oem interview questions
Top oem frequently asked interview questions
I'm going to reinstall my Windows 7, but when I bought this PC it came with Windows 7 preinstalled and the product key is on a sticker on the PC's case. I have downloaded a Windows 7 Home Premium ISO file from here and I do believe that this download is legal as I found it from superuser.com a while ago. What I'm asking is: will I be able to use my OEM key to install Windows 7 from this ISO file?
Source: (StackOverflow)
I bought a Dell laptop and it came pre-installed with Windows 7 (64-bit). The list of software available on the laptop given by the manufacturer says it has Microsoft Office 2010 OEM installation.
However when I try to use it only the Starter version is available, and for the full version it is asking for an activation key which Dell has not provided. So does this OEM installation mean only a Starter edition? Does anybody know about this?
Source: (StackOverflow)
We're working on a deployment system that uses iPXE to boot a LiteTouch PE image created by Microsoft Deployment Toolkit (MDT) 2010, which then deploys Windows XP or Windows 7 to the clients. No problems with Windows 7, but XP is causing us headaches.
Due to decisions beyond my control, our network enforces NTLMv2 at a minimum for connections from machines not joined to the domain (which would use Kerberos, I believe).
This shouldn't be a problem, except that the Windows XP image that we have to deploy is a Dell OEM version, because we don't want to have to enter serial numbers into the installer (and 99.5% of all PCs on campus are Dell machines with legal XP Pro OEM licenses). The Dell XP Pro SP3 OEM disks don't seem to work on a lot of our machines, dying out with strange driver issues during the text-mode portion of the install, which we haven't been able to troubleshoot.
Instead, we've had some luck with the Dell XP Pro SP2 OEM disks, which we can slipstream to SP3 and integrate hotfix packs with (the xable one from http://xable.net/xp-sp3-update-pack-download.html works well). So, we end up with an XP image that's mostly SP3, plus all the important updates as of April. Should be good enough, right?
Now, what happens is that Windows XP gets installed to the point where it first boots, which is good, but then MDT is supposed to begin its Task Sequences. These are run by the client connecting to the MDT server's deployment share to download the order of the task sequence.
Unfortunately, NTLMv2 is turned off on these client installs, probably due to them being from an SP2 -> SP3 source (as SP3 has this on by default otherwise), so connections to the share are denied, and the MDT task sequence stops, waiting for the problem to be fixed so it can resume.
A simple registry change ("lmcompatibilitylevel") fixes the problem nearly instantly with no reboot required.
So, all we need to do is to get this registry change implemented before MDT runs its task sequences, and we're golden. That means that we can't actually use an MDT task sequence step to do this, because of the catch-22 with that approach.
So far, we've tried using nLite to put a "registry_addreg" tweak in, but I think that MDT overrides anything nLite wishes to execute post-install, and that these steps aren't running at all. I need to investigate that more, to ensure that our nLite XP image installs and runs the tweak in a non-MDT situation, but we did that by the book so I believe it should work.
We've also tried adjusting the GPOs that apply to the MDT server itself to drop its requirements down to NTLMv1, but it doesn't seem to help at all, and the same client change up to NTLMv2 still fixes the problem. It's possible I haven't gotten all of the policy settings for this change - we're changing the server's policy to:
"Network Security: LAN Manager authentication level":"Send LM and NTLM - use NTLMv2 session security if negotiated".
If there's another setting or two that needs to be changed to make the server more lenient, lay it on me. Clearly this one ain't enough.
Otherwise, perhaps there's a way to take a vanilla XP Pro SP3 CD and convert it to be effectively the same as the Dell OEM one in regards to serial-free installation?
I don't have the key(s) that Dell uses, though of course there are plenty on the sides of machines we could use.
I'm willing to try just about anything at this point, so, lay your weird ideas on me and I'll give them a shot.
Source: (StackOverflow)
Say that I'd recently purchased 10 PCs from a retailer, but ordered them without any OEM operating systems, am I then at a later date allowed to go back to the same retailer and purchase 10 copies of OEM Windows, and legally install them on those PCs, or can I only legally use OEM copies of Windows that were purchased at the same time as the computer?
I would have thought I couldn't do this after the event, but if that is the case, why do many retailers (including big companies such as Dell) allow consumers to purchase OEM copies of Windows via their website without purchasing any hardware at the same time?
If there are any constraints, (e.g. you only have a limited time in which you can do this), what are they?
Edit: Additional Background Info (although, this makes the question more suitable for SF now)...
