Hi, I'm planning on buying a vista os and I'm wondering which one to buy: - OEM -Upgrade As I still didn't get my upgrade disk from moduslink and I'm tired of waiting. And if possible try (shortly) to explain what are the main difrences from the two above I have a Acer Travelmate 6410 notebook
thanks,

"Master P" <Master P discussions.microsoft.com>

Get whichever is the least expensive as they both have the same functionality. OEM is usually cheaper where I live.

On Tue, 01 May 2007 19:29:56 GMT, "Iuvenalis" wrote:

know which) so when you upgrade or your computer goes clunk on you, you may not be able to uplift the hard drive and put it in your next machine or even reinstall it there. My brother in law gets round this problem in XP by protesting that it is no more than a hard drive failure that has lead to his reinstall and they have never clicked it...against that I don't advocate dishonesty and certainly suspect that Vista has better tools for writing home to the family.

"Snuff"

Ok, buy the more expensive version then :-) I always buy oem from a local store, if I need to move it to another PC after deleting the current setup I call MS for activation. I tell them the truth, that I bought the copy from a local store over the counter & have always been activated. Never once had a problem & have always told them the truth.
The copy of Ultimate OEM I am using right now was bought over the counter & this is the 2nd laptop it's been activated on. I sold the 1st laptop after removing Vista & installing XP & called MS for them to activate it.

"Master P" <Master P discussions.microsoft.com>

Here's the real deal. I've been using OEM versions of Windows since Win95 without any problems. The ONLY difference between OEM and retail is support. With retail you can call Microsoft and get support. With the OEM version, since Original Equipment Manufacturers usually provide it with a PC, they are the support contact. Other than that, they are the same. I had originally bought OEM Vista Home, took it off, then installed Vista Ultimate as an upgrade. With the OEM version you get the FULL version of the software, unlike retail where you have to select between full or upgrade versions. Actually, if you look at the DVD, all versions are there, but the key is tied to the version you paid for and will install.
Other than the above, THEY ARE EXACTLY THE SAME. Save a few bucks and buy a new OEM hard drive while you are at it. The money you save will allow you to do that, and you can do a vanilla install anytime you want.
As for being tied to the CPU - all versions of Vista do gather some hardware information about your system which is tied to your product key. If you use up the three allowed installs, you will be told to call a number (Bopal, India) toll free and obtain new product key. The ONLY thing they want to know is if you are using the software on more than one PC, THAT'S ALL. The reason Microsoft did it this way was to prevent customers from installing it's software on more than one PC and one way to do that was to gather some hardware fingerprints. I've had it bomb if I installed a new video card and some other piece of hardware too. It's still no problem. Just call and get a new key. I've received about three or more new keys on the same package due to stupidity in tweaking around where I shouldn't have.
If I'm wrong, I'm sure one of the Microsoft folks here will correct me and I hope they do, and at the same time explain to me why I can obtain a key anytime I want and explain the hardware fingerprint issue.
Hope this helps you and others that are pondering the same issue.

I buy the OEM version with a new case. That way, no matter what I put inside, I am still using the 'major component' that qualified the OEM. As far as I am concerned, I could use 10 different MBs as long as they are in that case. For a laptop, hmmmmmmm, I'd be tempted to buy the upgrade disk. A Professional Amateur...If anyone knew it all, none of would be here! CarGodZeroOne hotmail.com Change Alpha to Numeric to reply "Snuff"

Thanks Big Dummy your answer was very usefull had to read it twice, but is was very usefull
thanks!!
"Big Dummy" wrote:

"Master P" <Master P discussions.microsoft.com>

Having received the upgrade for an Asus laptop, I would think that you would not have to wait much longer.
The Acer upgrade may be the only version that contains any special drivers needed for the laptop. Though you may well be able to download these from the Acer web site.
Michael Chare

"NotMe"

I've never had a notebook vs OEM problem, never. And for what it's worth, you can now build your own notebook if you have the guts to do it.
With Vista the license was relaxed a bit to state you don't have to purchase a piece of hardware to qualify for it.

"Michael Chare"

Yeah, that's the glitch with a new OS and notebooks. I have a Toshiba and they want you to put out the cash to purchase their special brand of the OS that covers your hardware. That may have been true a few years ago, but today a lot of notebook hardware is the same as desktop hardware, only smaller. Microsoft seems to always have the right drivers for me to use or I can just get them from the Toshiba website.
Bill Gates may be able to afford retail versions of his software since he can get it either free or out of the Microsoft store (nice benefit they have there), but he doesn't feel the pinch a lot of us feel when upgrading at full prices. I used to walk around the UW computer store just to look at the prices students receive. Now I'm in the midwest and have to walk the line with everyone else now. No MS friends to get stuff from the MS store for me anymore.

So Big Dummy don't get mas at me, i'm just asking to be sure. Let's say i get the OEM from moduslink or I buy it, can I buy a new HDD and install the Vista on that new HDD whitout having xp installed on it??
Thanks,
"Big Dummy" wrote:

If you buy an OEM version of the OS, it is tied to the qualifying hardware. You can not transfer it to another machine. An OEM DVD does not allow an upgrade installation.
A Professional Amateur...If anyone knew it all, none of would be here! CarGodZeroOne hotmail.com Change Alpha to Numeric to reply "Master P"