What's the difference?

J

joaquimjssoares

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May 22, 2008
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Hi guys,

I'm going to buy Vista 64 Ultimate but I'm strugling to understand what's the difference between the existent versions. Besides the price, what is the difference between:

Windows Vista Ultimate SP1 64-bit English 1pk DSP OEI DVD
Windows Vista Ultimate SP1 64-bit English 3pk DSP 3 OEI DVD

You can see them in amazon.co.uk if you search by vista 64 ultimate. Both versions look OEM to me, so I'm confused.

Thanks for the help guys
 
Not sure what OEI means, but we all know what OEM means, and yes the difference in those two listings only appears that one is a single pack (1pk) and the other is a triple pack (3pk).
 
Sorry my dumb question, but that means in one I will have 3 operating system license, and in the other only 1? Is that so?

And other question it came to my head, I know that the OEM version is attached to a motherboard. What if the motherboard breaks in the future and I have to buy a new one? Do I have to buy a new OS?

Thanks once again
 
I would think the price will tell you what the 3pk means. If it's literally 3 times as expensive, it's 3 copies; if it's more expensive but not quite triple, could be just 3 licenses, I'm not really sure.

As for OEM copies, they are designed to be installed and activated one time and one time only, tied to the hardware they're installed on in that configuration. If for some reason you do have a legitimate need to reinstall at a later time (motherboard fries, whatever) you can call Microsoft and explain the situation and there's a 99% chance they'll just give you a new key, period. It's not that tough, and they do realize that from time to time things happen and people - even those with OEM copies - have to reinstall the OS.

They're not hardasses about it, and a simple phone call will get you up and running as required. Just don't abuse it as they do keep a record of installations with specific keys; when you call in you'll be required to provide the first one that will become deactivated before receiving the new one. From that point on both keys are tied to the same info in the database so, as long as you're not calling a bunch of times a month, you should be fine.
 
I could be wrong, as I haven't had the need to do this with Vista yet, but they wouldn't give you a new License key if you called them. If your version would not activate over the internet, you would call them providing your Installation ID (separate from the license key) and they would provide you with an activation ID which will let you activate the OS again, using your same existing license key.

Please clear this up if I am wrong about this process in Vista.
 
There's two things that matter: Product Key and Product ID.

The Product Key is the 5x5 (5 sets of 5 digits separated by hyphens like JMTJK-MFCGF-429TV-2KCJH-TYP3W) "code" that is printed on the Certificate of Authencity (COA). That sticker or certificate is what defines the legal ownership of a Windows OS nowadays, not the Product Key, and not the media itself (hologram CD or DVD). It's the COA that matters most of all for ownership.

The Product ID is a "code" that is created by taking the Product Key mentioned above and using that "code" (the Product Key) in a mathematical algorithm that uses several components:

- date and time of the installation of the OS
- PCI Vendor and Device IDs of the hardware that makes up the computer itself
- some other data that Microsoft has never fully published clarifications on

When all that data, all those number sequences are thrown into that algorithm and computed, the end result is the Product ID - it's like a unique hash code that should be (Infinity is pretty big, yanno) and theoretically is specific to the hardware configuration and OS installation of the given machine. So even if you had two precisely identical hardware platforms (same components in each) and even if you started the OS installation at precisely the same time, using the same Product Key on each machine, theoretically the two machines would end up with different Product IDs once the installation was completed.

The Product ID is what is sent to Microsoft and tied to the "activation" of the OS - not the Product Key, although it technically is possible to figure out the Product Key is you know what the Product ID is.

Confused yet? You shouldn't be, it's not that tough to understand really.

To make it simple: Product Key = the number on the sticker. Product ID = what you get when you install Windows on a machine using a specific Product Key.

The reason an "activation" code would prove useless is that it's not a Product Key - meaning the 5x5 code needed to actually install the OS. If someone with an OEM copy needs to reinstall the OS - note I said reinstall and not just re-activate you're going to require a new Product Key to do so. Yes, I realize that Vista (and now XP as of SP3) can be installed without inputting the key during the actual installation and well after it's complete, but the principle still holds.

In my experience, when a client was in a situation where a new installation was required, a simple phone call to Microsoft got them a new Product Key so they could get back up and running quickly. The activation ID is what, a 50 digit alphanumeric sequence? Much easier to give people a 5x5 code that's easier to write down and input.

Hope this helps...
 
Joe Average said:
In my experience, when a client was in a situation where a new installation was required, a simple phone call to Microsoft got them a new Product Key so they could get back up and running quickly. The activation ID is what, a 50 digit alphanumeric sequence? Much easier to give people a 5x5 code that's easier to write down and input.

Hope this helps...
Click to expand...

This is all I needed, lol, but thanks for the other info. I just was unsure if it was the same or different than XP. I assume you are referring to Vista in this last paragraph?
 
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