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FactorD

this is really confusing me, I want to buy XP home, I saw this one online:

http://www.cclonline.com/product-info.asp?product_id=949&category_id=225&manufactur er_id=0

I'm shocked at the price, I was expecting it to be extremely expensive, there must be a catch, right?

I have a system running windows server 03, which i bought from ebay but the seller installed an illegit win server 03 on it, instead of bundling a new copy of xp pro like he said he would!

anyway.... can i buy this version of XP home and install it on a new partition of the hard drive and be set for life? or is there some horrible catch I'm missing on?!

ih8bills · 04:25 AM

Welcome to PCHF...FactorD

these are somewhat "grey" areas for buying an"oem" copy of windows. Is it "technically" legal ? Yes, as far as I know. You'll recieve a fully licensed version --with some cheap piece of hardware thrown in to cover their backsides.These were probably intended to be preinstalled on a full PC. If you were say, upgrading the harddrive on your PC (hypothetical situation)-- to me ...you should be able to buy one of these discs with it. (my opinion) It's major hardware... your PC can't run without it --and it's not that cheap-- as opposed to a mouse or cable (minor hardware) which is very cheap.

The thing about OEM versions is that you will not receive direct tech-support from Microsoft for this version-- they'll tell you to go see the PC manufacturer (which doesn't exist, of course) --so you get ZERO tech-support for this OS. If you are comfortable with that-- then go for it.

As far as being a fully licensed copy of XP home-- it probably is-- it will install/update/have a license key/ and activate normally. But if something goes wrong YOU fix it yourself. That's why it's so cheap-- you save the cost of providing you with "free" tech-support--- which is ,of course not free at all. They just build it into the full-price version.

A side comment-- no operating system "set's you for life"
XP is a good, stable OS-- but Microsoft is already scaling back on support for it. The next thing is Vista --but it's nowhere near ready-- so xp will be supported for quite a while yet.

FactorD

Originally Posted by ih8bills

Welcome to PCHF...FactorD

these are somewhat "grey" areas for buying an"oem" copy of windows. Is it "technically" legal ? Yes, as far as I know. You'll recieve a fully licensed version --with some cheap piece of hardware thrown in to cover their backsides.These were probably intended to be preinstalled on a full PC. If you were say, upgrading the harddrive on your PC (hypothetical situation)-- to me ...you should be able to buy one of these discs with it. (my opinion) It's major hardware... your PC can't run without it --and it's not that cheap-- as opposed to a mouse or cable (minor hardware) which is very cheap.

The thing about OEM versions is that you will not receive direct tech-support from Microsoft for this version-- they'll tell you to go see the PC manufacturer (which doesn't exist, of course) --so you get ZERO tech-support for this OS. If you are comfortable with that-- then go for it.

As far as being a fully licensed copy of XP home-- it probably is-- it will install/update/have a license key/ and activate normally. But if something goes wrong YOU fix it yourself. That's why it's so cheap-- you save the cost of providing you with "free" tech-support--- which is ,of course not free at all. They just build it into the full-price version.

A side comment-- no operating system "set's you for life"
XP is a good, stable OS-- but Microsoft is already scaling back on support for it. The next thing is Vista --but it's nowhere near ready-- so xp will be supported for quite a while yet.

Cool, well I've been using XP home now (OEM) on my old system for at least four years but it came from a recovery CD and had already been activated.

So far, XP has been a very stable OS for me. I have tried the Vista beta 2 already and it seems far from done. I'm sure Vista will be great but, XP seems more stable and less taxing on the system. I'll probably buy it eventually though.

As for the technical support thing, I've installed several OS' in the past, hopefully it shouldn't be a problem.

Also, is it true that this version can not be installed on a new partition of the hard drive, that the HDD has to be wiped first? Will the software wipe the HDD during the installation process, or will I have to do that beforehand? And after I've installed it, is it still possible to partition the drive, say to install another OS on it?

thanks.

ih8bills · 03:06 AM

I believe you should be able to install to a second partition... if you wish. However you already stated that the Windows Server 03 was an illegit copy... why keep it? Your call, but if you are getting a legit XP copy-- why invite trouble ?
I'd start clean, personally. If there are specific personal files you want to save from it...just back em up and reinstall them under XP.
Xp installs and runs best when done 'clean' anyway.

afa partitions and formatting-- best to get that from the source-- I would not want to steer you wrong.

http://support.microsoft.com/default...NoWebContent=1

GaRHaR

Just a piece of advice on OEM versions of windows.

They're supposed to be only sold with new motherboards.