Imaging machines with OEM?

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PR.

PR.

PR.

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I recently started at a new company and all the desktops machines really need to be rebuilt. Unfortunately they all run the OEM Windows XP (or 7) and off the shelf Office 2007 (or 2010).

It's my understanding that I can't use one of my old VL discs for imaging as they don't take the OEM code? I don't really want to use the original restore disks as they are full of old software and aren't the latest SP.

Is there a way of getting Office to prompt for a key on first run? and will there be a problem activating again even if it's on the same PC?

I'll likely be using CloneZilla to do the work.

Has anyone done this before if so what did you do?

Thanks!
 
As you have OEM software you do not have the necessary Imaging rights to deploy Windows from a central copy, all must be installed from the original media.
 
Is that the case even if you sysprep the image? My thinking is that if the image is sysprepped and you install on another pc and use the code on the sticker and activate it how is that different to using a cd?

E: are all the machines running xp using the same hardware? Rolling out xp is a pain because of the different HAL types.
 
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Yup, seems that all the XP machines were bought at the same time and so are the same spec. The Windows 7 machines are a bit more fragmented.

I've done some reading and some suggest that if you buy a minimum VLK that grants you the right to re-imaging of OEM machines but it's not clear if you'd need to get an XP VLK (I assume you can't get this anymore).

Like most MS licensing it's so unnecessarily complicated!
 
You need a SA licence for EACH machine that you want to build using an image. Trust me I've just been through this and given MS £20K for the privilege. No windows client PC can be built using any image, even sysprep, unless you have imaging rights, and that is procured via Software Assurance licence, to give you access to Enterprise media. Just having a VLK, does not give imaging rights.
 
However, as you have purchased OEM media with your devices, and you will have a copy of Window XP Professional Volume Licence to image from, you must have a licence for XP Pro Volume to image to. In order to get this you need to purchase SA licence for each device that came with OEM to turn the OEM media into a volume licence. You must image to the same version that you have purchased, and you cant image OEM.
 
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