difference between oem and retail windows xp?

[Clamptastic]

'sup guys my windows xp home edition actually cracked, so I have to buy another one. i saw that newegg has both the retail and oem. Which one should I get and what is the difference between the 2? I mainly play games and watch movies on my comp so what about media edition? thanks

[Ob1]

the main difference between OEM and Retail is that OEM has no packaging
or instructions (other than a quick start), there is no product support
and you cannot transfer the operating system to another pc eg. you buy a
new computer without windows you cannot install a previously installed
OEM version on it (well your not supposed to). also OEM version does not support 'upgrading' a prior O.S..


Retail version has product support, packaging and you can transfer it to
another computer.

media center is built off of the XP Pro OS. r u wanting to stream media to other Tv's through media center range extenders? or are you planning on just watching all of your media on that one PC? if you are just going to watch your videos and listen to your music XP home or pro are fine. if you want to stream media to other tv's then you are gonna want media center so you can put range extenders on each television that you are planning on streaming media to.

[Stryker]

Originally Posted by Clamptastic 'sup guys my windows xp home edition actually cracked, so I have to buy another one. i saw that newegg has both the retail and oem. Which one should I get and what is the difference between the 2? I mainly play games and watch movies on my comp so what about media edition? thanks

Start by contacting Microsoft support.
If you still have your CD Key for the XP disk, you may be able to get a new disk out of them. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, just tell them your disk is damaged and unuseable and them may agree to ship you a replacement disk. Then again, if you WANT to get a new OS, by all means go ahead. Just a suggestion.

Stryker

[allburnintegrated]

Do you mean that the software is cracked (pirated) or the disc has a crack in it?

[Panama Red]

Try contacting MS first, as suggested. If that doesn't give favorable results, XP Home should work fine. Save yourself a couple bucks and buy it here.

http://store.viosoftware.biz/wixphoedoem.html

[Clamptastic]

called them up said theres nothing that they could do, and yes there is an actual crack in it. It fell of my dresser and hit bare floor.

My major concern is I have 3 pcs and Oem can only be used on one of them, so that kinda sucks. I guess I'll have to buy the retail package. thanks guys

[sdkfz]

huh? hold on, you have a legal XP CD with a physical crack -

If it is a MS disk go here:
If it is an OEM disk and the OEM is no longer in business still go here:
http://support.microsoft.com/default...5Bln%5D;326246

If it is an OEM disk and the OEM is still in business go to them - ie Dell etc.

[Panama Red]

Originally Posted by Clamptastic called them up said theres nothing that they could do, and yes there is an actual crack in it. It fell of my dresser and hit bare floor. My major concern is I have 3 pcs and Oem can only be used on one of them, so that kinda sucks. I guess I'll have to buy the retail package. thanks guys

You can use an oem version on ANY pc. You just don't get the MS support (you have PC Mech for support!) that comes with the retail version.

[glc]

I have 3 pcs and Oem can only be used on one of them

That is correct. You need 3 licenses. If you HAVE 3 licenses and one of your CD's is damaged, just use one of the other 2 if it's the same basic type (OEM, retail, upgrade) and it will work and it's legal.