If you're someone who builds computers regularly (for your own use) then paying a bit extra for the retail version means that you can move it from machine to machine, rather than having to buy another OEM copy every time.
Having said that, I would be reluctant to pay the ridiculous prices that Micosoft ask for a retail copy.
I bought two retail copies of Windows 7 Home Premium, when they were on an initial offer of about £45 each. And I bought two copies of Windows 8 Pro Upgrade for £25 each.
So that's why quite a few go for the retail version. I suppose it makes sense. Original Equipment Manufacturer. It's tied to the hardware that it was first installed on. I suppose retail versions are best suited to those who are very well off.
The guy has got Windows 7 Home premium but wants to try on his own to install , so hes doing a final backup of data, installing windows as a clean install (removing all partitions existing) Installing a Clean copy, activating using OEM key, installing all software required + drivers and restoring data.
Surprised the OP is even asking, if he/she is in the trade and is doing this for a customer.
He is in the trade but often looks for help here. Makes me feel sympathy for those who are his customers. If you want a classic look for the thread where help was needed to set up a wireless network.
The guy has got Windows 7 Home premium but wants to try on his own to install , so hes doing a final backup of data, installing windows as a clean install (removing all partitions existing) Installing a Clean copy, activating using OEM key, installing all software required + drivers and restoring data.
It should all run smoothly without problems?
It should all go smoothly if everything is as it seems but, frankly, I wouldn't bet my house on it.
I mean, what're the chances that this W7 disk has made it's way around numerous previous owners without any of them installing it on a PC and activating it?
Also, FWIW, Acer supply OEM W7 CD's with an activation key that's "just for show".
My SIL had an Acer laptop (from new) with a CD key stuck to the bottom of it and an OEM W7 disk supplied in the box.
A couple of years later she asked me to wipe the HDD and reinstall the OS.
Went through the motions, wiped the HDD, reinstalled the OS, came to activate it, typed in the number on the sticker and got a message saying the key was invalid.
Phoned up the Acer helpline and they explained that the stickers were, basically, just for show and that their copies of W7 had to be activated via some convoluted process which, unfortunately, I can't recall.
All you can do is give it a try and see if it works and then, if it doesn't, do him a good deal on a copy which will work.
OK But the Specs I have given you meet the minimum requirements, so it will install without problems?
Sorry It would work, I am just nervous that it will go smoothly, anyway I would never recommend a customer to change OS if the requirements of his/her PC didn't meet minimum requirements of that software OS.
I am not that stupid. (I may look and sound it from the posts here) but honestly I am not
OK But the Specs I have given you meet the minimum requirements, so it will install without problems?
Sorry It would work, I am just nervous that it will go smoothly, anyway I would never recommend a customer to change OS if the requirements of his/her PC didn't meet minimum requirements of that software OS.
I am not that stupid.
The spec's shouldn't cause any problems.
As I've said before, I have a 1ghz P3 laptop with 1.25gb of RAM which trundled along quite happily under W7.
About the only issue is that I had was that, under certain circumstances, the VM swap file goes a bit bonkers, frantically trying to keep up with multiple open applications etc.
That, however, is a result of the small amount of RAM rather than the OS and does exactly the same thing under XP.
I was actually involved in the W7 beta testing (well, a company I worked for was so I got the job of dealing with it all) and we found that, in almost every case, PCs that would be considered "low spec" performed better under W7 than they did under XP.
We had stacks of old Dell laptops that were barely functional under XP but once we'd wiped the HDDs to remove years of crap and installed W7 on them they were perfectly useable, to the point where people were actually asking to have newer laptops replaced with older ones running W7.
If any of that is true, then by all rights you should be sharing the monies you get paid amongst all the people on here who seem to do your work for you.
Yes that is 100% correct. I ask for advice only and then take the advice given on board. The times I am not on here I have been able to do jobs 90% of the time correctly.
Yes that is 100% correct. I ask for advice only and then take the advice given on board. The times I am not on here I have been able to do jobs 90% of the time correctly.
and to ask 1sanity's point: Some ask my advice and Yes I do charge for the work I do.
It should all go smoothly if everything is as it seems but, frankly, I wouldn't bet my house on it.
I mean, what're the chances that this W7 disk has made it's way around numerous previous owners without any of them installing it on a PC and activating it?