I'm about to enter a Microsoft Open Value Licensing Agreement, but all the OS licenses available under OVL are upgrade only. So I either go back to the supplier (Dell, as it happens) and purchase OEM copies, or I purchase the cheapest retail OS I can find that I can legally upgrade to Windows 7 Pro. I expect I can get OEM copies cheaper, but I need to ensure that whatever option I choose, that the business is license compliant.
Source: (StackOverflow)
I have a Dell XPS desktop and my hard drive crashed recently.
I went out a purchased a new hard drive and installed it, But I have a problem...
I bought the computer from my brother a few months ago, and being the idiot he is, he removed all the stickers on the computer ( including the CD key )
I have acquired a Dell Windows 7 Ultimate recovery disk, and I was wondering if this will install the OS on my computer without requiring me to input a CD Key ( will it recognize that my PC is in fact a Dell PC and not require CD key input?). Also keep in mind that I am not positive that the original OS was Ultimate, it may have been pro or home.
If anyone has any insight it would be greatly appreciated.
Source: (StackOverflow)
I have Windows XP Professional OEM key on the sticker on the computer, but I don't have a OEM media to perform reinstall. I could obtain (it doesn't matter how) an installation ISO images from MSDN site, but as I understand these are only images for Retail and Volume Licencing versions. So, can I use Retail (or VL) media to perform install and activate with OEM licence key?
Source: (StackOverflow)
I have a legal copy of Windows Vista Home Prem 64-bit OEM in German. I am thinking about upgrading to Windows 7. I would like this time to buy an english version (Last time, I got a german by mistake). In Amazon:
Is it possible to upgrade from a german copy of Vista to a English copy of Windows 7?
OEM stands for "original equipment manufacturer". I guess since Amazon sells these copies, it must be legal for me to buy them. Moreover, since an operating system updates for free, I assume I would end with the same OS.
Is there any differences bettween buying the Upgrade Packgage or the OEM besides price?
Source: (StackOverflow)
I have a desktop (HP) and a laptop (MacBook Pro). HP is currently running Vista Ultimate. (It came with Vista Premium; I formatted it and installed Vista Ultimate because I had a license for that on hand. A friend helpfully reformatted my restore partition.) MBP is running Mac OS X.VI with VMWare Fusion to Windows 7 RC.
I'd like to upgrade both to Win7 Ultimate. I've researched the OEM license and found it a bit frustrating - Microsoft seems not to like coming out and saying who's eligible to purchase and who isn't. However, it SEEMS that with Windows 7 anyone who's (a) building the computer themselves and (b) OK with having to provide their own support is eligible to buy and use an OEM license.
This brings me to my interesting question. Who's the builder of a virtualized PC image? Is it the person who installs the virtualization software (me)? Is it the builder of the hardware the image is run on? (Wouldn't that be interesting if you decided to run it on a different machine?) In short, am I eligible to purchase an OEM license to run under virtualization, or should I attempt to restore the original Vista Premium install on the HP from the OEM sticker, upgrade it to Windows 7 Premium, upgrade that to Ultimate with Anytime Upgrade, and move Vista Ultimate to the MBP (then upgrade it to Windows 7 Ultimate)?
(And if I am eligible to purchase an OEM license for running under VMWare, are there any pitfalls I should know about? Like the whole thing never working again if I upgrade my VMWare version?)
If you have an answer, please also cite its source, since I've been able to find a couple of places saying virtualization is allowed (and a couple of places saying it's disallowed) but none of them pointing to an official Microsoft source.
Please Note: SuperUser is NOT a legal resource, and any answers provided are not in any way guaranteed to be legally correct. For correct legal information it is recommended to consult a lawyer
Source: (StackOverflow)
They automate Windows installation using scripts or do they simply restore different disk images for each hardware model?
I've heard the second approach is not possible since some software that the OEM includes must generate different keys for each machine, and because of that they must install it using a script. (I don't know if this rumor is plausible)
Source: (StackOverflow)
Looking for solid confirmation on how Windows(XP,Vista,7,8) OEM can be reinstalled/activated
Windows XP (Home/Professional) OEM(SLP) (Dell, HP etc.)
Using
- GRTMHOEM_EN.iso (Generic Home OEM)
- en_windows_xp_home_with_service_pack_3_x86_cd_x14-92413.iso
- GRTMPOEM_EN.iso (Generic Professional OEM)
- en_windows_xp_professional_with_service_pack_3_x86_cd_x14-80428.iso
Install using any media that matches version, use Windows Key Update Tool to activate it as Retail or OEM based on key provided. (True/False)?
