OEM or Retail?

Are the OEM and Retail disks physically different?

I'd have thought they'd use the same disk, but just that your Licence is dependant on the Product Key, which is different depending on what option you bought.

Could be wrong though.
 
Are the OEM and Retail disks physically different?

I'd have thought they'd use the same disk, but just that your Licence is dependant on the Product Key, which is different depending on what option you bought.

Could be wrong though.

I think they are different but I could be mistaken. In other words you can't use a retail edition disk with an OEM key but im not 100% sure. Perhaps they have changed this with Windows 7 however. Someone might be able to confirm this with any luck.
 
If you are downloading from that website you could also download a modified BIOS for your PC and some certificates etc and then any version of windows should be OK.


Rgds
Binty
 
As far as I know, they are the same disc, the only thing different is the product key.

I tried to use a corporate key with an OEM disk for Office 2003 and it did not work, so for Office at least, there is some difference in the installation. For Windows 7 I do not know if the same logic applies.


Rgds
Binty
 
I'm currently downloading "Windows 7 Home Premium" from MS Technet for installing on an OEM laptop with the key underneath so will let you know. I don't trust modified versions of the ISO.

It's an absolute joke how much effort I'm having to go through to have a clean install of windows 7 considering I have a new laptop and an official key. As far as I can see there are no direct real OEM copies like there were in the good old days. I'm downloading the Home Premium version and will try it using the OEM key on the bottom of the laptop. Acer charge £50 for recovery disks as they are too cheap to include them with the laptop. Given my laptop has no DVD drive I couldn't burn them off either! The recovery partition is buggered so it's all fun and games...

I've read I will need to grab an OEM certificate to get activation to work after I install a clean version of windows so will let you know how I get on key/certificate wise. I can't see why you cannot simply borrow a Windows 7 disk/iso from someone which is the same version as the key on the bottom of your laptop and just install the damn thing!

Yes, I have a technet subscription so could simply download the Professional version and use a technet key, but I'm stubborn dammit and I am determined to get home premium working with the correct OEM key!!!
 
Thanks Totality. Yeah it's a joke to be honest. They could just have released 2 disk's to cover 32 Bit and 64 Bit and leave it at that. I have a feeling a Retail edition disk won't accept an OEM key.
 
I recently successfully reformatted my mothers new Acer laptop with my W7 retail disk. The licence (COA) on the laptop is VLK OEM but the retail disk accepted the key fine and it activated fine (albeit by phone.) :).
 
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I can confirm that I recently successfully reformatted my mothers new Acer laptop with my W7 retail disk. The licence on the laptop is VLK OEM but the retail disk accepted the key fine and it activated fine (albeit by phone.) :).

Happy days! This answers my question. Thanks :)
 
I can confirm that I recently successfully reformatted my mothers new Acer laptop with my W7 retail disk. The licence on the laptop is VLK OEM but the retail disk accepted the key fine and it activated fine (albeit by phone.) :).

Cool I hear it can be activated by phone, but worried this changes the activation key? Can you confirm this or is it OK to use the key on the bottom again next time I reinstall?

Installing at the moment so I'm probably 20mins away from finding out anyway! Just spent an hour having install errors then tried a different USB stick and it seems OK installing from this one. The other one was a bit worn and I was continually getting extaction errors during the install phase.
 
Cool I hear it can be activated by phone, but worried this changes the activation key? Can you confirm this or is it OK to use the key on the bottom again next time I reinstall?

Installing at the moment so I'm probably 20mins away from finding out anyway! Just spent an hour having install errors then tried a different USB stick and it seems OK installing from this one. The other one was a bit worn and I was continually getting extaction errors during the install phase.

It doesn't change the licence key - it's just a one off activation key you are given over the phone. If you need to reinstall again then you use the same licence key and if you have to activate over the phone a second time then you would get a different activation key.
 
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I'm currently downloading "Windows 7 Home Premium" from MS Technet for installing on an OEM laptop with the key underneath so will let you know. I don't trust modified versions of the ISO.

You can always use a hash checker and compare it with the official hash for the ISO file. However, if you are downloading the Technet ISO you are assured anyway.



Rgds
Binty
 
Cheers all. Downloaded the home premium x64 ISO from Technet. The key on the bottom of the laptop worked and it installed fine. Activation was a problem as expected as it is an OEM key, but a quick call to the MS number sorted that and all is OK in the world again and I didn't have to give Acer £50 for the privelage of restore disks packed with crap!! I didn't have to faff around with OEM certificates or install any nonsense so it's a nice clean install. Winner!
 
Cool I hear it can be activated by phone, but worried this changes the activation key? Can you confirm this or is it OK to use the key on the bottom again next time I reinstall?

Installing at the moment so I'm probably 20mins away from finding out anyway! Just spent an hour having install errors then tried a different USB stick and it seems OK installing from this one. The other one was a bit worn and I was continually getting extaction errors during the install phase.

I used my W7 retail disk and installed using the OEM serial-key located on the laptops COA. Not sure what you mean by the activation key (The code MS give you when trying to activate?) but either way as long as it activates there's no reason to worry. It wouldn't activate online but as mentioned it activated fine when speaking to an MS advisor :).

Cheers all. Downloaded the home premium x64 ISO from Technet. The key on the bottom of the laptop worked and it installed fine. Activation was a problem as expected as it is an OEM key, but a quick call to the MS number sorted that and all is OK in the world again and I didn't have to give Acer £50 for the privelage of restore disks packed with crap!! I didn't have to faff around with OEM certificates or install any nonsense so it's a nice clean install. Winner!

Now image your installation using the built-in W7 backup and use that to restore in future :).
 
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