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How to buy Windows 7 for £50 less: the truth about OEM versions

Posted on 15 Sep 2009 at 17:26

All is not lost however: “Obviously components do fail, and [in those situations] we would make exceptions and allow people to transfer the licence to another motherboard,” said Painell. “But we would ask that you transfer the licence to a like-for-like motherboard, or as close as you can to it.”

Unlike a retail box, where you’ll be able to activate the new installation of Windows online, to activate the OEM version you’ll need to phone in for a new activation code.

A question of enforcement

This begs the question of how on earth Microsoft can enforce the OEM licence. If all you need to do is phone up and say your motherboard has blown up to be granted a new activation code, what can Microsoft do to stop you?

We asked Painell outright: is this unenforceable? “It is, but obviously you’d have to phone up to reactivate the keys and at that point we’d see it’s an OEM product and we’d ask you what was happening in order to do that. So it’s an activation thing, you wouldn’t be able to do it more than once.”

We pressed home at this point – does that mean if you try and activate it twice over the phone you’ll be denied? “Typically the call is made by the call centre, so if there’s a specific action that’s happened such as a motherboard failing then we’d obviously allow them to transfer that licence, but typically the certificate of authentication goes on to the box. You install the product on to the box and we expect through the licensing for the machine and installation to be linked from that point.”

Clearly the key is that word “ask”. Microsoft can’t force you to tell the truth, and it can’t force you to stick the certificate of authentication (the familiar hologrammed sticker) onto the side of the box you install Windows 7 onto.

Instead, it’s trusting the combination of a conscience and the awkwardness of having to call up each time you need a new activation code will stop this being a money-sucking problem.

32-bit or 64-bit?

The final restriction to note is that when you order the OEM version of Windows 7, you’ll have to specify whether you want a 32-bit or 64-bit version.

“It’s not like [the retail] product, where you get both discs,” explained Painell. “It’s a very specific purchasing process, so you’re either building a 32-bit machine or a 64-bit machine. It’s one or the other.”

PC Pro’s advice is to move to 64-bit Windows now. As we explain in our feature, Why bother with 64-bit Windows?, even though there’s no huge leap in speed, the support for more memory and the widespread availability of drivers makes it a more forward-thinking choice.

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User comments

shaunb

Interesting to hear the official line on this from MS, very honest of them.

I built my Vista Ultimate machine (ok, Ultimate seemed like a good idea at the time) a couple of years ago with a 32-bit OEM copy and made a huge saving over FRP.

Interestingly I have since upgraded to 64-bit with the same license key with no problems. The only issue is that you need to source the 64-bit install media yourself (from my work MSDN subscription in this case).

By shaunb on 16 Sep 2009

OEM OR NOT

JUST MAKE SURE WHEN YOU HAVE INSTALLEDTHE SOFTWARE & YOU CLICK ON MY COMPUTER THE SERIAL DISPLAYED IN THE SECOND BLOCK READS 'OEM' NOT '016' WHICH IS WHAT OEM COPIES SUPPLIED TO MANUFATERES SOMETIMES PRODUCES WHICH RUNS YOU FOUL OF CORPORATE LICENCE RULES, YOU INSTALLATION BEING DECLARED PIRATE AFTER 5 YEARS OF USE, A LENGTHY 70 MINUTE CONVERSATION EVENTUALLY GOT ME A FULL LICENCE REPLACEMENT SERIAL NUMBER.
SO I RECOMMEND YOU BUY FROM A GOOD RETAILER.
BUYER BEWARE.

By roberttrebor on 21 Sep 2009

Student Windows 7

According to the MS website, and your magazine, us students will be able (for a time-limited period) to buy the Pro version for £30!

Given the variety of other expensive software you can get student / educational licences for (Photoshop CS4 for example) it makes joining the Open University for a 10-point course to get that .ac.uk email address a very good buy.

By cats_five on 21 Sep 2009

They said that about XP

Well they said pretty much all of that about XP OEM but it let me replace motherboard, RAM and CPU in one go without even requiring me to reregister (or maybe it did it automatically, but I certainly did not have to call anyone).

I seem to recall people on the internet saying that there were 7 tests, looking for changes in hardware items, and if you failed too many of them then it asked you to reregister and explain yourself! Also something about being able to change things every few months without it minding, just not liking you replacing too many things in too short a space of time (which would raise suspicions of software piracy).

Either way, all I'm saying is that it may not be as intrusive/tricky as they are making it sound. The approach is surely going to be more sophisticated than with XP, not less so (which is what always reregistering after a mobo replacement would imply).

By justposted on 24 Sep 2009

motherboard,hard disk,processor

In my system building day's to be eligible for oem we had to purchase these 3 components.

By SimFlash on 7 Oct 2009

What you can do Physically Vs Legally

The OEM license is tied to the first motherboard it is installed on.
If that motherboard is replaced under warranty then fine.
However any other change of motherboard and the license is no longer valid.
This is where we get to the "physically Vs Legally" part.
Legally as soon as you replace your motherboard your license is void.
Physically - just call up MS, tell them a lie and your OS will be reactivated.
Doesn't mean you're running license legal - quite the opposit in fact.

Compare this to the requirement of a driving license.
I have to have a driving license to drive a car on the road.
If I haven't got one, get into the car and turn the key it will still start, I can still physically drive it - just not legally.

Bottom line.
If you replace your motherboard with an OEM license and then get it "activated" by fair means or foul, you are no more legal than somebody who pirated their copy of the OS.

I know people don't want to hear this - but it's the truth.

By Stoofa on 13 Oct 2009

So let me understand if i have read this as correct.If the System you built has a motherboard Fail on it for what ever reason.You as the system Builder should be able to legally re register the OEM licence provided it happenes within the first year (IE the motherboard is under warrenty).Other than that an upgrade board after the orginal blows up is ethically wrong within the 1st year and wrong out side the 1 years MB warrenty? Is that correct

By Jaberwocky on 21 Oct 2009

PC Pro?!

Or you could use Linux like any other competent person. Seriously why would you pay for an inferior product when you can get so much more for free?! Can so-called "PC Pros" refer to themselves as such and keep a straight face when they are apparently such complete idiots.

By Ryan31 on 25 Feb 2011

I bought a cheap OEM windows 7 product key at a store named "License Key Shop". It's really good!

By superrossg on 12 Feb 2012

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