Old Method
Create vendor specific OEM installer
Backup OEM files from target PC
- C:\Windows\system32\OEMBIOS.BIN
- C:\Windows\system32\OEMBIOS.DAT
- C:\Windows\system32\OEMBIOS.SIG
- C:\Windows\system32\Catroot{F750E6C3-38EE-11D1-85E5-00C04FC295EE}\OEMBIOS.CAT
Create .CAB files of target PC files
- MAKECAB OEMBIOS.BIN
- MAKECAB OEMBIOS.CAT
- MAKECAB OEMBIOS.DAT
- MAKECAB OEMBIOS.SIG
Replace generic OEM ISOs \i386 files with newly created .CAB files
Install using COA key
or
Backup Activation Files before reinstall
- C:\Windows\system32\wpa.dbl
- C:\Windows\system32\Wpa.bak
Rename Existing & Replace with backup files after reinstall
- C:\Windows\system32\wpa.dbl
- C:\Windows\system32\Wpa.bak
Windows Vista/7 (ALL) Retail/OEM (Dell, HP etc.)
Using
- en_windows_vista_sp2_x64_dvd_342267.iso
- en_windows_vista_with_sp2_x86_dvd_342266.iso
- en_windows_7_ultimate_with_sp1_x64_dvd_u_677332.iso (ei.cfg removed)
- en_windows_7_ultimate_with_sp1_x86_dvd_u_677460.iso (ei.cfg removed)
-
- Backup activation using ABR (Activation Backup and Restore)
- Reinstall version on COA sticker
- Do not enter key during installation
- Restore backed up activation files using ABR
- If files not backed up, use online or phone activation
Windows 8 (ALL) Retail/OEM (Dell, HP etc.)
Using
- en_windows_8_x64_dvd_915440.iso
- en_windows_8_x86_dvd_915417.iso
Just reinstall, activation is taken care of via BIOS(No COA) or use purchased key if you upgraded.
Can anyone confirm/deny the validity of these methods or make suggestions on how to better accomplish activation after a reinstall? I am mainly concerned with XP since the information I have found is rather scattered and I am not sure if its possible to activate a "royalty free OEM" using a generic OEM/retail disk install and Windows Key Update Tool or if I would need to use one of the old methods of backing up the files and altering the install disk.
If there are any known issues with activation on any version using the windows images/techniques I listed can someone please elaborate on them. I am asking because I started a new job that requires re-installing every version of windows on various computers that have OEM and retail versions.
The information I gathered on various forums is rather scattered and contradicting, this is why I am posting this seemingly stupid question that you may think has been answered a million times. I want someone to give me a definitive response so I don't screw someones computer up by remove necessary OEM files.
Source: (StackOverflow)
As described in title I'm looking for a way to know which type of license come with a Win7 (Pro SP1) CD: Retail, OEM and so on...
But I'm interested in understanding which files contained in installation CD have info about license type.
Thanks in advance!
Source: (StackOverflow)
I want to buy a copy of Windows 7 OEM for my PC so I can run Adobe Premiere on a 64 bit OS. However, there seems to be a problem with OEM copies as some people say that once you install them you can't reinstall them if you upgrade your PC and replace the motherboard.
This is a problem because in a couple months I'm planning on upgrading from my Quad core LGA 755 to a Quad Core 1155 chipset. I don't want to lose my money if I can't do a fresh install at that point and call up Microsoft to activate my licence.
So is this true? Do you have to by another OEM copy when you upgrade your PC?
Source: (StackOverflow)
I am looking for a new internal hard drive for laptop and found the terms like Bare drive and OEM drive.
I searched the net and found that bare drives don’t come with cables and manuals. But I am still confused with one silly thing: Does they have the connector chip on them. Because everywhere I see image of bare drive as showing the spindle and platter.
I believe I don't require any cables or anything else to replace the old drive.
Source: (StackOverflow)
I have recently purchased a new office desktop PC from Dell with OEM version of Windows 7 Pro and Office 2010 Pro.
One of the reasons I always use Dell is that they always supply installation media CDs or DVDs, unlike some other companies that just give you ISO images on the hard disk that you have to burn yourself.
This is the first PC I have purchased with Office 2010 Pro (OEM), and I was disappointed to see that Dell don't ship out any installation media for office 2010, they just supply a piece of card with the office pro product key printed on it.
If the HDD fails completely and I have to perform a clean installation, how can I re-install office?
Can I download the trial version of Office 2010 and install that, then offer it my product key? Bearing in mind that the product key is an OEM product, not a retail product, would this work?
Source: (StackOverflow)
I have Windows 7 OEM version installed on my PC at the moment and I want to upgrade my motherboard, CPU and graphics card, but I've been told that an OEM version of Windows will not boot if I change the hardware. If I upgrade to Windows 8 first then install my new hardware, will that work?
Source: (StackOverflow)