OEM WINDOWS on custom built

[Amazin Caucasian]

ok I'm on the phone with microsoft and hes telling me that OEM Windows doesn't work with custom built computers...is this complete bs? cuz it sounds like it to me

[Panama Red]

Somebody's been smokin' hemp in India me thinks! The OEM versions are all I use for pc's I build. I think what that person is referring to is the disk that comes with computer such as Dell. That could be what he/she means by OEM. That's different the the OEM version you can buy from etailers like Newegg.

[Mr.Ferrari]

Huge BS it is my friend.

[Cricket]

Originally Posted by Panama Red I think what that person is referring to is the disk that comes with computer such as Dell. That could be what he/she means by OEM. That's different the the OEM version you can buy from etailers like Newegg.

Yeah, I agree with Panama Red...the MS person was probably thinking it was a recovery CD or a custom spec'd Windows CD that is keyed to the motherboard BIOS of a name brand computer.

Cricket

[Kiwi]

Originally Posted by Amazin Caucasian ok I'm on the phone with microsoft and hes telling me that OEM Windows doesn't work with custom built computers...is this complete bs? cuz it sounds like it to me

What that means is that there is no Microsoft direct support for such versions. You are your own "OEM", and the EULA says that an OEM agrees with MS to provide the support to those who use his systems, so to use a new OEM copy, you have agreed to support yourself.

The second restriction you run into is that the EULA says that the license is tied to a specific PC. If you turn around in just a few months and want to rebuild your system beyond the point that the Activation Comparison routines will accept, you won't be able to reactivate, unless you can convince MS it's not really a new computer after all.

[grunge_avenged]

OK let me get this straight ... if you use OEM version you get support from Microsoft but if you use non OEM will it still work you just wont get support or ***? lol

[blue60007]

You don't get support if you get the OEM version but you do get support if you get the Retail version.

[Amazin Caucasian]

that is what i told him...when i try and use the setup cd and go to recovery console it freezes that is my problem...he says that it is becuase it is OEM. My dad paid for the support becuase he knows I am stuck. the guy said he had never encountered this problem and had me do all the same things i have already been doing. he has a "research team" on teh problem and will call back tomorow...thanks guys

[grunge_avenged]

OK ... so when I start my new build can I just use the XP disk that came with my prebuilt computer do you think or would that even work :S, thanks

[freakitchen]

OK ... so when I start my new build can I just use the XP disk that came with my prebuilt computer do you think or would that even work :S, thanks

Most windows copies that come with brand-name manufactured systems are only for use in that computer. If you have 'restore discs' rather than a full Windows CD, then it won't work on your new build.

At any rate, you can only use one copy of windows per computer.

Freakitchen

[rjfvillarosa]

Originally Posted by Amazin Caucasian when i try and use the setup cd and go to recovery console it freezes that is my problem.

Do you actually have Windows installed and are attempting a repair? or is this a new installation?

[Kiwi]

Many, if not most, branded PC's do not come with a normal version of Windows. It is its own kind of OEM, and includes other software beyond just an operating system. These versions contain internal checks not that different from what XP does every time it reboots. They check the computer they are being installed into ("Recovered to") for a specific match to a code (that is branded into the BIOS, probably, but in that regard I can't be specific).

The reason I cannot is that after about 1988, when I literally had to get a loan from my employee credit union at work to pay for a Compaq DeskPro PC, I decided I simply Could not/ cannot yet afford the luxury of a brand named system. At first, I had a source for the standard ISA parts and was building my own PC's. Before there was an Internet of the sort we have now, I found I couldn't get all of the parts I wanted any more and had to use a White Box shop to assemble sytems for me in the earliest part of the Pentium era.

End of OT digression.

Anyway, if you replace the MB in branded PC's, you don't get that code for the CD to check against, unless you buy the MB direct from the original seller of the system.

[Amazin Caucasian]

I'm attempting to repair an already installed Windows XP Pro

[blue60007]

Wait, are you using an XP Pro disc? Is it the same disc that it was originally installed with? Refresh my memory if you could.

[Amazin Caucasian]

I am attempting a repair using the XP Pro disk that I used when I first got my computer to install Windows in the first place. All of a sudden a file went corrupt or missing and in order to repair it i have to go into the recovery console. but when i do the computer hangs. I was told the registry is corrupted also.

[rjfvillarosa]

Boot from the XP disk but do not go to the recovery console, carry on as if to do a full install and Windows will find your old installation and give you the option to repair it.

[Amazin Caucasian]

can't do that, it freezes when it is searching for previous installations.

[rjfvillarosa]

Have you done any hard drive diagnostics yet?

[Amazin Caucasian]

yup all clear, Microsoft says it is a possible filing system error on the hard drive rather than a hard drive failure...apparently there is a difference and filing system errors arent detected on diagnostics.

[rjfvillarosa]

Will you loose much stuff by formating the hard drive and reinstalling Windows?

[Amazin Caucasian]

ya check out the other thread, Boot up Problems its all about this issue and check out where i am currently at