The Official OcUK Vista Licencing Questions FAQ Thread

deshepherd · 6 Jan 2007 at 19:53

When I upgraded mboard + CPU (and as side-effect network interface) my OEM winXP install considered that too much had changed and it needed reactivating which just took a short phone call where I type a list of nubers windows gave me and an automated system dictated another set back to me which I typed in and voila it was happy again. This behaviour didn't surprise me as from reading up on the MS web site it was what I'd expected - I'd done some research to check that XP would allow me to change mboard/CPU etc first.

One key point that I found was that there are *two* distinct forms of XP OEM

1) The version supplied on the big PC company machines (i.e. Dell, HP, etc) are tied to a key in the BIOS ... on these you can change anything so long as the BIOS is still recognised as being the same ... i.e. on these if you change mboard then you are probably stuck ... I wasn't in this category so have no idea if you can get a reactivation if you do change mboard (I think the webpages do comment that if you have a fault on the mboard then you need to replace with the same mboard)

2) The 2nd OEM version is the one that small system builders would use and which is what places like OC sell ... this one generates a key from the major components of the PC (mboard, CPU, mem, ethernet MAC, HDD id etc) and if more than certain number change within 6 months then the reactivation I used is needed.

I think the fact that there are these two OEM versions of XP with significantly different abilities to upgrade hardware leads reams of dogmatic statements about what you can do with an OEM license that may only apply to a subset of OEM installs.

Situation with Vista may well be similar

Robert · 6 Jan 2007 at 20:09

FatRakoon said:
He said he has partitioned his drive with 50GB for vista and the other half for XP.

Id say that says he has got one 100MB Drive?

I have 1 160gb and 2*320gb drives.

d.chatten · 6 Jan 2007 at 20:35

burnsy2023 said:
Yes, but I think it'll depend on the version of Vista you want to upgrade to. Home Premium would be fine.

Burnsy

Thanks for the reply, i will be upgrading to Vista Home Premium so hopefully everthing should be ok, and again, thanks!

vairo · 7 Jan 2007 at 01:22

I'm gonna more than likely buy vista ultimate OEM and install it on my pc, i doubt I'll upgrade mobo for another 2 years (2x pciex16 should last long enough) and my cpu is more than capable of lasting 2 years as well and since VISTA does not need reinstalling when you upgrade major components like XP does things should be just fine with one single install!

i thought OEM u can install only on brand new sistem which u havn't used before, which didnt have windows on it before,i am confused again :/
sorry for double posting !!!

FatRakoon · 7 Jan 2007 at 05:36

Ok, I have now been toying with it for a couple of days now...

Can anyone actually tell me...

What actual benefits are there to Vista over XP?
And what can it do that XP cant? ( Other than cripple my control of the computer )

BananaDunka · 7 Jan 2007 at 06:32

FatRakoon said:
Ok, I have now been toying with it for a couple of days now...

Can anyone actually tell me...

What actual benefits are there to Vista over XP?
And what can it do that XP cant? ( Other than cripple my control of the computer )

DX10
HD-DVD/BlueRay (with HDCP)
Upgrades of any pc component without having to reinstall Vista
No more messed up drivers
+ others

FatRakoon · 7 Jan 2007 at 07:32

mrk said:
DX10

Ok, but what use is that to anyone other than for gaming?

mrk said:
HD-DVD/BlueRay (with HDCP)

XP Does HD-DVD just fine as long as the drive is supported with drivers of which most are and all will be by the time they are the norm. Just the same as Vista
BlueRay also is not supported in Vista without an upgrade either... Same as XP.

mrk said:
Upgrades of any pc component without having to reinstall Vista

Sorry? I mean, I can upgrade my Hardware on my PC using any OS and I dont need to reinstall any version of Windows?

Ok, so the Motherboard might really cause issues especially when it tries to boot using a certain IDE / SATA Controler that you dont have, but this is easy to work around.

Its a dammed sight easier than all the horror stories we are gettign about Vistas issues with re-activating when you use a different motherboard.

I know I would rather reinstall windows than be forced to cough up 5 times more just for the benefit of being able to transfer my Windows to a new Motherboard.

This one for me is a mute one as I regularly reinstall Windows anyway just for a laugh.

mrk said:
No more messed up drivers

What? Oh right, this is for the drivers that have to be of a certain quality before MS will give them a signature? - Well, I hope they do, because XP was supposed to do that too, but many drivers there were still messed up

My thoughts on that are the same now as they have always been... If they dont do the job of just driving the hardware, I dont use it. I dont like it when you need a million gigs of HD space and are forced to install so much crud that you will never use, just to have a certain function, and so when that happens, I just dont use the thing... Printers / Scanners are the worst for this.

I dont think that any of this actually really makes all that much of a difference... If any?

Many people dont even know what version of DirectX they have on their PC and Im sure that many dont even care... the vast majority of people use their PC for Internet and EMails.
Same goes with the drivers side of it... They buy a PC and it works, and they are happy, and they will probably never upgrade their drivers in the whole time that they have their PC.

camelopardis · 7 Jan 2007 at 10:56

Upgrading to Vista from Windows 2000

I currently have Windows 2000 Professional, which was installed with a legit Microsoft Select CD. On the Microsoft Vista site, it says you can buy an upgrade version of Vista (cheaper than full retail) and do a clean install.

