If i change a mobo while running an OEM version of Vista, i understand i will have to reactivate. I'm basically wondering if anyone has done this yet and how they went about it. I know the old "my mobo died" ruetine, but i can't find any phone numbers, and i'm not sure how you would go about this process.
Any info would be helpful.
I will be watching this thread with interest and I am intending to change to Vista soon and I am not sure what would happen if the motherboard died.
The phone numbers would be made available during the reactivation process, but I'm sure they'll be online somewhere.
Can't expect this thread to last, as you're essentially asking advice on piracy.
it's not piracy at all, i'm asking how you reactivate windows vista OEM. I'm not asking how to duplicate/copy it, and i'm not asking how to get it for free.Originally Posted by this_is_gav
What if my mobo dies?
What if i want to upgrade? I'm essentially the system builder, and therefore i should be able to reactivate my copy.
Violation of license = invalid license + continued usage of product = piracy. It's that simple. Duplication's got nothing to do with it.
If your mobo dies you RMA it and that is covered by the license (as long as it's a direct or equivalent replacement - swapping a dead budget ASRock for an ASUS Striker wouldn't be deemed an RMA in Microsoft's eyes).
If you want to upgrade, tough. You took a shortcut by getting the OEM version, so you have to take the negatives as well as the positives. For the frequent upgrader there is Retail. No one would buy it otherwise...
And unless you're registered with Microsoft as a System Builder, then no, you're not. Building a system doesn't make you a System Builder. And System Builder is only an issue with the free or subsided upgrade (from XP MCE 2005 to Vista Home Premium for example, and only valid to the OEMs (HP, Dell, Scan themselves, the actual System Builders, not Joe Public) anyway, not from OEM to Retail as you seem to want for free.
Ok... So my motherboard has just died...
What number do i call?
Oh please. Another holier than thou piracy post.
Who is that directed at?
I'm guessing this_is_gav.
Or just sticking to the rules? Seriously, why should we as a community support piracy because you feel people should have a right to side-step the limitations?
I don't know. I don't care. It would probably tell you when you came to reactivate, and you'll probably get to have a lovely chat with an MS employee about why your activation MD5 is nothing like the one your first motherboard had.
If you don't care, why are you posting in this thread? No offence to you, and i don't mean that in an assy sort of way.
They don't ask for personal details of any kinda, and i'm not going to read off a whole MD5 hash to them.
Actually you will probably tell the "couldn`t give a damn" Microsoft employee that your mobo fried and can you please have another activation key, to which he will oblige.
Thats how it has worked for me in the past.
You won't have too... you think you're sending them Pinball record-scores when you go to (re)activate? I he or she want to pull you up, then they will.
I care because some of us have paid for the software out of our own hard-earned for the benefits the extra money affords. As the IT Tech I'm also responsible for software licensing at work, the system that OEM licenses were designed for (bulk-buying of pre-built systems). If the cost goes up because MS realises in their long-term analysis that people are cheating the system, then jobs like mine become infinitely more difficult.
Why ?
To this_is_gav
Vista is very expensive and if I buy an OEM license, then that means I am going to use it on my one PC ... Even if it has a new motherboard. I dont intend to move it from PC to PC because my arse was itching one morning.
My interpretation of the license is you use it on the computer you put it on. Which I will. You dont get support calls to MS with an OEM license - and I wont be making those calls.
If MS obliges in activating it, then what the hell is your problem ? Some so called phantom increase in the difficulty of your job ? Exactly how ?
Because a price increase of even £10 means that over 100 systems, that's £1,000, and that's just in a very small business (larger businesses will likely have VLs unless they choose step-by-step upgrades, most commonly in the public sector).
And what gives you the right to interpret the license in the way you choose? You agree to it when you install the product. You don't adjust it to meet you own needs or wishes. The license is tied to the motherboard. Not the CPU. Not the case. Not the PC as a whole. The motherboard.
Last edited by this_is_gav; 16-03-2007 at 12:27 AM. Reason: Adding quote
I'm of the belief that the fact the OEM exists and costs so much is outrageous. Who else could get away with selling software which can only be used once in effect. Reinstalls are now possible, the early reports were that they wouldnt be and MS had to backtrack.
The market is constantly changing, the only way to keep up is to upgrade your system and ms want a bite of the cherry. No more will new users be able to buy a complete system from a manufacturer and upgrade, MS want to make it like the console market, buy a whole new pc everytime technology leaves you behind. Either that or pay £150+ for software you already paid for when you bought the machine.
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