Windows 7 purchase questions ? Help?

Outkast_IRE

Have been looking for info on this but cant seem to pin down an answer,

Ok Lets say i buy a Retail copy of windows 7 and install it on my current comp .
If i build a new computer next year can i put that copy of windows 7 with it or will i need to buy another one ?

sandleman1979

Yes, you will be allowed as long as it is a retail copy not an OEM copy. Also, uninstall it from the old machine once you transferred the license!

If you buy an OEM copy of Windows then it is tied to the hardware that it was purchased with.

When you install it initially you will need to activate it, when you re-install automatic acitvation may fail as it will have been activated before.

This may need a call to microsoft, but it is a simple task to perform. I have done it many times.

Outkast_IRE

thanks for that i found it hard enough to get a straight answer anywhere

Effluo

is it not true however that you can in fact say your computer "died" and use the oem on another pc?

I've heard numerous people say they've done this

Fysh

Effluo wrote: »

is it not true however that you can in fact say your computer "died" and use the oem on another pc?

I've heard numerous people say they've done this

You can do so, in as much as the media will not specifically prevent you from doing so. However, the licence under which you get the OS on the equipment is such that you are not legally entitled to install the OS on other hardware. Silly? A bit. But on the other hand it's the means through which lots of people get Windows at considerably less than full retail price.

lucernarian

I'm not any sort of legal attorney but fully transferring an OEM license from one machine to another would not constitute copyright infringment, just a breach of microsoft's Terms and Conditions of Use EULA yoke. Certainly I can't see any element of criminal law in that.

But yes, it's not a legal entitlement anyway.

Effluo

To_be_confirmed wrote: »

I'm not any sort of legal attorney but fully transferring an OEM license from one machine to another would not constitute copyright infringment, just a breach of microsoft's Terms and Conditions of Use EULA yoke. Certainly I can't see any element of criminal law in that.

But yes, it's not a legal entitlement anyway.

Well it's funny you should mention the legality of it all as i'm pretty sure Microsoft are currently involved in a case with the EU about the T's & C's of the use of their OEM software. The EU claim that when you buy the software you should be able to use it for whatever you see fit as long as it doesn't infringe on the copyright!

So it could be happy days for those of us who have bought windows 7 oem, we might be able to use that on one system for the rest of our days. But it is arguable that OEM software will actually increase in price if that judgement is passed...

Fysh

Current or potential future arguments notwithstanding, the point is that the licence and EULA associated with the software do not allow you to install it on a system other than that with which the media was provided. Whether you think the licence is fair, the EULA is daft or that it's a civil law rather than criminal law matter is irrelevant. That's the licence you've been sold. If you want to break it by ignoring some or all of the conditions, that's up to you, but there's no "unless I don't feel like it" clause in the licence.

Capt'n Midnight

Effluo wrote: »

The EU claim that when you buy the software you should be able to use it for whatever you see fit as long as it doesn't infringe on the copyright!

Buy software ???

when you pay money for software all you get is a license
so most consumer leglislation does not apply

Read your existing EULA to see what you have already agreed to

and post a link to that "EU claim",


Also look any OEM windows CD, it clearly states it's only for the computer it was shipped with.