using xp home oem vs retail to repair sys.

[racerbrownn]

i have a emachines pc with xp home on a recovery disc. this pc has a legal license sticker on the side.

i want to build a new pc and need to know for sure if i should get the oem version so it would be compatible if the emachine motherboard crapped out outside of warrantee and i needed to put a different mb in and reload xp from scratch.

i've read that oem doesn't work for retail or was it vice versa?
i've also read that ms might give trouble transfering the xp sys to another pc but what about repairing the one that has the license.

ideas from anyone who has crossed this path?? thankx,ray.

[trulad]

OEM would be the way to go for the new machine you are building but you could not legally install that on youe E-machine. OEM is licensed for only the machine it is originally installed on. For the E-Machine use your restore disk until it dies.
trulad

[Confused]

OEM and retail are the same OS. Technically OEM stays on PC it was installed on.

As a matter of use, if I upgrade my PC I can still use my copy of OEM. The question is, during upgrades over time at what point does it become a new PC and I am in violation?

Go for the OEM for the new PC. Much cheaper than retail.
Chas

[racerbrownn]

thankx for the heads up.
i am going to build my first amd pc with ideas from my comparison thread in overclocking and really appreciate all the help to make a good choice.
thankx again, ray.