Which version of windows?

[Josh154]

Hey guys, so I'm starting to do a little pc repair stuff for some of my parents co workers and what not and here is what I'm faced with at the moment.

So this guy has a HP laptop that the hard drive has went bad in. It has errors where it says cannot read disk upon start up and it will not boot into windows. Once i get the laptop, I'm gonna take the hard drive out and try booting from a live CD to be sure it's actually a hard drive error and not something else.

So let's say it's the hard drive, i order a new hard drive for it, how do i go about installing windows on it again? It's got a vista x64 COA on the bottom. Now as far as i know, i cant just use any vista x64 disc that matches whether its ultimate or not. I need a OEM disc from HP themselves. Is that correct?

Also, so lets say i get a HP oem windows vista ultimate x64 disc, and then in the future i get a dell laptop that has windows vista ultimate x64 and has a COA on the bottom. Can i use the OEM disc i got from HP on this dell?

Basically, what discs do i need to go about reinstalling windows on clients computers if i do keep doing repairs? I want to be legit and have all my discs so in the future reinstalling is a breeze.

I'm pretty sure i need a OEM disc as well. On my old m2000 laptop, when trying to reinstall windows with a retail xp home edition disc, and my COA on the bottom of the laptop it wouldn't work. I'm guessing because its a retail disc and my key is OEM.

Thanks for all the help in advance, i really appreciate it as this will help me upgrade and build new systems for folding@home for TPU

 

[Frick]

IIRC Vista and 7 is different from XP in the way that you can use any disc for it. Maybe not different versions, but any Home Premium for a Home Premium license, no matter if it's OEM or retail. I'm not sure on this though, but I used a non specified OEM disc to install my sistsers Acer machine, Vista Home Basic.

 

[Josh154]

IIRC Vista and 7 is different from XP in the way that you can use any disc for it. Maybe not different versions, but any Home Premium for a Home Premium license, no matter if it's OEM or retail. I'm not sure on this though, but I used a non specified OEM disc to install my sistsers Acer machine, Vista Home Basic.

Thanks frick, if so that would be awesome! Can anyone else confirm this though?

 

[[Ion]]

That's true, I've used a Retail Win7 Pro disk to do an install with an OEM key on my dad's Lenovo Thinkpad

 

[Frick]

That's true, I've used a Retail Win7 Pro disk to do an install with an OEM key on my dad's Lenovo Thinkpad

Coolio.

 

[Josh154]

OKay then, so if i wanted to do this legit in the future, i just need to get all 4 version of windows vista discs x32 and x64 and then all three versions of windows 7's with x32 and x64?

 

[Bo$$]

Hey guys, so I'm starting to do a little pc repair stuff for some of my parents co workers and what not and here is what I'm faced with at the moment.

So this guy has a HP laptop that the hard drive has went bad in. It has errors where it says cannot read disk upon start up and it will not boot into windows. Once i get the laptop, I'm gonna take the hard drive out and try booting from a live CD to be sure it's actually a hard drive error and not something else.

So let's say it's the hard drive, i order a new hard drive for it, how do i go about installing windows on it again? It's got a vista x64 COA on the bottom. Now as far as i know, i cant just use any vista x64 disc that matches whether its ultimate or not. I need a OEM disc from HP themselves. Is that correct?

Also, so lets say i get a HP oem windows vista ultimate x64 disc, and then in the future i get a dell laptop that has windows vista ultimate x64 and has a COA on the bottom. Can i use the OEM disc i got from HP on this dell?

Basically, what discs do i need to go about reinstalling windows on clients computers if i do keep doing repairs? I want to be legit and have all my discs so in the future reinstalling is a breeze.

I'm pretty sure i need a OEM disc as well. On my old m2000 laptop, when trying to reinstall windows with a retail xp home edition disc, and my COA on the bottom of the laptop it wouldn't work. I'm guessing because its a retail disc and my key is OEM.

Thanks for all the help in advance, i really appreciate it as this will help me upgrade and build new systems for folding@home for TPU

Well, why dont you download all the ISO of the original disks, and burn them on disks, then keep them so you can install with any key the machine has

 

[[Ion]]

OKay then, so if i wanted to do this legit in the future, i just need to get all 4 version of windows vista discs x32 and x64 and then all three versions of windows 7's with x32 and x64?

That's what I'd suggest. As long as you use a legit key (& no cracks) you can get the ISOs anywhere (MS, a friend, etc)

 

[Josh154]

Well, why dont you download all the ISO of the original disks, and burn them on disks, then keep them so you can install with any key the machine has

I've been looking for them but it's tough to find original ISO's that don't have activatiors and what not in them

That's what I'd suggest. As long as you use a legit key (& no cracks) you can get the ISOs anywhere (MS, a friend, etc)

Yeah, its got legit COA keys on the bottom so i should be good then. I've got windows 7 home premium 32-bit and 64-bits, xp pro OEM 32-bit, and xp home edition sp2 32-bit.

So with XP though it's different and i need to order OEM discs?


Edit: Also i read that with windows vista x64, all versions are all on one disc and it goes by your product key which version you get. Is that correct? So lets say i call up microsoft and order a vista x64 bit disc from them, i can install that on any laptop that has a x64 bit COA on the bottom, install from the disc and then use there coa and i'll be good to go?

 

[erixx]

http://techtastico.com/post/descargar-windows-7-gratis/

HERE ARE SOME LEGIT ISOs

 

[Red_Machine]

You can use any Windows Vista/7 disc with any license key, as the version (Basic, Home Premium, Pro, Ultimate, etc) is determined by the license key. All discs are the same, unless they're OEM, I think.

 

[Josh154]

http://techtastico.com/post/descargar-windows-7-gratis/

HERE ARE SOME LEGIT ISOs

Thanks man! Im guessing i need the ingles version for english?

