XP Pro - do i get "Upgrade" or "Genuine Advantage Kit"?

[RoddyVR]

I work for a non profit company and we've recently hit the "non genuine windows instalation" thing at microsoft's update page.

i'm not realy surprised, as i doubt this company has ever been able to afford spending almost two thousand dollars on buying a copy of Windows for each of the 5 PCs we have (or the 6 it was a while back).

the question i have is...
If we buy a "Windows XP Pro Upgrade" for each computer, will the CD keys that come with those be sufficient to turn our instalations of XP "genuine"?
or will windows remember that the Keys we have now are non gunuine and ignore the fact that we bought Upgrades?

Microsoft wants $150 for each computer for its Genuine advantage Kit, but the upgrade lincences they are willing to sell to us for $75 each (cause we're a non profit). saving about 400 dollars would go a LONG way in convincing the bosses that going "legit" is worth it. cause we just cant afford to spend the 750 dollars for the 5 genuine kits.

will the upgrade licence keys be enough to get microsoft to "genuanize" our operating systems?

[jayb1234]

Another option might be to get the OEM version of XP pro.

It is about $50.00 cheaper than the upgrade.

I think that you could just change your current keys to the keys that come with the OEM versions and then would have a properly licensed setup without having to buy the genuine advantage kit from Microsoft.

I'm not 100% certain about that, but if I am interpreting the issue correctly it should work.

[RoddyVR]

that's a good suggestion, except that i dont know where i would find OEM versions that cheap???
the prices i've been able to find are:
Full Retail - upto 400, though its probably findable for 300.
OEM - $160
Genuine Kit - 149.99
Upgrade - $75 for the non profit volume open licence from microsoft. there may be distributors who have it cheaper, i havent tried to find em yet, cause i'm not sure it would work, and its already the cheapest option (if it works).

so for now of all the options that i'm fairly certain will work, the Genuine kit is teh best deal.
but if the upgrade version's Keys are good enough to get the same result then it'll save us atleast half the cost of this whole process.

EDIT: I see that your link is to a $144 oem version. thanks. that's now my best "non upgrade" variant. but the upgrade thing is still considerably cheaper. i just get the feeling that since regular people can get the upgrade versions for about 100 bucks, that microsofts "genuine kit" thing is either a big ripoff, or that the upgrade Keys wont be enough to get us past this hurdle.
would REALY love to know for sure.

[trulad]

newegg.com is an excellant source and XP OEM is about $94.00. Sometimes less.
trulad

[thefultonhow]

If you are a non-profit, you can get Windows XP Pro upgrade for $8 a license from TechSoup Stock:

http://www.techsoup.org/stock/catego...vers+MS&Page=4

It is the volume license version, so although it's an "upgrade" license, it behaves as the full version. Note that you can only buy from them once per year, so look through all the software they have to see what else you might want to get.

[RoddyVR]

Wow!!!

thanks theFultonHow!
that's way better then getting it from MS directly...
assuming that there's not some wierd catch to this techsoup place, this is great.

though i still need to know if the upgrade version (techsoup doesnt seem to have a full version of xp) will be enough to get through the genuine validation process thingy.

i was gonna just waste the $8 on one copy, try it, and then if it works get the rest. but then their "once a year" thing kicks in, so that means i'd have to get all 5 copies to try it out, which is $40, which is a bit much for a test, that i suspect may fail, in which case i'll have wasted $40 for no reason at all, and still have to get the 5 ~$150 packages (either the OEM from new egg, or the "genuine Validation Kit" from MS.)

there has to be someone who's already tried to get around the genuine validation thing with an upgrade licence key!
i cant be the only one to think of this way of saving cash... right?

[thefultonhow]

The TechSoup XP is a full volume-license version, despite the fact that its called an upgrade on the site. I have ordered it and it comes with a CD, one product key, and no activation. You may have to do a repair install on each computer to get it validated, but it could be as simple as using a product-key changer to enter the new product key into the system and get validated.

