Hi Friends,
I am thinking of building a new PC on my own. I am a home user only. I will buy all the hardware from a local shop ie motherboard, cpu, ram, hdd etc and then I would like to install a genuine/legal version of Windows 10 Pro 64 bit on it. But should I buy OEM version or retail version? What if any hardware (motherboard, cpu, ram, hdd etc.) stops functioning after I install, activate/register and update Windows? Thanks.
It's better to buy Retail version for you are sure that it could be reinstalled on any MB in the future and MS is not going to change to any new windows for many years. Deals on OEM are known to be shady at best.
If you currently have a retail version of W7 or 8/8.1 you can still use it's activation code to upgrade to W10 on new machine. Not that only motherboard is important, no other makes any difference as far as activation is concerned.
Yes, you are right, retail version my call then.
I never knew that.Deals on OEM are known to be shady at best.
I thought the time frame for a free upgrade to W10 passed long ago.If you currently have a retail version of W7 or 8/8.1 you can still use it's activation code to upgrade to W10 on new machine.
OK. So I can change any hardware, for example the cpu from say I3 to i5, i7 right? or upgrade RAM from 4 GB to 8/16 GB.Not that only motherboard is important, no other makes any difference as far as activation is concerned.
Thanks a lot.
Right, no other components but MB are important for activation and even that doesn't matter with Retail version. There's even way to re-activate even OM version. I don't know if I should elaborate but there's still a way to upgrade from W7 and 8/8.1 using a loophole MS still tolerates.
If I were you, I would buy the retail copy of Windows 10. Reason being is that Microsoft again changed terms of the OEM/Systems Builders license and they state that it's not intended for home hobbyists. So, down the road you could run into issues with hardware upgrades and moving it to another computer. The headaches later probably won't be worth the cost savings now.
What is there to elaborate on? Upgrading from Windows 7, 8 or 8.1 still works the same now as it ever did. There is no loophole. You can just run Windows 10 setup.exe from inside Windows 7, 8, or 8.1 and it will upgrade to Windows 10. You can use the gatherosstate.exe file to capture the genuineticket.xml file from Windows 7, 8 or 8.1 and use that to activate a clean install of Windows 10 with. Or if the Windows 7, 8 or 8.1 product key is not blocked from automatic online activation, you can just enter the product key to activate Windows 10 with. No mystery, no loophole, just the same as it always has been.
Agreed. There's no need for a loophole. The free upgrade that was supposed to expire....didn't.
Here are the key facts:-
OEM licences are cheaper than retail but (strictly according to EULA) not transferable to a new mobo.
Officially, you cannot buy oem licences as an end user. In reality, you can and MS rarely block such keys.
When you install from 1version 607 onwards, you get a digital licence tied to mobo id.
The digital licence is transferable to a a new mobo using activation troubleshooter.
This works if retail or oem (even though strictly against EULA).
Once you get a digital licence, it is forever even if original key gets blocked.
So, in reality, it does not matter too much if you buy oem or retail.
However, there is one possible additional consideration:
A digital licence can only be transferred a number of limited time (three in my testing), whereas a retail licence has unlimited licence transfers (may need telephone activation though).
So if you are going to transfer licence at least four times over your life to new mobo, then a retail licence could be better.
However, if oem licence is much cheaper, who cares?
Personally, I would buy a cheap oem licence accepting any risks that it might get blocked at some point.
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