OEM vs. Full Version

You're right. The OEM version is either 32-bit or 64-bit, whereas the Full Retail version comes with both. Also, Full Retail includes support whereas OEM doesn't. It sounds like in either case OEM would be fine for you. There is just one other consideration. The Retail version can be installed over and over on multiple computers, though one at a time. The OEM version is tied to the first PC you install it on.

The upgrade version also comes with both 32 & 64 bit disks and would cost a lot less then the full retail version.

That is true, but does anyone know for sure if you can do a clean install from the upgrade disk? I have Vista 64 on a WD Raptor right now and I am going to try to install the upgrade on my bran new SSD, I hope it works.

A previous activated OS is required for an upgrade. You could clone the drive which you are using now and transfer the image to the new one.

Oh ok, well I bought a brand new OEM version of Vista 64 on Newegg because it came with a free Windows 7 64 upgrade and it was cheaper than both the full version and the upgrade version. Of course Newegg comes out with the OEM version of Windows 7 for $99 and I had already opened the packaging to get the coupon code... sigh. Oh well I am just going to install Vista 64 (do you know if I have to update it to SP2?) and then immediatly upgrade that to Windows 7 without installing anything else, hopefully it will be pretty clean.

Bolbi is correct that the full retail version can be installed over and over on another system, but only one computer at a time.

I remember reading (somewhere) that OEM OS installations poll and record/report the MOBO info at the time of activation. IIRC, the license expires if you change the MOBO and subsequent activation may fail.

You might want to inquire further with MS or from whomever you're going to purchase the OEM version from before you spend your money, and I think you have to buy some hardware at the same time to get the OEM version, not 100% sure.

You are correct. The license expires if you change the motherboard of the PC you have Windows 7 (and Vista) running on. One small correction though. This applies to all Windows Vista and 7 licenses, not just OEM copies. The difference is, with a full retail copy, you only need to reactive your copy of Windows, whereas with an OEM license you would have to you would have to buy another copy.

Thanks guys. I'll stick to the OEM version I dont really feel like paying an extra $100 for the same software. I get better support from sites like this and other forums than I have evern gotten from MS. If your unlucky enough to have a motherboard fry on you like I did and end up getting a different one you just have to call MS to activate it and they change the key that you enter to activate it. So yes it does keep track of hardware like Motherboards and such but they tend to take into account that hardware will fail and sometimes even new hardware craps out on us. My case was with XP and my Motherboard fried and took the CPU with it, got a replacement from AMD and new Motherboard that was slightly better and had to call MS they ask you some stupid questions like "is this the only computer its installed on?" Dont fret about changing Hardware just dont do it every couple of months or they get cranky.

So, then what if we were to change out the motherboartd, but for the same one (such as a RMA replacement)... different serial codes etc. but the still the same boards.

7 should be fine in that instance... I think it relies more heavily on the model number of the board than anything else. If it does want to be reactivated, call the activation line and spend 6 minutes to get it re-activated. If you have to speak with someone about it instead of using the automated system, just explain the situation and they are more than happy to help you out. Microsoft doesn't care about that stuff id there is a legit reason for re-activation, like what you mentioned above.

Thank you.
Though in honesty, I don't care whether its legit or not. I've been running Win7 (builds 7000, 706x, 7100, 71xx, 72xx, 7600, in a varity of x86 and x64).
I only bought the key because I said I would after first using Win7.

One related question. I'm running WinXP upgrade - from Win95! When I install it, I need to put in a Win95 CD for it to check that I own it. Is this not possible if I get the upgrade from WinXP to Win7? Will it really want to check my old drive rather than the original WinXP CD? LOL, or will it want to check the WinXP CD which wants to check the Win95 CD!

I guess my point is, what if I install the Win7 upgrade, then reformat my old WinXP boot disk? Am I then out-of-luck if I need to re-install Win7? Or have to recreate a WinXP drive to re-install Win7?

True, I have OEM on my, then I change my mother board, and Mircosoft told me that I now have to buy a new one. They will do anything to make money. $@&   Also told me that after so long they remove my key from the list of useable keys.

My Gigabyte 965 motherboard died just recently and I replaced it with another gigabyte mobo - G41M-combo as they were both 775 pin (not many left these days). When I fired it back up I got a message stating that the Windows 7 (64 bit) was not a valid license. (Everything worked fine at this stage including windows) I followed the prompts to validate my licence (..se?) and it quickly confirmed the version as being valid - I'm pretty sure it was just an online check of my system - I may have had to enter my email address of something to confirm and all is now working well (except for a little message everytime I start the computer that advises that my version is the correct version - I'm not even sure this is from windows as it is just a "MSG" in a box. I had to do the same thing for my version of Office as well.
So I didn't need to do the phone confirmation and the online method worked fine. It is possible that as I stuck with the 775 pin mobo and therefore didn't also need to change CPU and RAM that this made the process more simple.

This topic has been closed by Mousemonkey