I might be able to save a wedge by buying the OEM home premium upgrade disk, and as I have no intention of upgrading anything other than the graphics card at some point, think I may be OK to do that.

Have I understood that correctly folks please?

Thanks.

The Official OcUK Vista Licencing Questions FAQ Thread

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