Dell OEM Vista Disc vs Generic OEM Vista Disc

nheimler · Mar 21, 2007, 10:03 PM

Hello. I just bought an OEM copy of Vista Home Premium just a month or so ago to upgrade my current Dell XP box, but just today I was in the process of buying another Dell box with Vista Home Premium already installed. I was wondering if I could get away from paying the extra $10 bucks or so for the Vista reinstall disc and use my current OEM disc (with the new machines Vista key on the box of course) to reinstall? Has anyone tried this before? I'm assuming that since both are OEM copies that I can use the new Dell Vista key with the disc I already own. I was just checking to see if anyone has tried this. That and to see if I can save me 10 bucks as well as possible other future orders. I figured I already have the disc that I didn't want to have all these disks floating around if I can use just the one I have.

nheimler · Mar 21, 2007, 10:54 PM

Quick note before someone asks...

The OEM disc I have was purchased from Newegg so it is just a plain jane generic OEM Vista disc.

The_Neon_Cowboy · Mar 22, 2007, 01:54 AM

their different, sorry doubt it'll work

~~DudeBoyz~~ · Mar 22, 2007, 05:39 AM

If you give it a try, please let us know how it works out.

MrSpock2002 · Mar 22, 2007, 12:47 PM

It all depends on the model to be honest. It seems Dell and other companies Gateway, etc use the same generic oem os disc for their desktops, and give you a second cd/dvd with all the "updates and programs". That generic disc in that case will work in any pc that that manufactorer makes. The disc reads a few codes in the bios to see if it's truely their computer or not, and these codes seem to be the same for all their line ups.

Now this is also the case with some laptops as well, BUT I have worked on and seen others where the DVD includes the OS and the programs on one DVD and uses a "restore" feature similair to Alienware's restore system, I believe they call it "alientopsy" or some crazy name along those lines.

dipstick · Mar 22, 2007, 04:23 PM

If the Dell dvd came with a windows key its should work just fine on any PC. At least thats how it worked with WinXP. The dell didnt need activation(tied to the mobo probably) but I was able to use the key that came with it to install it on a new rig. I think you have to pay extra these days to get a windows dvd/key over their own "reinstall" disk.

nheimler · Mar 22, 2007, 04:39 PM

I'm not really after a "reinstall" disc per say with one that reinstalls all the crappy apps & OS, etc. I just want to be able to use my one OEM Vista disc I have to reinstall the OS, but enter in the Dell key stuck to the machine. My goal is to save 10 bucks and not to have an extra disc being collected along with all my others. I've read that with XP Pro this was possible that you could use a generic XP Pro disc with a Dell machine and enter in the key (or not they weren't very clear in the article or forum I found this info in.)

~~DudeBoyz~~ · Mar 22, 2007, 04:51 PM

The good old days of OEM disk flexiblity are coming to an end, it seems.

The Dell OEM that comes with a Dell system is not supposed to be able to be used on any other machine.

4 years ago when I got an Alienware machine, I got a generic OEM XP Home disk that can work just fine on other machines.

However, if I got one now, there'd be no such possibility. Dude just got a brand new laptop with Vista Home Premium, and all it would allow him to do is make one single set of System Restore disks that will ONLY work on the exact same laptop and then only restore it to the exact same config it was in when it shipped from the factory - bloatware and all.

MS seems to be clamping down.

One way to avoid all that is just purchase a RETAIL License. Too bad they are so darn expensive.

nheimler · Mar 22, 2007, 05:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DudeBoyz

One way to avoid all that is just purchase a RETAIL License. Too bad they are so darn expensive.

Unfortunately, this is sad that companies are resorting to this. This is a pain for us techs. We purchased a set of laptops for where I work and to reinstall it you need 7 cdroms and lots of time babysitting the blasted reinstall. I've demanded to the tech support that I wanted a OS disc for reinstalling, but in the end they didn't do a frickin thing. I was very disappointed, but as you say everyone is resorting to this. Unfortunately, we don't have the funds to put down extra money for imaging etc since we are a governmental agency (a library cooperative which money is about to get lopped by the state soon which will cut us evenmore).

Speaking of which anyone know of any good jobs?

I will probably be without a job within the year and we have one of the highest unemployment rates in the US (I live in Michigan.)

Anyways, as soon as I get my new Dell I will let you all know what I found out with the OEM disc. Since Vista is brand new I thought I would open this thread to see if anyone else has done this yet with Vista. At work we have mostly VLM licensing so I don't personally have experience with the attempting to use a different OEM disc.

Besides that all OEM Dell XP Pro disks work with other Dell machines since that is all we have purchased to keep things the same in the office.

dipstick · Mar 22, 2007, 05:28 PM

As long as you have a windows vista key I don't see how they can stop you. If a PC comes with the OS locked on that machine they wont even give you a windows key. For example, on some new HP rigs you never have to activate Vista; they don't give you a vista key and you don't need it. That sucks and you are stuck with that setup. I'm not sure how Dell does it.
As for the dvd itself, you can even download one off the internet and activate it with your key; they are all the same.

shanok · Mar 23, 2007, 09:46 AM

I'll give this the short answer since I work for MS.

A vista DVD is a vista DVD.

Now for the long answer.

OEM, Retail Full Install, Retail Upgrade, Corporate, etc are all the same.

The only exception is the Enterprise Edition DVD.

Now on the other hand Dell OEM copies have a special key that works only on Dell machines (it's not the same key listed on your box and that key will not work with a non-Dell DVD).

However any other Vista DVD could reinstall using the key provided on the COA on the outside of the machine.

Any questions?