windows 7 .. version questions .. oem vs retail install .. home vs pro

[tomasarson]

i tried searching so sorry if this is a repost.

with windows vista i could use my retail ultimate dvds to re-install windows on customers laptops without worry about the key (on the bottom of their laptop or side of their computer) being oem or retail and without worry about what version of windows the key was for. (the install could tell what version of windows should be installed by the key typed in)

has this changed with the new windows 7 dvds? i have ultimate on order and am wondering if those dvds will be okay or if i need to worry about making custom edition dvds.

carrying around 2 (one for 32 and one for 64) is a lot easier than carrying around ... well a lot more than 2.

any info would be much appreciated.

thanks!!!

Edited August 2, 2009 by tomasarson

[tomasarson]

google doesnt seem to want to help either.

i have seen some stuff about editing files on the win7 dvd to make it oem like how you had to in the past with winxp but still nothing super solid.

[pasty2k2]

At a guess, Id fathom that you can still do the same as with Vista, only judging by what the installer is like and generally how the OS is practically the same in architecture. I don't know why MS would change this, unless of course it was cleaned out as part of their alleged "extra protection and detection against piracy" or whatever.

But I reckon it'll be the same.

[Owen W Veteran]

i tried searching so sorry if this is a repost.

with windows vista i could use my retail ultimate dvds to re-install windows on customers laptops without worry about the key (on the bottom of their laptop or side of their computer) being oem or retail and without worry about what version of windows the key was for. (the install could tell what version of windows should be installed by the key typed in)

has this changed with the new windows 7 dvds? i have ultimate on order and am wondering if those dvds will be okay or if i need to worry about making custom edition dvds.

carrying around 2 (one for 32 and one for 64) is a lot easier than carrying around ... well a lot more than 2.

any info would be much appreciated.

thanks!!!

I do believe it's the same. All the ISO's appear to be just the same as vista's (OEM/Retail wise) so....it should be the same :)

[tomasarson]

so i've been thinking about this ...

vista asked for the key before the install.

win 7 asks for it once everything is installed and even before the key is entered it cleary says win 7 ultimate.

i havent been able to test out my win 7 ultimate retail discs on an oem pc yet so i'm wondering if anyone can help confirm this or not?

google still doesn't want to help.

[sonyman]

You have to delete the file ei.cfg from the Sources folder on the disc in order to be able to select the edition to install. Alternatively you can edit it to manually enable certain editions. I don't know about OEM vs retail.

[tomasarson]

thanks!

thats at least a start.

[Spartan Erik]

I don't think my comment will help much with your situation, but I just wanted to chime in that usually when formatting computers, the sticker's product key doesn't always pass activation during initial setup. Once installed (and still unactivated), select the option to activate by phone will generate a key, and if you read it back to the phone-bot/computer, he/she/it will give you another set of numbers to type in to successfully activate.

I imagine Windows 7 will follow a similar technique (assuming the computers have Windows 7 licenses)

You probably knew this, but I just wanted to add my two cents, maybe it'll help you or someone else down the line

[tomasarson]

i was aware of that but thanks anyway.

now i just need to figure out if i need to make oem discs as well.

[Raa]

OEM and Retail are the same disc contents, except for ei.cfg obviously.

You can use either key on either disc safely. (Vista/7 only)

[tomasarson]

OEM and Retail are the same disc contents, except for ei.cfg obviously.

You can use either key on either disc safely. (Vista/7 only)

thanks!