best place to get Win7 - ??

[ASDCR]

hi all


back in the "good ole days" (XP) you could buy just a product key -- at quite a bit less than the retail price - or even the OEM price (~$35 IIRC)

some of these outfits were "off market" 3rd party.. etc

but sure enough - i was able to purchase product keys by themselves

haven't done that for quite a while now


but now.. when its time to recommend a new computer for my clients, i'm getting a little pushback - seems word is out that Win8 isn't all that so ppl are trying to avoid getting a new computer

they would "like" 7 - if i had a way to "economically downgrade (UPgrade - ??) them back to 7, that might help take some of the sting away


so.. can you buy a product key "only" nowadays?

if so.. can you recommend a vendor that you have found to be reliable??



TIA!

 

[altrenda]

Machines with Win 8 preinstalled come with downgrade rights to Win 7.
You need to check to make sure that Win 7 drivers are available. Not all new machines have them. I have run into several Sony's that don't.
I don't know of anyone selling just the keys at a discount.

 

[tankman1989]

Machines with Win 8 preinstalled come with downgrade rights to Win 7.
You need to check to make sure that Win 7 drivers are available. Not all new machines have them. I have run into several Sony's that don't.
I don't know of anyone selling just the keys at a discount.

The driver issue is the worst part about a new Windows OS coming out. I really hate the non backwards compatibility of some of the OEM hardware that is used. Seems to be a good selling point for custom builds though.

 

[altrenda]

The driver issue is the worst part about a new Windows OS coming out. I really hate the non backwards compatibility of some of the OEM hardware that is used. Seems to be a good selling point for custom builds though.

Yep, and every new OS also leaves behind a bunch of printers, scanners, and other peripherals that don't get new drivers and need to be replaced. That's another part of the expected Win 8 "boom" people were hoping for that hasn't happened.

 

[ASDCR]

ok

so.. there's no one out there selling product keys by themselves - ok thx

 

[PC Ops]

Remember that if you go for the downgrade option that downgrading is only permitted if the new system has Win8Pro installed. Downgrading the 'regular' Win8 is not possible.

What about building the pc yourself and put an OEM Win7 on it?

 

[ASDCR]

well yeah.. that's essentially what i want to do - i've got the disks, its the product key that i'm looking for

someone else brought up the fact you could "downgrade" back to Win7 - i didn't know that was possible (but its good to know)

 

[drjones]

ASDCR: I sent you a PM.

 

[ASDCR]

got it

thx

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[drjones]

Couple ideas:

1) I try to buy all my business machines direct from Dell. They still allow you to select Win7 preinstalled. I registered as a reseller with them years ago and get pretty good discounts.

2) You could build your own systems for clients and load 7 onto them.

 

[ASDCR]

@drJ

1) good to know
2) i've got Win7 disks.. i DO NOT HAVE win7 product keys (hence.. this thread)

 

[carrcomp]

@drJ

1) good to know
2) i've got Win7 disks.. i DO NOT HAVE win7 product keys (hence.. this thread)

You can buy OEM Windows 7 from Newegg, but I am not aware of anyone that sells just keys.

That said, OEM licence is cheaper than retail as long as you're willing to support the OS.

 

[drjones]

@drJ

1) good to know
2) i've got Win7 disks.. i DO NOT HAVE win7 product keys (hence.. this thread)

So did you talk with my source for Win7 keys?

 

[ASDCR]

So did you talk with my source for Win7 keys?

yes
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