Windows XP or 7 cheapest way to buy legit

[Gunbuster]

I have an almost complete system left over from recent upgrades. The main thing I am down is an OS. I bought a retail copy of 7 when they were on special.

Now I am thinking of flogging the old kit to a friend for as little as possible. I'd probably take the opportunity to upgrade my GTS 250 to a GTX 460/HD 6850 if that helps with OEM purchasing.

What is my best option?

[OilSheikh]

I am confused. You have Windows 7 retail and you want another Windows 7 or are you downgrading to XP ?

Cheapest way is to be a student! £30 gets you Win7 Pro

[Gunbuster]

Cheers I have a friend who is a student.

Sorry should have explained. I have one machine and one copy of Win7. I now have enough parts for a 2nd machine I want to pass on for as little as possible, but legit software wise.

[spoon_]

Cheapest way is to be a student! £30 gets you Win7 Pro

What if Win 7 was bought while being a student and later on down the line you aren't a student anymore, are you still legal in Microsoft's eyes?

Same principle would apply to having a mate being a student I suppose.

[Gunbuster]

What if Win 7 was bought while being a student and later on down the line you aren't a student anymore, are you still legal in Microsoft's eyes?

Same principle would apply to having a mate being a student I suppose.

I am guessing that as long as the person buying it is a student at purchase and is the person using it you are ok.

The version they mention is upgrade only anyway...

[Saracen]

..... I now have enough parts for a 2nd machine I want to pass on for as little as possible, but legit software wise.

Ubuntu download? Legit and free. Just not Windows.

[Gunbuster]

Ubuntu download? Legit and free. Just not Windows.

Good suggestion, but I think he wants to game.

Its not a bad system: Core 2 e4400, 2G ram, GTS 250, 500GB HDD.

[OilSheikh]

Here you go :

http://www.microsoft.com/uk/education/studentoffer/

The upgrade can be turned into a Clean installation disc [ Plenty of articles on Google for this and I am also using it like this]

The other option is to subscribe to IEEE or Technet

On eBay > Windows 7 Ultimate Full version for £73 Link

[smargh]

On eBay > Windows 7 Ultimate Full version for £73 Link

89% feedback, some comments saying they're dodgy copies. Buying Windows on ebay is Russian Roulette with five live rounds.

The other option is to subscribe to IEEE or Technet

^ that. Technet Standard. Lots of OSes & apps to experiment with.

[OilSheikh]

89% feedback, some comments saying they're dodgy copies. Buying Windows on ebay is Russian Roulette with five live rounds.
.

My bad, didnt chk feedback. Did a quick search and post

[Gunbuster]

Thanks for the help guys. I think what I will do is explain it to the guy and probably buy an OEM copy of Win7 with the GFX card and attach that to the old system.

[Spud1]

What if Win 7 was bought while being a student and later on down the line you aren't a student anymore, are you still legal in Microsoft's eyes?

Same principle would apply to having a mate being a student I suppose.

Just to clarify on this:

As a student you can buy the licence for £30 (or get it free through MSDN:AA) and it is then valid for life, for you only. So you cannot sell, transfer or give the licence away - its yours and yours alone.

So whilst you could probably buy it and install, it wouldn't be legal, and sadly is no better for you than downloading off the internet ;/

OEM is the best option I think, not sure if a graphics card counts though, I thought it had to be a motherboard to make the licence valid..but i'm not 100% certain on that.

Basically the point is that there is a huge difference between what is legal to buy, and what is legal to use.

[Gunbuster]

Sounds like the guy is less fussed about getting the machine. So far less urgent to get a copy of Windows for it.

After all that...