Re: Oem Pid
- From: "Ken Blake, MVP" <kblake@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 10 Jul 2008 14:30:28 -0700
On Fri, 11 Jul 2008 00:52:49 +0530, phxjulez
<phxjulez.3ccmvb@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
I have a genuine XP Pro CD that I bought at Fry's Electronics. This CD
was not included in a 'bundled' purchase and is in fact a full XP Pro
retail CD.
No, it's not. As is clear from what you say below ("I was never aware
that my PID had the letters 'OEM' included in its string. I do not
understand why the OEM letters are part of my PIDs identity") what you
bought is an OEM CD, not a retail one (even though you bought it at a
retail store).
You are perhaps unaware that there are two types of OEM CDs: the kind
that comes with a computer pre-built by one of the large nationwide
OEMs, and the kind you can buy by itself (at a price lower than the
retail one) at store like Frys. You clearly bought one of that latter
type, the kind usually called a "generic" OEM version (as opposed to a
Dell OEM version, HP OEM version, etc.).
Although if you get a complete generic OEM version, it contains the
same software, it has the following disadvantages as compared with the
retail version:
1. Its license ties it permanently to the first computer it's
installed on. It can never legally be moved to another computer, sold,
or given away (except with the original computer).
2. It can only do a clean installation, not an upgrade.
3. Microsoft provides no support for OEM versions. You can't call them
with a problem, but instead have to get any needed support from your
OEM; that support may range anywhere between good and non-existent. Or
you can get support elsewhere, such as in these newsgroups.
You are now running into those disadvantages. My personal view is
that although a generic OEM version is usually cheaper than the Retail
Upgrade, it's not very much cheaper and is a bad bargain (in
particular, because of that first disadvantage), as compared to the
Retail Upgrade. I almost always recommend against the OEM version and
the Retail Upgrade instead. It doesn't come with the restrictions
that the OEM version does, and costs only slightly more than an OEM
version. And, like the Full version, it can do either an upgrade or a
clean installation. To do a clean installation with the Upgrade
version requires that you own a CD of a previous qualifying version,
but even for those few people who don't have one, used copies of
Windows 98 can be bought for very little, and the Upgrade is still a
better buy.
I installed the OS from this CD on a new system that I built
approx four years ago at the time of purchasing said CD. I then
installed it on a new system that I had built approx two years ago. The
original system that I had installed this on was scrapped and never used
after the build of this second system. Approximately one year ago, a
client gave me a new HP PC, of which I immediately flattened the hard
drive and installed the OS from this same CD onto that system. Again,
no problem. I ended up parting out the HP PC. When parting out I kept
the hard drive, although it is not the hard drive that I have in my
current system, nor is that drive in any system. After parting out the
HP, approximately eight months ago, I built another new system and used
the same CD. I have had no activation issues when using this CD to
install my OS on these systems, and am the only one that has owned/used
all systems. At no time have I had more than one system active. From
the moment that the new build is operational, I have never gone back to
the prior system, so there have never been two systems with this OS
active at the same time. My OS is always identified as genuine whenever
I must use the Genuine Advantage tool provided by Microsoft. With the
exception of the HP, all of the PCs that I have built have all included
new hardware, i.e., individually purchased components, including my
current system and it DOES NOT contain any HP hardware or ANY hardware
originating from a PC manufacturer. Being an IT professional, I have
never needed to access MS tech support, that is until two days ago. In
order to receive any type of tech support (without paying) one must
provide certain info which includes the PID of the OS of the system one
is seeking support for. I provided the PID, and then was refused
support (unless I pay) and received the following message:
"This Product ID indicates that there will be a charge for this
Microsoft support.
The product ID indicates that this product may be supported by your
computer manufacturer. Contact your computer manufacturer for support or
select a different support option below"
Because I had never tried to access tech support, and because I had
never even had to refer to the PID before, I was never aware that my PID
had the letters 'OEM' included in its string. I do not understand why
the OEM letters are part of my PIDs identity. I did email MS Customer
Support with this issue, knowing that this should not be my issue and
knowing that I should not be denied tech support. I received an email
from Customer Support in reply to my email, and it appears that whoever
replied did not even read my email and responded with "since you are
using an OEM version of Windows XP, you must refer the the manufacturer
of your PC, blah, blah, blah". I was specific in my email in stating
that my PC is not a manufactured PC, that it is a custom build, built by
me and that the CD is not an OEM CD. Rather than dance around with
outsourced Customer Support provided by MS, I thought I would search the
web, & check around the forums to determine if this glitch has been
addressed before. If it has been addressed, I give up, I can find no
reference to this. Has anyone else experienced this issue, or has
anyone ever heard of this issue, and if so, is there a work-around for
this? This XP Pro CD
that I reference has never been used by anyone other than myself, has
never left my home, and has only been used on the systems that I've
mentioned above. There is no doubt that this is the original and same
CD that I bought as the orig CD Key works and as I mentioned, there have
been no issues with activation nor issues with it being genuine. Any
input regarding this is greatly appreciated.
--
phxjulez
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--
Ken Blake, Microsoft MVP - Windows Desktop Experience
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