Bulk Ordering

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COLGeek

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Understood and agreed. You can go to a vendor like newegg and buy a "builders package" such as the one below. That is not cheap either. Really a matter of how big your operation is going to be....

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116985

Good luck!
 
You can get a good deal on ebay, just don't expect them to work. The way I take care of things, I just work on whatever OS was on the PC when I work on it, but that is used stuff of course. I get some old P4 boxes with OEM stickers, I install XP, no cost to me, they get a valid licese, no laws broken.

You will not get a large discount unless you buy in the thousands, even site licenses are not that heavily discounted. For someone like an HP or Dell, they can get prices that are about 1/3rd of OEM retail. Although my info is from the XP days. Maybe Vista and 7 are more strict on prices.
 

casualbuilder

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Great info hang-the-9. thank you. So basically you are saying buy "cheap" pre-owned with already installed OS's, and just use them?
 

COLGeek

Cybernaut
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A word of caution, those are older (XP and Vista) machines with previously used licenses, not Win 7. Also, the OEM license is tied directly to the original hardware. Changing to new hardware is actually questionable if you read the fine print in the user agreement.
 

casualbuilder

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ahh, yes. OEM's are good for "1" mobo/hdd combo correct? Now, if you buy retail though, they are good for as many PC's as you can create correct? obviously if people are registering them from all around the state/country there would be flags, but for personal use i mean, you could build yourself a new computer every year and it would be good from my understanding.
 

casualbuilder

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yes exactly. they need to come up with a builder spec where you buy a merchant hard disk for say $1,000, and then charge like, $20 a KEY PASS so that people can compete with the crappy dell, hp, and (i cant believe im even admitting they are a company) E-machines. or even just a liscense the company can renew every year. Its a crying shame...people wonder why jobs aren't created.
 

COLGeek

Cybernaut
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You could always build with Linux and then let the buyer purchase their own Windows license....Not optimal, but it works (and works well).'

In your scenario (sort of like a OEM builder license), how many "licenses", and they would have to be unique, would your $1000 buy you? Also, keep in mind that the OEM license requires you, the builder, to provide support for the end users, not MS.

So, how big an operation are you projecting for this effort?
 

casualbuilder

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how big, as big as it would get. hopefully being as big (namewise) as an hp, dell, or even mac. as of now, its at ground stages. in theory, im sick of these big name companies throwing around weight and selling "budget" pc's that really dont hold their weight in paper...

I don't plan on competing with all of their lowend prices, however, mid ranged items should be absolutely no problem in not only beating performance wise, but price wise too (OS being my main concern). Parts i can even get manufacturer bulk deals (im rather sure of depending on product demand).

Im not familiar with linux, but i can be very quickly. I believe is incredibly easy to use. If i set up 1 Linux unit, could i copy not only the OS, but also system prefs as well to a load disc for faster reconstruction and installs?
 


That's right, what I was suggesting it to re-use the same OS and license on the same machine, not transfer it over to another one. You get a used P4 online, or from a friend, or from a corporate sale, use an OEM XP or whatever disk (only catch here is that you need to get an OEM disk compatible with the system and code), and you have a "new" system with a clean and legal OS setup.
 

casualbuilder

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Ok, so thats what i was looking at originally. for the WINE program, i believe it supports itunes correct? i have a person that might need a clean wipe, i would recommend ubuntu. as i said before, i need to update myself on at least the basics of linux for proper use recommendations. Also, i believe that ubunu looks appealing enough that most people wont complain unless they are hardcore gamers. Thank you COLGeek.

HANG**

So i think what you are saying is that i would have to use the same system? or is there a way to "refresh" the OS and re-use it again? idk, seems very technical and "illegit". Might not be illegal, but what exactly would you be doing to get the OS to run on new equipment?
 


That's a governtment site license order, there is no way they can sell this to you legaly. It would be like buying a corporate volume license key from some ebay seller. That company looks a bit shady, the site looks and works like it was done by a 1st year web design student. Half the links I tried did not work, and the images did not display properly either.

As far are re-using the OS, you can't use it on a different system by MS license agreement, and you don't want to be re-selling grey or illegal system licenses. If a box you buy has an XP code on it, you can re-install XP on that system using that code. You cannot take that code and use it on another system. You can take a new purchased license for any OS and use it on that old system though with no issues. You just can't move OEM licenses from PC to PC, even if that old PC is scrap. That is one of the reasons OEM licenses are sold for much cheaper than full licenses.
 

COLGeek

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This is a violation of the OEM license agreement, my friend. While it is certainly creative, it is a violation nonetheless. I wouldn't recommend taking this course of action (my lawyers would definitely steer me away from this method).
 
Re-using the same key on the PC it came with using an OEM disk is not a violation of anything. The license agreement states you can't install the OS on a different PC, there is nothing that states you can't re-install it on the computer again. It's the same thing as using a restore disk. If you say you can't re-install the OS on the same PC using the same license, that means that every time anyone uses a restore disk they are doing the wrong thing.
 

casualbuilder

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but with an OEM, you can't change any hardware...thats an issue. if it were possible to even just leave the HDD with the OS on it, and be able to change everything else, that would be so much better, as i could use a JBOD capable MoBo and increase HDD space. what a bummer...im going to go start writing my own OS and ill get it on the market for free in about never years. thanks for all the help guys, i really appreciate it! further chat is more than welcome, as i will most likely have many more questions in the future, but as for my original post, i believe i have my answer.
 

COLGeek

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Then I misunderstood your message, hang-the-9. What was originally asked about was a way to get bulk licenses for new builds. The method suggested seemed to say to the OP that there might be a way to use old licenses to install an OS on your new rigs.

If you say that was not your intent, then I apologize. However, what has been posted here could imply just that. Reusing on the same hardware (motherboard) is indeed allowable.

However, to be perfectly clear, the OEM license is only valid with the hardware it was originally released with (motherboard). No argument there, right?
 

casualbuilder

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definately not. mobo has to be the same. and the ORIGINAL POST was just that, new builds. OEM's, then, are good for 1 mobo, with maybe the exception of a bad mobo that burns out, and a LOT of sympathy from MS. Retail allows a single user to reinstall multiple times, active for 1 pc at a time. Bulk or Volume Pricing is near negligable. And if you want to compete with big companies legally, you need to be sleeping with someone from MS.
 


Correct about the original PC only. What I was suggesting was that instead of building brand new PCs thus needing to buy a pricy new license, the OP get some used computers that already have an OEM key assigned to them, and build those out using the original OS, just as a fresh setup.

I do this all the time for craigslist and friends. I pick up a bunch of decent 3 gig P4 systems, stick 2 gig of RAM in them, maybe use a newer drive if needed, re-install the OS and drivers, and the thing runs as good as many newer computers.
 
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