vista oem on multiple machines?

rjk · 9 Aug 2007 at 12:55

hi
my dad just got a vista prem base unit and i was wondering - could i install his copy on my machine in the same house

how many machines will MS let you install oem on?

sorry if this sounds a little dumb

m4cc45 · 9 Aug 2007 at 12:58

OEM is licenced to the one machine and strictly speaking one copy of Vista = one installation of vista. If you want to install it on another machine you will need a copy. Basically the differences between OEM and Retail are that with retail you can install it only on one machine at any time and OEM = that one machine you put it on first (i.e. no upgrades).

M.

rjk · 9 Aug 2007 at 13:00

i only asked because i used an oem copy of xp that came with my last pc on my new one

i was wondering if the same rule applied for vista

Burnsy2023 · 9 Aug 2007 at 13:09

rjkoneill said:
i only asked because i used an oem copy of xp that came with my last pc on my new one

i was wondering if the same rule applied for vista

You broke the rules with your XP oem licence, so that not a good start. Vista is similar to XP in that respect but has a different version of the activation proceedure.

Burnsy

rjk · 9 Aug 2007 at 13:12

oops
looks like a new oem version of vista from ocuk then...

stoofa · 9 Aug 2007 at 15:57

rjkoneill said:
oops
looks like a new oem version of vista from ocuk then...

And then when you upgrade your motherboard in the future it will be yet another OEM copy.
If you're planning on upgrading your MB often you may want to take a look at retail versions of the OS.
You can still only install them on a single machine, however you can transfer your license as you upgrade your machine.