You can use any Windows Vista/7 disc with any license key, as the version (Basic, Home Premium, Pro, Ultimate, etc) is determined by the license key. All discs are the same, unless they're OEM, I think.

So i could use my windows 7 home premium 64-bit disc install windows off that, and use a ULTIMATE key with the install and it will be windows 7 ultimate?

 

[[Ion]]

You can use any Windows Vista/7 disc with any license key, as the version (Basic, Home Premium, Pro, Ultimate, etc) is determined by the license key. All discs are the same, unless they're OEM, I think.

You actually have to modify things a bit. Copy all of the files over the computer, and then delete 1 (I don't remember what it is, Google for like "Windows 7 install all versions 1 disk") and then create an ISO. Burn ISO to disk & you're ready to go

 

[newtekie1]

Ok, this is how it is:

With Vista: All the discs are the same. So you just need an x64 disc and an x86 disc. You can use any key with these disc, and the key determines the version installed. Also there are no x64 and x86 keys. Any key can be used to install either the x86 or x64 version. This disc you use determines if the x86 or x64 version is installed. This, AFAIK, can't be combined into one disc.

With Windows 7: The original discs are locked to install only one version(Home Premium, Professional, Ultimiate, etc.). However, there is a simple way to unlock the disc so it can be used to install any version, just like Vista. The instructions can be found here. Again, the same rules apply about x64 and x86.

Also, there are no longer OEM and Retail discs. Any disc can be used with a Retail or OEM licence.

So in total you only really need 4 discs. Vista x86, Vista x64, Win7 x86, and Win7 x64 and you can re-install using any key.

 

[Josh154]

Ok, this is how it is:

With Vista: All the discs are the same. So you just need an x64 disc and an x86 disc. You can use any key with these disc, and the key determines the version installed. Also there are no x64 and x86 keys. Any key can be used to install either the x86 or x64 version. This disc you use determines if the x86 or x64 version is installed. This, AFAIK, can't be combined into one disc.

With Windows 7: The original discs are locked to install only one version(Home Premium, Professional, Ultimiate, etc.). However, there is a simple way to unlock the disc so it can be used to install any version, just like Vista. The instructions can be found here. Again, the same rules apply about x64 and x86.

Also, there are no longer OEM and Retail discs. Any disc can be used with a Retail or OEM licence.

So in total you only really need 4 discs. Vista x86, Vista x64, Win7 x86, and Win7 x64 and you can re-install using any key.

Thanks newtekie! I'll go ahead and get all 4 discs now.

What about xp though?

 

[[Ion]]

More of a pain, you'll need an OEM/Retail disk for Pro & Home :/

 

[Josh154]

Okay so i used that link that newtekie linked me to and removed the eicfg file so now im burning windows 7 x64 real quick to a dvd to see if it's legit and gives me a option for every OS now.

I tried it on my vista x32 iso and it said it didn't find the file so most likey vista will work just fine

 

[newtekie1]

Okay so i used that link that newtekie linked me to and removed the eicfg file so now im burning windows 7 x64 real quick to a dvd to see if it's legit and gives me a option for every OS now.

I tried it on my vista x32 iso and it said it didn't find the file so most likey vista will work just fine

Yeah, Vista doesn't have the lock, so the file isn't there.

XP is more of a pain, as already mentioned. However, I've found that 90% of the computers I look at have the OEM version, so getting an OEM disc should be your primary concern. Getting a retail disc isn't all that important.

 

[Josh154]

Yeah, Vista doesn't have the lock, so the file isn't there.

XP is more of a pain, as already mentioned. However, I've found that 90% of the computers I look at have the OEM version, so getting an OEM disc should be your primary concern. Getting a retail disc isn't all that important.

Now i just need to find some OEM xp vista homes, and OEM xp media centers and i'll be good. Also need a new spindle of some DVD's to burn all these ISO's onto

Ill get my buddies vista ultimate retail and make copys of his discs and just use the clients COA's.

 

[JrRacinFan]

Now i just need to find some OEM xp vista homes, and OEM xp media centers and i'll be good. Also need a new spindle of some DVD's to burn all these ISO's onto

Ill get my buddies vista ultimate retail and make copys of his discs and just use the clients COA's.

Might I suggest (if you got one handy), USB Flash for your Windows 7 installs.

 

[Josh154]

Might I suggest (if you got one handy), USB Flash for your Windows 7 installs.

Whys that? For laptops that don't have dvd drives? What size of flash drives would i need? I don't mind buying flash drives because i plan to expand this and start doing a lot of computer fixes.

Also how do i boot from the flash drives and what not when trying to install windows?

 

[JrRacinFan]

The total process is a touch faster, and you can use that process for netbooks. Alot of the newer, we will call them "mobile pc's", allow usb booting via a boot menu hotkey at time of post e.g. "F12 for Gigabyte desktop motherboards".

 

[Josh154]

Alright cool thanks man What's some good flash drives to look at then? Let's say i want both versions of vista and both versions of 7 on them.

Should i grab 1 4gb flash drive for each install?

 

[Josh154]

Okay, so now i've got windows xp home edition OEM, xp home edition retail, xp professional OEM, all windows 7's retail copys without the ei.cfg files so all installs can be had.

Now i need,
-windows xp media center OEM
-windows xp media center retail
-windows xp professional retail
-windows vista 32-bit
-windows vista 64-bit

And i should be good to go correct?

 

[johnspack]

I may be wrong on this, but here goes... you can use any install disk on any oem computer, but it has to be a version that particular computer is licensed for. Ie: if it came with vista pro, then that's the max you can use on it. There may be an upgrade clause where it will accept win7 pro. Correct me if I'm wrong, because I'd like to know this too.