[bozo]

The "Upgrade" version is still a full blown version of XP, BUT it requires an older version of Windows to install. You can install a "XP Upgrade" version on a new or formatted hard drive. At the beginning of the install, you will be prompted in to "insert qualifying previous Windows OS CD" (I use an old Win 95 CD), once the check is done, you will be prompted to put the XP update CD back in, & the install will continue.

Once the "Upgrade" is complete, you will need to validate the copy within 30 days over the net, or a call to MS...a painless process that only takes minutes.

8 bucs for XP Pro upgrade is a steal...I wish I could grab a couple of coppies for that price!

When you do this:
1. You could "Update" the current XP installation (not my prefference), which will overwrite the validation keys.
2. Format the drive erasing the current XP install, and install XP fresh (preffered)

[RoddyVR]

thanks bozo and thefultonhow, your posts give me much optimism towards this "upgrade" route.
i guess i may as well try ordering the 5 "upgrade" licences from techsoup.

i just hope i dont end up needing 5 different licences of an old windows version. (i think we've got one of each of 95 and 98 here, though i think the 98 was an upgrade licence too).

So now that i know that the "upgrade" versions from techsoup wont have any problems installing (or repairing) on the computers here, the only question left now is if anyone has tried to pass the "genuine windows" validation thing with an "upgrade licence" installed on a clean machine... and if so, what did they "feed" the upgrade disk as the qualifying old version?

i'll basicaly be installing 5 upgrades using the same old version licence on all 5 machines as the "qualifying product". hope that passes the "genuine key" muster, cause otherwise i'll end up making my bosses pay more money then should have been needed for a process they dont realy understand the initial need for anyway ("we've got a working version of win XP already, why buy it?").

if anyone has actualy tried to get through the genuine windows validation thing after doing something similar, please share your experience... thanks.

[thefultonhow]

Originally Posted by bozo The "Upgrade" version is still a full blown version of XP, BUT it requires an older version of Windows to install. You can install a "XP Upgrade" version on a new or formatted hard drive. At the beginning of the install, you will be prompted in to "insert qualifying previous Windows OS CD" (I use an old Win 95 CD), once the check is done, you will be prompted to put the XP update CD back in, & the install will continue. Once the "Upgrade" is complete, you will need to validate the copy within 30 days over the net, or a call to MS...a painless process that only takes minutes.

This is not true in the case of the TechSoup XP licenses. Despite being called "upgrades," they are full volume-license copies of XP that do not require activation and do not require that you have a disk from a previous Windows version.

[MrBarby]

or u can bypass the nasty message... google it

[RoddyVR]

Originally Posted by MrBarby or u can bypass the nasty message... google it

its not the nasty message i'm worried about. its that eventualy MS will get around to saying "no updates at all for anyone not running genuine windows".
and then we'll start getting the Mydoom type viruses all over our machines.

if i was just worried about the message, i could just leave everything the way it is. windows is working, and the critical updates download via the Automatic updater.
i just dont want to have to get to the point when that "solution" no longer works, and have to rush to fix it.

[Alaron]

__Moderator Note__

MrBarby, we do not allow any discussion of bypassing security measures. Microsoft offers the legal way to obtain a Genuine Windows installation. Review the Rules: http://forum.pcmech.com/rules.php especially #9.

[mike12]

MrBarby, It appears that you need to order 5 seats or licenses, if you read the "Restrictions" unless I am reading it wrong. Am I wrong ? Can just one license be obtained ?

[RoddyVR]

Originally Posted by mike12 MrBarby, It appears that you need to order 5 seats or licenses, if you read the "Restrictions" unless I am reading it wrong. Am I wrong ? Can just one license be obtained ?

assuming that you're talking about Techsoup... from what i understand from them... yes, they dont do orders of less then 5 licences (same as Microsoft wont do volume licences for less then 5 computers)
for me that's not a problem as i need 5 or 6 anyway... and tell you the truth, even if you only need one, its still cheaper to get 5 from techsoup then one from anywhere else.... assuming that you're a nonprofit company (have to send them IRS proof of that, they're prety serious).

[mike12]

RoddyVR, yes I was talking about Techsoup, and I should have addressed my comment to you instead of MrBarby. The old eyes arn't what they used to be.