Windows 7 professional edition

manofdevon · 06-01-2012, 14:01

Negotiating a new PC W7 professional and my private supplier and builder is going to set it up as above, to which I suspect I do not get a windows 7 CD.

Looking at the Amazon web site I see a full professional edition costs around £164 but an OEM version is about £104.
should I be able to say to my supplier I will pay the difference or are there other considerations to this pricing idea?

BenMcr · 06-01-2012, 14:11

If you are having a PC built then you should qualify for getting the OEM version. Also generally any PC supplier should either provide install media or provide a wake to make your own restore disk.

The only difference between the two versions of W7 is that the OEM licence is only valid if supplied with a new PC, rather than purchased afterwards

DaiNasty · 06-01-2012, 14:16

Typically with OEM versions the big system builders such as Dell will have an agreement with MS to buy and supply just license stickers. They install from a factory image onto your machine. Small system builders would normally buy an off-the-shelf OEM package such as the one you've looked at. This should include both license and dvd and both should be supplied to you.

The only real reason to buy retail is the freedom to move the OS to another computer at a later date. The OEM version is tied to the one machine and cannot legally be moved to another build.

dave6x · 06-01-2012, 14:19

With an OEM version you should have the option to create a set of Recovery DVDs. For my laptop with Win7 HP the recovery set totalled 5 DVDs.

manofdevon · 06-01-2012, 14:41

My concern regarding the OEM is should I have to approach another pc builder for repair in the future, whether he would touch my machine.
I remember having a Time computer years ago and a repairer could not get the password to completely reformat the disk, in the meantime Time had gone into liquidation.

BenMcr · 06-01-2012, 14:53

An OEM disk is a full install disk - the difference is the licence so won't be an issue

As taking it somewhere else, it also won't be a problem as it won't have any restrictions on it (apart from any you put on)

**Rob** · 06-01-2012, 15:00

OEM from a small system builder should be a standard installation disk and licence cert label so it can be easily reinstalled by anyone to the original machine it was first fitted to. It is a standard, non customised version of the software.

The only restriction, which applied to OEM generally, is it should only be installed on the computer it was originally purchased with. Additionally, support for the software should be provided by the system builder / installer. Retail versions can in theory be transferred from one computer to another, and if support is required then the software company, i.e. Microsoft) would perhaps offer that direct to the customer (perhaps for a fee).

OEM from larger system builders such as Dell is often software from an image they have made from the standard windows and perhaps customised to add in perhaps some of their own utilities and installation routines. Often these companies will provide you with their rebadged version of the Windows disk and these sometimes will check the hardware on which it is being (re)installed to see that it is in fact from that system builder.

Essentially, OEM itself isn't the problem, it is how it is installed and if passwords are set as an administrator or master user then you as the owner of the computer need to record those, or if they have to be set by the installer, then they must tell you them.