Also, FWIW, Acer supply OEM W7 CD's with an activation key that's "just for show".
My SIL had an Acer laptop (from new) with a CD key stuck to the bottom of it and an OEM W7 disk supplied in the box.
A couple of years later she asked me to wipe the HDD and reinstall the OS.
Went through the motions, wiped the HDD, reinstalled the OS, came to activate it, typed in the number on the sticker and got a message saying the key was invalid. Phoned up the Acer helpline and they explained that the stickers were, basically, just for show and that their copies of W7 had to be activated via some convoluted process which, unfortunately, I can't recall.
All you can do is give it a try and see if it works and then, if it doesn't, do him a good deal on a copy which will work.
I highly doubt this is accurate.
No OEM attaches licence stickers to machines 'for show'.
The Acer would be imaged for a range of laptops with custom drivers added to the image. A volume key would be used to install with the licence pre-activated.
The licence stickers (COA) applied to the bottom of the machine would have a unique key which is never used.
When you install from the OEM disc, the key can be input and WGA would be active, using the internet connection the activation would probably fail as it knows those licences are issued to that OEM and would not expect activation.
Telephone activation would generate a hardware hash that is acceptable to the unpaired key and you would type in the response from the MS automated system. That then sets a rearm on the WGA and if you change the hardware significantly it will need reactivating.
You would have to then answer the questions and only get a new response from an MS operator in all likelihood, if he believed you weren't pirating or not using the disc outside it's intended terms i.e. on a completely different PC.
If you had the original tokens.dat from a legit identical PC, you can trick an install from OEM to behave as if it's pre-activated like it would be on a restore/recovery disc.
I suspect your story lies somewhere around these points, may be lost in translation!
If any of that is true, then by all rights you should be sharing the monies you get paid amongst all the people on here who seem to do your work for you.
It's true... he's given enough about himself away on here for him to be checked out and he does indeed hire himself out as a technician and tutor... @ £20 an hour, according to a quick Google (thought that might just be for 'tutoring')
Regarding us getting paid for helping him: It's been mentioned many times before now...
It's true... he's given enough about himself away on here for him to be checked out and he does indeed hire himself out as a technician and tutor... @ £20 an hour, according to a quick Google (thought that might just be for 'tutoring')
Regarding us getting paid for helping him: It's been mentioned many times before now...
No OEM attaches licence stickers to machines 'for show'.
The Acer would be imaged for a range of laptops with custom drivers added to the image. A volume key would be used to install with the licence pre-activated.
The licence stickers (COA) applied to the bottom of the machine would have a unique key which is never used.
When you install from the OEM disc, the key can be input and WGA would be active, using the internet connection the activation would probably fail as it knows those licences are issued to that OEM and would not expect activation.
Telephone activation would generate a hardware hash that is acceptable to the unpaired key and you would type in the response from the MS automated system. That then sets a rearm on the WGA and if you change the hardware significantly it will need reactivating.
You would have to then answer the questions and only get a new response from an MS operator in all likelihood, if he believed you weren't pirating or not using the disc outside it's intended terms i.e. on a completely different PC.
If you had the original tokens.dat from a legit identical PC, you can trick an install from OEM to behave as if it's pre-activated like it would be on a restore/recovery disc.
I suspect your story lies somewhere around these points, may be lost in translation!
Which is, in summary, a long-winded way of saying that the CD key on the bottom of the machine is "for show", right?
tutor... @ £20 an hour, according to a quick Google (thought that might just be for 'tutoring')
:o if thats right, then im handing my notice in tomorrow and going self employed.
pretty sure my computer know how is greater than OPs But alot less than some other regulars on this site
But if OP can earn £20 hour im in ;-)
:o if thats right, then im handing my notice in tomorrow and going self employed.
pretty sure my computer know how is greater than OPs But alot less than some other regulars on this site
But if OP can earn £20 hour im in ;-)
If you ever get stuck then just ask on here - it never stopped Craig!
Ok everyonre can you stop ganging up on me. I do ask questions on here so whats the harm. I am not breaking the law here. I advertise as a GENUINE and honnest IT Tutor and Technician.
I enjoy peoples chat on here and appologise for annoying people. I am not a Fraud
So is shhftw and si_crewe's replies regarding the activation correct or will I face a problem? or will it activate ok?
