Vista question

[Fenris]

Vista Home Premium OEM discs say they can only be installed on one system. Does that mean only one time, so i would never be able to reinstall it on that system again if i reformat?

heres the disclamer "This OEM software is intended for system builders only and cannot be transferred to another PC once it is installed. The purchaser of this software is required to comply with the terms of the System Builder license, including the responsibility of providing all end user support for the software."

Should i just spend the extra $100 for the normal version? I still get to use updates right?

 

[American Zombie]

Basically, you can install it as much as you want on the same motherboard.
Change motherboard and you would need another copy of Vista.

 

[ElementalDragon]

honestly, i'd get the normal version. doubt it even needs a change of motherboard to screw with it. Only thing i've changed in the past 4 months was my hard drive twice, my optical drives, and having to remove some memory to install Vista.... and i already had to call MS once to activate my copy of Vista Ultimate.

 

[j79zlr]

Basically the MB is the key to OEM. So what if you have to call them, it takes 5 minutes and I wouldn't give them any extra money. Why waste the $100 when you'll need the extra RAM, processor and HDD that it takes to run their shoddy product?

 

[ElementalDragon]

aah, another Vista basher? 2GB can run it nicely. 4GB is recommended by most. don't really need an uberly-high end CPU to run it either. and since when did you need a different hard drive to run it?

Seriously.... calling them and taking 5 minutes to activate..... is a freakin NIGHTMARE!!! When it tells you that the key is in use on another computer, and let's you choose your location for the phone support to get the activation code... you expect to get to talk to someone... from the country you select. WRONG! I called.... and surprisingly the answering service was of a woman with a british accent, which i didn't think was all that bad. when i actually got to talk to a PERSON though.... yeah.... definitely NOT american or british. more like indian. Then they ask you all these STUPID questions. "What version of the operating system is it?" "How many computers is the product installed on?". The REALLY irritating thing about the questions.... is when they ask for the installation code that comes up when you try to activate and it fails..... they only ask you for the first set of numbers. Now.... i don't know about you.... but to me, that's saying that they basically already know what the hell is going on, quite possibly even what OS it is. I swear.... next time i have to do that crap.... i'm probably cracking it instead. taking all that effort freakin sucks. The even more ridiculous part.... was the reason i had to reactivate and that it failed..... was because the previous installation was on a hard drive that died not even a month after i had it. and i mean DIED! couldn't boot to it.... couldn't boot from a working OS installation on a different hard drive with that hard drive connected... nothing. Needed to reactivate from a HARD DRIVE CHANGE!

So no.... i don't think the motherboard would be the "key". it probably follows generally the same rules as the retail version.

 

[LordOfLA]

you think answering a few questions is hard work?

I'll find you install instructions for freedos...

 

[j79zlr]

So no.... i don't think the motherboard would be the "key". it probably follows generally the same rules as the retail version.

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2704,2087792,00.asp

"It's important that people understand the OEM EULA when it says that your OEM Vista (XP is the same) can not be transferred to a new computer, and a new (upgraded) motherboard is also considered a new computer," the system builder added. "I've activated hundreds of PCs over the years and have never had an activation rep ask if I am transferring the OEM software to a new PC. The only question that you must answer correctly (no) in order to receive the activation code is: "Is this version of Windows on more than one PC?". Therefore the end user assumes that since they received an activation code they must be legal."

So the short version of the EULA is that you can't [legally] transfer to a new MB, but everything else is fair game.

I don't reinstall Windows often, but I did have to call them once and it seriously took 3 minutes. IIRC I had to voice in my product key and a machine read back to me an activation code.

BTW, I am not a Vista basher, I didn't have any preconceived notions about it, but I actually used it, for months, and can honestly say my eXPerience was horrible. I originally had it installed on a P4 2.8 with 1GB of RAM and a GeForce 7300 512MB, it ran noticeable slowly. That is not a new computer, but it sure can run Linux with full 3D desktop effects without issues and XP quite well. I then installed it on a X2 5200+ with 4GB of RAM and a GeForce 7950 512MB, that ran a lot better but it was still very noticeable slower than the XP installed on that. Both PC's have multiple HDD and I experienced the molasses like transfers for even small files between them. The good, the UI is slightly polished over XP. The bad, lets see, my scanner doesn't work, many programs I use don't work [expensive ones like ACAD 2006], UAC is extremely annoying.

The reason I finally deleted my install was that it decided one day that my network should be "local only". After searching Google and the MSKB, basically told me to reinstall my drivers. I did that, didn't work. Went ahead and removed my LAN from Device Manager, rebooted and let Vista "find new hardware" and reinstall the drivers, that didn't work. Basically did all of that over again and magically my network was back. Then a week later it happened again, I deleted the install right then. Its not worth it. You make it sound like since I [and many others] have a negative opinion of Vista it is somehow invalid.

 

[Tweakfiend]

Basically, you can install it as much as you want on the same motherboard.
Change motherboard and you would need another copy of Vista.

Youd think so but I Have reinstalled Ultimate OEM on a completely changed system ( board .memory processor etc ) without any problem.

 

[DwarfData]

I upgraded the BIOS on the motherboard and ended up having to 'make the call' to reactive my Vista installation. So it's not just physically changing the motherboard that causes this.

 

[j79zlr]

Youd think so but I Have reinstalled Ultimate OEM on a completely changed system ( board .memory processor etc ) without any problem.

Right, but the point is that you are actually breaking the terms of the license by doing that. So it is really not legal.

 

[ElementalDragon]

the reason i said what i did.... was because you said that the motherboard was basically the key to OEM..... which it's not. it's just like a standard retail copy of Vista's activation policy, and just like XP's. i think they even had a list up somewhere that showed a rough estimate as to how many points each piece of hardware was worth, and you could only change so much before having to reactivate. Hell.... look at the article you posted yourself..... it even gives the amount of installed memory it's own hash. so chances are high that me having to remove 4GB of memory each time i wanted to install Vista due to it having an issue with installing on computers with more than 3GB.... each time i did that i was probably knocking off bits of the activation credit. then changing the hard drives. that's why i said the motherboard isn't the "key" to OEM.

As for Vista..... the file copy speed has been known to be slow, but has for the most part been fixed with SP1, or with the one patch that was released a while ago. UAC can be shut off in 2 seconds. And honestly..... Vista runs much smoother on my computer than XP ever did. don't get BSOD's nearly as often. boots faster for me. i just love it.

and no... i'm not saying your negative opinion is not valid. Just that 90% of the people i've ever seen talk badly about Vista are those that used it for an hour or a few, and uninstalled it..... usually for some stupid reason like "I couldn't find the command prompt" or that they didn't like the fact that they lost 4-6fps in a game that they're already hitting the 60+ minimum range in... even though the game still appears to run smoother in Vista than XP to anybody else that has tried it with similar, or even less powerful computers.

 

[Fenris]

Alright I guess I will go with the OEM and just call them if it ever screws up... it sounds like there anti-piracy program is screwing up quite a bit and i will have issues with either one.

 

[American Zombie]

it sounds like there anti-piracy program is screwing up quite a bit and i will have issues with either one.

Yep, when I had Vista there was an update for the SATA drivers on Windows Update.
Installed drivers, reboot and then Vista complained my key was already in use.

Had to call MS to re-activate for an update on Windows Update.