chicagofan said:
I've never purchased any MS software retail... always got new O/S with a
new computer. What I want to know is, when a seller advertises the Win7
software "with license and media"... does "media" mean it comes with a
disk?
I'm puzzled, because some other Windows O/S software on the same page,
says with "traditional disk". That's important to me, because I'll
need a disk. My daughter is like "Dennis the Menace" on computers.
TIA for any responses, I'm dumping Win8 despite the extra expense.
bj
Media means with a disc. Preferably two disks, one for 32 bit
installs, one for 64 bit installs.
I some cases, this would also include a COA,
Certificate of Authenticity, to stick on the machine.
The COA has a copy of the license key, and should
be adhered to the machine in a way it won't get scratched
off. The fonts are generally so small, it would not take
much to make them totally unreadable.
Now, if this purchase is coming from Ebay, you want to
avoid a package that includes a home-burned DVD and a
VLK. The VLK would be stolen from some company, and is
a Volume License Key. VLKs are not intended for individual
resale, as far as I know.
That's where sources like Newegg come in. Generally, a retailer
of that sort, won't be pushing something like a VLK. Whereas
with Ebay, you never know what you're going to get. Could be
good, could be bad. The problem with a VLK, from a practical
perspective, is it could be rejected at a later date,
leading to "this OS isn't genuine" at some future date
when the VLK is revoked due to abuse.
*******
A purchased Windows 8 computer, can come with downgrade rights.
That means, you get a copy of Windows 7 on demand. You need to
check the details of that program, before buying the machine.
Perhaps a business class machine has it, and a home one
doesn't. The program may be well hidden, and not actively
pushed by the manufacturer. That's the cheapest way to get
a copy (if you don't include any price premium they might
be charging because a downgrade is available).
If you buy a copy of Windows 8 off some store shelf,
that typically doesn't come with downgrade rights. As
far as I know, the downgrade program applies to "royalty OEM"
situations. It's to provide sales flexibility, in
situations where the current OS installed in the OEN PC,
is hated, and customers keep asking for a previous one.
I expect the program had its roots at Microsoft head office,
but don't expect every Dell/HP/Acer/Gateway to support it with
equal vigor. For example, you might get some whining about "drivers"
or the like. The drivers since Vista, would share a lot
in common, with the exception perhaps of the video card.
And in that category, a laptop is likely to offer the
most resistance, if the manufacturer didn't "do the right
thing". For desktops, you can get the driver from NVidia
or ATI. For laptops, it's the LCD panel customization
that generally makes the laptop manufacturer the source
of the "tweaked" package. Occasionally, a laptop forum
has tweaked drivers as well, if you want to spend the
time tracking them down.
Paul
