SOLVED When and where can a Windows-7 OEM Liciense be used?

[Mike Lynch]

Years back, I had had a Windows-XL PC.
As time went by, I upgraded memory and the hard drive.
When Windows-7 came along, I purchased an OEM copy and installed it on that PC.
Things progressed and the PC became slower.
I purchased a re-furbished PC off the Internet without an Operating System installed on it.
I installed my OEM copy of Windows-7 on it and discarded the XL-PC.
Two weeks ago, the Company where my wife works sold off some PC they did not need.
Both are hardware wise two to three years old and both came with Windows-10 installed.
I do not like nor know Windows-10 and decided to have the memory increased and a SSD installed in them.
One had 4gb and the other 8gbs, both had 5400rpm Hard Drives with 8mb cache each.
I took then to Best Buy and signed up for the Geek Squad to do the hardware upgrades.
I also signed up for the Geek Squad to downgrade the PC's from Windows-10 to Windows-7.
I explained how I was going to discard my older PC's and wanted these running under Windows-7.
No problem they said!
I dropped off the new PC's and the hardware was upgraded.
I went to drop off the Envelopes with the COA on them and I was told they could not install the O/S.
They said I need to have 'purchased' software, which I did.
I purchased the copies of Windows-7 that I have from Trinity Software in Tampa Florida.
They claimed that OEM Software is tied to the serial number of the mother board and cannot be transferred.
I find this hard to believe.

Can anyone confirm what I have been told?

Microsoft never had a problem when I would call to have the Windows-7 installed activated.

 

[TrainableMan]

What they told you is correct. Officially an OEM license lives & dies with the first computer it is installed on, more specifically that motherboard, so legally you should never have even moved it to the refurbished computer you bought years ago.

Only the Full version of Windows 7 is transferrable, not OEM nor System Builder, and Upgrade versions revert to the original license which was likely OEM, so again, non-transferable. The difference in price was about US$200 so very few people actually own the Full version.

Opinion: Sure change is annoying, even frustrating, but if you have Win10 you will get used to the differences within a couple months. Some newer computers that come with Win10 may not even function completely under Win7 because they may have hardware for which Win7 drivers were never written. The risks and hassles of downgrading a computer that wasn't designed for use with Win7 just make it something I would never recommend.

 

[jmotice]

yes
The OEM licence is a bit different from others in that it purchased (normally preloaded) with the computer you buy called pre-installed. its generally pretty done for you

The Windows OEM version only stays with that computer and should not be transfered

if you want to transfer licences look at DSP versions of windows thats the full licences version

Always read and understand any licence you have its makes life easier

 

[Lyn P]

What happens if you change motherboard, and go to SSD and do a clean install?

 

[TrainableMan]

The minute you change the Motherboard it is no longer the same computer so legally the OEM or Systems Builders license should terminate. I have heard of instances where people called Microsoft to try and reactivate and explained that they had had to replace the motherboard and the Microsoft person on the phone did reactivate, but they are not obligated to do so.

 

[Lyn P]

I found a second problem. I was putting a desktop together for my stepson. He is in his fifties and still used a flip phone. Only wants to search the web, YouTube for airguns. Also plays very simple games. I had put hem a Vista machine together some eight years ago, and it died. I had OEM W-7 32 bit home that was not installed on any computer, I had up-graded to W-7 Pro for my wife's desktop. I found ASUS h270-plus with g-3930, also ASUS GTS-250 PCIe x16 on ebay at a good price. Ordered SSD drive. Had all the other stuff, so I was going to be in it for near 150 bucks. However I found out that MS is still being the big bully and not supporting up-dates for that possessor. So at this time it will cost me an extra 100 buck for W-10. I have never used and/or pirated software. It still rubs that when I spend my money on something I can not use it. Between the wife and myself we have four other W-7 machines, plus an XP that I use for old version of AutoCad that is used four or five times a year.

 

[TrainableMan]

I was putting a desktop together for my stepson. He is in his fifties and still used a flip phone. Only wants to search the web, YouTube for airguns. Also plays very simple games.

understood, he doesn't need a powerful computer

I had put hem a Vista machine together some eight years ago, and it died.

When it died, legally any OEM or System Builders Vista license died with it

I had OEM W-7 32 bit home that was not installed on any computer, I had up-graded to W-7 Pro for my wife's desktop.

If the OEM license is what you upgraded to your wife's W7 PRO then they are tied together, the OEM license is the license your wife is using, the upgrade itself has no license at all.

I found ASUS h270-plus with g-3930, also ASUS GTS-250 PCIe x16 on ebay at a good price. Ordered SSD drive. Had all the other stuff, so I was going to be in it for near 150 bucks. However I found out that MS is still being the big bully and not supporting up-dates for that possessor.

Microsoft doesn't normally write the drivers to support hardware, it is up to the hardware manufacturer to write the drivers to make it communicate/function. Hardware manufacturers want to sell new hardware so they rarely write drivers for old OSes & frequently only write drivers for the very next OS to be released. Right now it is a bit muddy because big businesses hung on to Win7 (Win 8 was not popular and rare to see in large companies) so the manufacturers may offer W7, W8, & W10 drivers but they aren't going to write old XP or Vista drivers.

So ASUS, not Microsoft, does not offer Vista drivers for the ASUS h270-plus but they do have W7/W8/W9. It does look like ASUS offers drivers from W10 all the way back to XP for the GTS-250 so that must be a pretty old card but still popular enough to warrant support. And SSDs started becoming popular after Win7 was released so they would come with drivers for W7, would be up to the manufacturer if they offer Vista or XP, and will either be fully supported by drivers included in the W8/10 OS or should come with a disk.

So at this time it will cost me an extra 100 buck for W-10.

So yes you have to pay to upgrade to an OS that you do not have if you want to use new hardware that does not offer drivers for the OS you are currently running.

I'm not absolutely sure but does that answer your question?

 

[Lyn P]

I an near 80 years old, and things do not come as easy as before. I did find drivers for mb, the mb did not come with a CD. Waiting for video card, I did order a W-10 today from Amazon. Sure hope I don't have a very small light boat anchor.

 

[TrainableMan]

If you did not get a DVD then the drivers for the motherboard are available free for download from ASUS. If I have the right Mobo it would be >>THIS<< but if not use ASUS's search to find the correct one & then pick the correct OS.
Note: for a Mobo there are many drivers you will need to run the numerous components: USB hubs, wi-fi, Bluetooth, PCI Bus, etc but they should all be right there on the ASUS drivers page(s).

 

[Lyn P]

Thanks for your help, it will be next week before I dive into it. May get back with you if I need your help.
Again thanks Lyn P