There's no way of knowing, unless somebody here happens to be the person who flogged the CD.
What does the customer actually want from you?
If he's saying he's going to give it a go for himself then wish him the best of luck and let him get on with it.
If he want's some kind of support then I'd suggest you tell him to bring the computer in and you'll assist him and offer advice for a nominal fee.
If he goes for the 2nd option then you can warn him that buying a 2nd-hand OEM CD isn't the wisest course of action and that it might not activate properly.
Once you've told him that, run through the setup with him, see what happens with the activation and take it from there.
If the activation goes okay, job done.
If it doesn't work you can suggest he tries contacting MS to see if he can get it sorted or (what I'd do) whip out one of your own, unused, OEM copies of W7 and offer to flog him that instead.
Also, FWIW, Acer supply OEM W7 CD's with an activation key that's "just for show".
My SIL had an Acer laptop (from new) with a CD key stuck to the bottom of it and an OEM W7 disk supplied in the box.
A couple of years later she asked me to wipe the HDD and reinstall the OS.
Went through the motions, wiped the HDD, reinstalled the OS, came to activate it, typed in the number on the sticker and got a message saying the key was invalid.
Phoned up the Acer helpline and they explained that the stickers were, basically, just for show and that their copies of W7 had to be activated via some convoluted process which, unfortunately, I can't recall.
When you buy a laptop with pre installed Windows, the serial is on a chip on the mobo. The supplied disk (nowadays usually a recovery partition) is a special version of Windows that only operates with the serial from the mobo - the disk won't work with the serial on the sticker. If you re-install using the supplied disk, it reads the serial from the mobo and will activate.
If you download an official legit Windows iso from Digital River you use the serial on the sticker, and it should activate OK. Two different disks - 2 different serials. The sticker has a purpose, it's not just for 'show'.
Also, FWIW, Acer supply OEM W7 CD's with an activation key that's "just for show".
My SIL had an Acer laptop (from new) with a CD key stuck to the bottom of it and an OEM W7 disk supplied in the box.
A couple of years later she asked me to wipe the HDD and reinstall the OS.
Went through the motions, wiped the HDD, reinstalled the OS, came to activate it, typed in the number on the sticker and got a message saying the key was invalid.
Phoned up the Acer helpline and they explained that the stickers were, basically, just for show and that their copies of W7 had to be activated via some convoluted process which, unfortunately, I can't recall.
I've used Acer product keys MANY times, to activate a Windows installation. As long as it is the same version of Windows, it will activate. Nine times out of ten, without a phone call to Microsoft!
Comments
So that's why quite a few go for the retail version. I suppose it makes sense. Original Equipment Manufacturer. It's tied to the hardware that it was first installed on. I suppose retail versions are best suited to those who are very well off.
It should all run smoothly without problems?
Pentium 4@ 3.0Ghz
1 GB RAM
465 GB HDD
He is not a gmer or will do anything heavy with t, he just wants to use internet, check email, write documents, print
I know that by looking at the Microsoft Specs site it meets the requirements but just to check
It should all go smoothly if everything is as it seems but, frankly, I wouldn't bet my house on it.
I mean, what're the chances that this W7 disk has made it's way around numerous previous owners without any of them installing it on a PC and activating it?
Also, FWIW, Acer supply OEM W7 CD's with an activation key that's "just for show".
My SIL had an Acer laptop (from new) with a CD key stuck to the bottom of it and an OEM W7 disk supplied in the box.
A couple of years later she asked me to wipe the HDD and reinstall the OS.
Went through the motions, wiped the HDD, reinstalled the OS, came to activate it, typed in the number on the sticker and got a message saying the key was invalid.
Phoned up the Acer helpline and they explained that the stickers were, basically, just for show and that their copies of W7 had to be activated via some convoluted process which, unfortunately, I can't recall.
All you can do is give it a try and see if it works and then, if it doesn't, do him a good deal on a copy which will work.
Sorry It would work, I am just nervous that it will go smoothly, anyway I would never recommend a customer to change OS if the requirements of his/her PC didn't meet minimum requirements of that software OS.
I am not that stupid. (I may look and sound it from the posts here) but honestly I am not
The spec's shouldn't cause any problems.
