Is there a risk with buying OEM Windows?

i know this sounds silly, but is there a risk with buying OEM software, say if it doesn't work. there's messages saying that the company won't take returns due to any problem, so is this a risk that the customer should take?
i'm running xp home that came with my computer and xp pro is about £90 for OEM version or £250ish for the full retail version.

any comments are welcomed...

 

I run XP SP2 OEM that I purchased at newegg.com. The company (which is highly rated and which I really like) sells lots of OEM and allows for exchanges of any thing that should happen to be unsatisfactory as long as you exchange for the same product. Being OEM you will get no support from Microsoft (which I never use anyway...I get my support at MajorGeeks You also won't get a manual but the product is a sealed (and legal) Microsoft manufactured product. Buy from a reliable company and you should be OK.

 

You run the risk of saving a lot of money

 

lol thanks guys, but say if there's a corrupt cd and the company says no refunds under any circumstances does that mean you've forked out £90 for nothing??

i'm gonna go with OEM from now on!!!!!!!!!!

 

They can't sell you a defective product and not replace it with something that works.

 

krazykrl, you've answered my question!

thanks for all the helps guys!

 

just be wary of spyware, my oem version of me came with 27 types of spyware and 2 virus leftovers

 

Thats called pirated software, not an OEM version

Most of the differences between an OEM CD and a retail CD is the license.

 

lol wouldn't you be a bit suspicious if your supposed OEM version contained spyware

i'll buy an OEM upgrade of Pro when i get some cash!

 

An authentic Microsoft OEM Windows version WILL NOT come with Spyware.

Some pirated CD that Joe Shmoe from Idaho made to make money and included software with it will however I am sure, include spyware and malware.

I know there is a difference with licenses, but I thought the OEM comes with less drivers or something too? Which just means you have to download them and install them yourself.

 

I bought XP SP2 because it does not contain any extra drivers and all the other stuff that a computer manufacturer's restore disks sorta force on you. When I formatted and did an install I got a very clean installation without all the "crap". I did update my video driver from the manufacturer's site. That is better than trying to remove tons of stuff I didn't need. I just like my machine clean and lean. I admit to being sorta anal

 

You don't get those 2 free support calls from Microsoft. That's all. Retail has 2 support calls ($35? apiece) included. The manufacturer's restore disc has drivers for original hardware and all the free crap that was on it, originally.

 

redskydawning, I checked out that website you mentioned, newegg.com, and the XP SP2 OEM version states in bold print "must be purchased with hardware". What does that mean? Can't you just purchase the CD?

 

Legally, you must purchase hardware with it.

 

As part of the MS license you must purchase MS OEM software with hardware. Newegg and other OEM resellers, being a legitimate companies, follows the terms of the license.

Myself, I needed a piece of hardware (a USB flash disk) so it presented no problem for me. You may wish to wait until you need something However, I have head of those who just purchase a package of screws (total cost being 29 cents). That fullfils the license agreement.

Walmart sells OEM and prices it's MS products with an included mouse (no doubt a cheap one). Throw the mouse away and you still save lots of bucks.

Hope this helps...

 

well...... i need a new video card........but that's another story

 

Yes, thanks for the explanation. I get the picture now. But I have one other question please. My Sony PC did not come with an XP CD, only restore disks. If I should ever have to format and reinstall XP (heaven forbid!) would the $91.00 OEM version of XP work? And would it also have the recovery and repair features on it?

 

I cannot speak for your Sony...I can only speak for my Toshiba. Also be aware that I do not want to talk you (or anyone else) into doing anything they are uncomfortable doing. You make the final call as you alone have to live with the results.

Most units now only come with restore disks which will return your computer to how it came from the factory. Over time this "factory state" can become rather obsolete considering all the upgrades and patches we need to install.

With all that being said here is what I did:

I no longer use the factory restore disks if I need to format and clean install. I simply use the OEM XP SP2 disk for a clean install of XP. On my machine I found the only driver I needed to update (besides my printer and scanner driver) was my video driver. I then install ONLY the software I use...not what Toshiba thought I needed to use. A "clean install" using only the MS OEM disk takes about half the space and resourses that Toshiba's disks install. As I previously mentioned, I like my machine lean and mean. If only I was the same

Ain't this fun?

 

I would never buy a computer that didn't come with original disks for anything they might have installed, up to & including Windoze. You paid for it you should receive the product as well.

 

You would need to go to the sony website and make sure they have the drivers for all your hardware. There is a small chance they won't have the drivers you'll need for your computer. That happened to my friend's computer from HP. HP has drivers for the modem but no motherboard drivers or anything else (it had on-board sound, video, etc. but was crappy). If you get all the drivers you'll need, you should be fine. Just make sure to burn the drivers onto a cd-rom before formatting your drivers.

 

I've used this http://www.majorgeeks.com/download3982.html before reformatting a HP XP machine. Just save them all to a disc or another P.C. if your on a network. It saved my butt and also taught to just buy an XP disc as I didn't want all the programs HP "thinks" I need.

 

Thanks for the replies everybody. I've learned a lot from this thread. Great forum, nice people!