Yes it is OEM, he's claiming it can be installed on any computer. I had OEM for Fujitsu-Siemens and Acer computers and these would only install on their brands (bios check or something simular).

The OEM version does not allow for user support via Microsoft. You generally would contact your original manufacturer (hence the Original Equipment Manufacturer designation) for any support issues. If you are comfortable with computers in general and Windows in particular and don't require MS support, this is a much cheaper alternative to the retail box version.

Also of consideration, my understanding is that the license does not allow for transfer of this product to other computers, even if you uninstall from the original.(these are the main difference between Full and OEM)

I will research this for you, whispering. If I understand what is going on it sounds like a dealer is selling OEM versions of Windows XP for cheap. This is common and under US law any number of dealers get into serious trouble with software providers, including Microsoft, as this is considered piracy. I don't about the law in your country or how US law or international copyright treaties might impact this., but I'll try and find out for you.

Skip

Interesting, ks

Skip

Quoting kschmit2:

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Skip, at least in Germany it is perfectly legal to sell OEM or System builder versions w/o any hardware.
It's not even a grey area, it's 100 percent legal.

It's legal at least throughout the EC. MS license restrictions were cancelled by the European Court some years ago.

@ whispering: AFAIK he doesn't run off with your money  , bought some XP licenses for my customers there myself they were always delivered within two days after payment.

Quoting Giga Wizard:

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Quoting goblinsdoitall:

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@ whispering: AFAIK he doesn't run off with your money  , bought some XP licenses for my customers there myself they were always delivered within two days after payment.

The problems:

OEM

Will it install & run on ACER

I'm running a DELL-OEM on an ACER with the ACER key (was necessary, because ACER doesn't deliver OS-CDs anymore just offers complete backups of the installed programs). For my customers I have several combinations of mostly self-designed PCs and OEM-versions from MEDION, HP, DELL etc. They all installed and activated without problems. For activation you have to reenter the license-key though.

Quoting Giga Wizard:

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So whispering should be safe as long the hardware is not updated to often

Just as with any other XP installation! 3 Shots are free after the fourth you have to reactivate, which is not problematical at all and works fine via automatic activation.
I had this recently due to a major system rebuilt (Athlon XP 3200+ system rode off to it's ancestors), which then was upgraded with new mainboard, processor, RAM, graphics-card and HDD (to which the old HDD was copied) it all runs fine now.

Quoting whispering:

Quote:
Quoting goblinsdoitall:

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was necessary, because ACER doesn't deliver OS-CDs anymore just offers complete backups of the installed programs

Exactly my problem too with my Acer laptop. Gonna order 2 XP's from there, and see what happens. Just need to find someone that speaks German first, shouldnt be too hard though...

Wait a moment, if I get you right, you have a valid license key? (it should be printed to a MS-sticker on the bottom of your laptop). If this is correct you'd possibly only need the CD not the license. Check first if you have a license for the "Home-Edition" or the "Professional-Edition".

If you need someone that speaks German, I think I know someone (kahless for example  )
If you need help with contacting the trader send me a PM.

I'm not sure about the language version issue, but I know there is no difference between OEM Dell and OEM Acer. The difference you will see is with the product code and the install disc. basically there are three types of product codes, OEM, Retail, Corporate (think thats all of them). That type is 'coded' into the product code.

The discs (at least for XP) are also coded similarly. When you enter the key, the two types (the cd's type and the product code's type) must match. I found a site a while back that actually showed where on the disk the type was stored but can't refind it and didn't save it.

Now, providing the product codes and discs don't have a similar id system to mark the locality it should be fine using your OEM key with any discs as long as that disc is an OEM disc. You can probably do some google searching to see if the locality is checked with the product key.

-Agrare