As I've said before, I have a 1ghz P3 laptop with 1.25gb of RAM which trundled along quite happily under W7.
About the only issue is that I had was that, under certain circumstances, the VM swap file goes a bit bonkers, frantically trying to keep up with multiple open applications etc.
That, however, is a result of the small amount of RAM rather than the OS and does exactly the same thing under XP.
I was actually involved in the W7 beta testing (well, a company I worked for was so I got the job of dealing with it all) and we found that, in almost every case, PCs that would be considered "low spec" performed better under W7 than they did under XP.
We had stacks of old Dell laptops that were barely functional under XP but once we'd wiped the HDDs to remove years of crap and installed W7 on them they were perfectly useable, to the point where people were actually asking to have newer laptops replaced with older ones running W7.
Curiosity has got the better of me, so im going to ask.
Do you charge these customers and if so how much?
Can I just quote this from your profile?
If any of that is true, then by all rights you should be sharing the monies you get paid amongst all the people on here who seem to do your work for you.
and to ask 1sanity's point: Some ask my advice and Yes I do charge for the work I do.
I highly doubt this is accurate.
No OEM attaches licence stickers to machines 'for show'.
The Acer would be imaged for a range of laptops with custom drivers added to the image. A volume key would be used to install with the licence pre-activated.
The licence stickers (COA) applied to the bottom of the machine would have a unique key which is never used.
When you install from the OEM disc, the key can be input and WGA would be active, using the internet connection the activation would probably fail as it knows those licences are issued to that OEM and would not expect activation.
Telephone activation would generate a hardware hash that is acceptable to the unpaired key and you would type in the response from the MS automated system. That then sets a rearm on the WGA and if you change the hardware significantly it will need reactivating.
You would have to then answer the questions and only get a new response from an MS operator in all likelihood, if he believed you weren't pirating or not using the disc outside it's intended terms i.e. on a completely different PC.
If you had the original tokens.dat from a legit identical PC, you can trick an install from OEM to behave as if it's pre-activated like it would be on a restore/recovery disc.
I suspect your story lies somewhere around these points, may be lost in translation!
It's true... he's given enough about himself away on here for him to be checked out and he does indeed hire himself out as a technician and tutor... @ £20 an hour, according to a quick Google (thought that might just be for 'tutoring')
Regarding us getting paid for helping him: It's been mentioned many times before now...
It's amazing what you can find via Google
https://twitter.com/crshm/status/349784583694327810
Which is, in summary, a long-winded way of saying that the CD key on the bottom of the machine is "for show", right?
pretty sure my computer know how is greater than OPs But alot less than some other regulars on this site
But if OP can earn £20 hour im in
Oh, blimey...
If you ever get stuck then just ask on here - it never stopped Craig!
I enjoy peoples chat on here and appologise for annoying people. I am not a Fraud
There's no way of knowing, unless somebody here happens to be the person who flogged the CD.
What does the customer actually want from you?
If he's saying he's going to give it a go for himself then wish him the best of luck and let him get on with it.
If he want's some kind of support then I'd suggest you tell him to bring the computer in and you'll assist him and offer advice for a nominal fee.
If he goes for the 2nd option then you can warn him that buying a 2nd-hand OEM CD isn't the wisest course of action and that it might not activate properly.
Once you've told him that, run through the setup with him, see what happens with the activation and take it from there.
If the activation goes okay, job done.
If it doesn't work you can suggest he tries contacting MS to see if he can get it sorted or (what I'd do) whip out one of your own, unused, OEM copies of W7 and offer to flog him that instead.
When you buy a laptop with pre installed Windows, the serial is on a chip on the mobo. The supplied disk (nowadays usually a recovery partition) is a special version of Windows that only operates with the serial from the mobo - the disk won't work with the serial on the sticker. If you re-install using the supplied disk, it reads the serial from the mobo and will activate.
If you download an official legit Windows iso from Digital River you use the serial on the sticker, and it should activate OK. Two different disks - 2 different serials. The sticker has a purpose, it's not just for 'show'.
Dispatched from and sold by Amazon.
So the product key will work without problems as Amazon would not sell dogy coppies of software.
I've used Acer product keys MANY times, to activate a Windows installation. As long as it is the same version of Windows, it will activate. Nine times out of ten, without a phone call to Microsoft!
So which is it?