Windows 7 OEM or Upgrade and other ?

[David9799]

Is the OEM version stuck to one PC forever?

A guy i work with says he always buys the retail version because you can activate it more times before calling MS. According to him the OEM can only be activated once before you need to call up MS and the same goes for the retail upgrade.

Im always switching out hardware on my PC so this is a worry to me.

Also do you have to have XP/Vista installed before you can use the upgrade? I've searched and there are no real answers they are all over the place most say install windows 7 don't activate and install it again and it will work.

BTW im using Windows 7 beta will the upgrade version let me go to the final version of 7? I had pre-orderd a copy is why i ask.

[zalbard]

Don't get an upgrade version. It will require an appropriate version of Vista installed first to let you install itself.
And OEM is fine, even if you have to call, it is not that hard, is it? It will probably ask you to call if you upgrade your mobo and HDD iirc. Just say you fried your PC...
But yeah, retail is the most painless way, just more expensive.
If you reinstall once in 4 months, you can just live on the trial forever using 3 rearms to reset the timer.

[David9799]

Are the windows 7 keys interchangeable?

I had bought the retail upgrade in July for $49 so if i bought a OEM copy now and used the key that came with it and then used the OEM disc on another PC and used the Key i had got with the upgrade would it work?

I have 6 computers to upgrade to the new OS! Does MS sell the keys? The family pack looks great but its upgrade only. I could just sell my copy of the retail upgrade if need be, i haven't even got it yet.

[zalbard]

Well, AFAIK here's how upgrade works.
You install Vista with a legal key. Then you have to install the appropriate upgrade version of Win7 over it.
Retail key will NOT work for OEM image. Same goes for OEM key and Retail image.
BUT converting the Windows image version is very easy.
Open ei.cfg file in Sources folder of your image.
Looks like this:


[EditionID]
Professional
[Channel]
Retail
[VL]
0

So you can easily make images for Retail and OEM keys! :up:
Or switch version, from Professional to Ultimate for example!
Also, if you leave the [EDITION] parameter undefined it should let you pick the version (Pro, Ultimate, etc...) during the installation. But haven't tested the latter myself.

[fivex84]

I installed Windows 7 Pro Upgrade (got through school for $30) over the Windows 7 beta. So you don't need to have a "legit" version of Windows installed to install it.

[zalbard]

Well, I referred to http://www.microsoft.com/windows/buy/offers/upgrade-faq-option.aspx

Edit: Here's the workaround it seems: http://windows7news.com/2009/10/22/how-to-clean-install-from-windows-7-upgrade-media/


With Windows 7 Microsoft have only released the upgrade versions for the first time today and have been keeping very tight-lipped on this subject. The good, nay, excellent news is that performing a clean install using upgrade media is now the same as performing a clean install.

Windows 7 will just install merrily on your hard disk with it’s upgrade product code and activate. You don’t need an XP or Vista disc, and you don’t need to install it over itself. This is excellent news and, while I haven’t yet tried this myself, reports are coming in from across the web that this is indeed the case.

Many people will now ask if it’s necessary to buy the full version of Windows 7. Quite simply now the answer is that it isn’t. This means an significant price cut for Windows 7 over previous versions, effective immediately.

:shocked:
I didn't know. Why release upgrade versions in the first place then? LOL.

[David9799]

I installed Windows 7 Pro Upgrade (got through school for $30) over the Windows 7 beta. So you don't need to have a "legit" version of Windows installed to install it.

Thats good to know. Did you do a clean install?

[zalbard]

Looks like you can just install it normally. See my edit above. No idea why call it an upgrade version then, though...

[INFRNL]

I think its kind of like vista was when it came out but better. Vista you had to install it twice if I recall correctly. This is good to know; save more money

Question now though is; Is win7 like vista is where all the versions are on the disc and you choose which version you want? I know on my Vista ultimate; you have to select the version to install. If this was the case, then you wouldn't need to buy the ultimate version. Just buy a cheaper version and select? I do not know how it works

[[XC] 4X4N]

The disks have all versions on them so they don't need a different disk per version. The product key is what ties you to whatever version you bought. For instance, a home premium key will not activate an ultimate install.

[Altered_Soul]

I had purchased the student deal for Windows 7 Professional 64-bit. While it never mentions explicitly if its an Upgrade image or not, when I booted and went through the install process, I was able to do a clean install on a new partition, leaving XP in its own partition (for the time being).

[RaZz!]

well, but isn't it necessary to enter a winxp/vista product key to install the upgrade?

i'm getting the ultimate oem anyways. the prices already dropped significantly from 160€ to around 135€ which is a pretty fair price, imo.