OEM vs Retail XP CDs

[jhoppe]

Good Morning all,

I have been running into more computers that the owners do not have the cds, only their coa's. These always seem to be xp oem edition, but is there simply one oem edition or does each manufacturer have their own oem version that the coa key will only work with?

Thanks!

 

[MHCG]

Each manufacturer has their own OEM CD and many manufacturer CDs don't work with other manufacturer computers. I think they look for some character string in the BIOS.

 

[jhoppe]

Hmmm...I was afraid of that. I believe it was gregg that said he had just entire list of oem cds, by manufacturer... Would there be an across the board oem cd that would work for a particular manufacturer? Like an HP OEM XP Home cd or a Dell OEM XP Pro cd, etc...?

 

[MHCG]

The generic CDs will work for all CPUs, but you have to buy it.

Home: http://www.amazon.com/Microsoft-Win...bs_1?ie=UTF8&s=software&qid=1213633892&sr=8-1

Pro: http://www.amazon.com/Microsoft-Win...bs_4?ie=UTF8&s=software&qid=1213633936&sr=8-4

 

[Blues]

I wish we could get the CDs with out keys I want this for two reasons. One being anytime you need to fix a PC you have a disc the other being if you do any builds and your custom wants to exercise the Vista downgrade rights you have the disc to do the install. I would then look to printing copies of the Pro CD and have them Labeled to say something like "Shop Name OEM XP Pro Vista Downgrade". So that no one is out of pocket for that really except you for the initial CD.

 

[juiceman39]

I just installed a DELL OEM cd-XP Home SP-1(All I had at the time) on a Gateway. It installed, all I had to do was call on the phone, give them the number that came up on the screen, they gave me a number to type in-done.Both were laptops.

 

[MHCG]

It's totally dependent on the manufacturer of the OEM CD. The XP Home CD for my HP laptop won't work on anything that isn't an HP for example.

 

[darren1270]

When I run into a customer that dosen't have their restore cd's I give the customer the option of having me call the manufacturer or looking here to see if they have them or I offer to install a clean system without all the bloatware that their HP or compaq or whatever came with. They usually opt for the second choice.

This way I use my slipstreamd disk and then I change all the OEM info to my company info if the machine is out of warranty. The way my disks work is that when you have to activate windows it says the key is wrong and then I use their key from the side of the case to get activated and smooth sailing from there. Just my two cents worth.

 

[acs]

you can also download recovery iso's from this site

http://www.recovery-cds.com/

 

[darren1270]

you can also download recovery iso's from this site

http://www.recovery-cds.com/

Maybe I didn't take the time to read all the info there but, that just dosen't make sense to me.... Pay 18.00 +tax for something you really don't need....besides it said none of the cd's include the OS. All you need is the NIC driver and then xp usually will take care of the rest. If it's a dell you can download all the drivers from their site???

If I am wrong... Let me know!

Thanks,
Darren

 

[jhoppe]

Is there a good way to tell the difference between oem and retail by the packaging? Can anyone tell me if the packaging suggests that this listing on ebay for win 2000 is infact oem?

http://cgi.ebay.com/Windows-2000-OE...ryZ41882QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

 

[Mortis]

From the image that appears to be Retail, most OEM CDs will have the manufacturer's logo on it and will say "Not For Resale" or "For Distribution With XYZ Computer".

 

[Crgky127]

Just above the blacked out rectangle it appears to say 'OEM Software', like the ones I buy, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116056

 

[Stu]

The big name manufacturers sometimes provide their own XP CDs, but that does not mean you have to use them. In fact they are usually dated and virtually useless.

A standard XP OEM CD will work on any OEM installation.

You don't have to input the product key either since SP3.

The most common XP CD I'm using right now is XP Home SP3 OEM.