Will the upgrade just ask for the W2K CD to be put in the drive at some stage during the install to check that I own a previous version, or will it ask for a product key as well. the reason I ask is that Select CD's dont come with a product key - they just install without asking for a PK to be entered.

Slam62 · 7 Jan 2007 at 11:24

FatRakoon said:
Ok, but etc etc ..never upgrade their drivers in the whole time that they have their PC.

Yes, quite laughably, the people getting all hyped up over vista dont seem to have even tried the rc copies available for free. I've been using rc2 for some time now, presumably it will stop working soon, but really apart from the frosted window borders and a few other 3d effects it looks and feels like xp but obviously the drivers are not as good. DX10 will not be any use to anyone for about a year, yet I am myself being drawn into the hype. :eek:

As far as all the wonderful changes under the surface 99% of customers wont give a castlemaine.

Must wait and not buy ......

FatRakoon · 7 Jan 2007 at 11:50

DELETE - DOUBLE POST

FatRakoon · 7 Jan 2007 at 11:53

camelopardis said:
I currently have Windows 2000 Professional, which was installed with a legit Microsoft Select CD. On the Microsoft Vista site, it says you can buy an upgrade version of Vista (cheaper than full retail) and do a clean install.

Will the upgrade just ask for the W2K CD to be put in the drive at some stage during the install to check that I own a previous version, or will it ask for a product key as well. the reason I ask is that Select CD's dont come with a product key - they just install without asking for a PK to be entered.

I dont think so?

Your new Vista will have its own Serial number and you will need that, but in the past, with upgrade versions of each O/S, you have never had to re-enter the old O/Ses key, only the new one... I dont think its changed.

Slam62 said:
As far as all the wonderful changes under the surface 99% of customers wont give a castlemaine.

Castlemaine!!!! - LOL

Im off for a sherman!

Macro · 7 Jan 2007 at 13:10

Guys I know Burnsy is taking a ... err ... break at the moment but can we try and keep this thread as close to licensing questions as poss.

Just thinking of people only just starting to look, it'd be good if they can find the licensing stuff in here without the rest of us going off on a tangent. Otherwise we're going to have another 10 threads a day asking what the difference is between OEM and Retail Vista

obviously I'm sooooo not the boss of you, so feel free to ignore me

Slam62 · 7 Jan 2007 at 13:13

Athanor said:
Guys I know Burnsy is taking a ... err ... break at the moment but can we try and keep this thread as close to licensing questions as poss.

Just thinking of people only just starting to look, it'd be good if they can find the licensing stuff in here without the rest of us going off on a tangent. Otherwise we're going to have another 10 threads a day asking what the difference is between OEM and Retail Vista

obviously I'm sooooo not the boss of you, so feel free to ignore me

umm stable door...

yes boss

FatRakoon · 7 Jan 2007 at 13:13

Athanor said:
Guys I know Burnsy is taking a ... err ... break at the moment but can we try and keep this thread as close to licensing questions as poss.

Just thinking of people only just starting to look, it'd be good if they can find the licensing stuff in here without the rest of us going off on a tangent. Otherwise we're going to have another 10 threads a day asking what the difference is between OEM and Retail Vista

obviously I'm sooooo not the boss of you, so feel free to ignore me

Agreed and Sorry.

Was it me?

Macro · 7 Jan 2007 at 13:20

Slam62 said:
umm stable door...

LOL....

Not often i find myself agreeing with Slam in the Windows section but I'm with you on that one

Macro · 7 Jan 2007 at 13:32

FatRakoon said:
Agreed and Sorry.

Was it me?

Hey, I'm more guilty than most

I just noticed people were asking questions answered hereby starting new threads else where and it occured to me that we keep hijacking this thread (*hand up* guilty sir!).

Hopefully Burnsy will be able to finish consolidating all the Q&As down to the first post when he gets back so people coming to this fresh will be able to find all the answers easily.

OzyOly · 7 Jan 2007 at 14:46

Already collected most;

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showpost.php?p=8495467&postcount=278

Macro · 7 Jan 2007 at 16:28

If it's going to be an "official" FAQ it could do with being edited to remove things like M$. Lets keep it factual and free from bias.

The last Q & A needs work. You can reinstall Vista or upgrade anything in your PC other than the motherboard and still get a activation with no problem. In effect the only thing the OEM License forbids is tranfering the license to a new machine (which for the sake of argument when upgrading has been tied to the motherboard).

Actually reading it I think the last Q & A is covered by the earlier ones.

Meatball · 7 Jan 2007 at 17:17

Do you need to have XP Retail to upgrade to Home Premium Retail or will XP OEM suffice?

Big red · 7 Jan 2007 at 19:28

if i can throw my tuppance worth in , i have 4 pc,s using xp pro and ran them from the start of xp . i have rebuilt them, improved them and reinstaled xp a number of times but from what i have read on these pages, is that if i change the pc too much then an oem version of vista may be made redundant and a new one required , surely then a retail version would justify the extra money for peace of mind -- am i right?/wrong. as anyone on this forum is a pc buff and will change his/here pc at different times,where as joe public wont mess with their pc and an oem version would suffice