Windows license legality question.

Zarathustra[H]

Zarathustra[H]

Extremely [H]
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Theoretical:

You have a family/friend rig on your hands.

Something happened to it.

User stupidity/hard drive failure/virus / something else.

In order to make it work for them you need to reinstall the O.S.

The sticker on their case tells you they own Vista Home Premium, and shows you what they key is.

No OEM restore disk is anywhere to be found, or there is one, but it is damaged. All your disks are either Windows 7 or XP. No vista disk to be found anywhere.

While you have given up piracy a long time ago, you know you can get a copy of the Vista Premium install disk on your favorite torrent site. You wouldn't be cracking it / using a keygen but rather just simply using it with the legal key the machine came with, on that machine.

Would this be legal, or would MS frown upon this?

Are there any better sources for windows install ISO's that may be more secure and more legal for situations like this, where you own a legal license, but don't have the physical media available to install it from?

Much obliged,
Matt
 
would be pretty much the same as borrowing the media from a friend i think, your really paying for the license not the media.......hell you can probably legally download it from Digital River (dont know if this will work with OEM though)
 
I don't foresee black helicopters, men in suits and a room with only one light and a metal table for something like this.
 
Zarathustra[H];1037860100 said:
Theoretical:

You have a family/friend rig on your hands.

Something happened to it.

User stupidity/hard drive failure/virus / something else.

In order to make it work for them you need to reinstall the O.S.

The sticker on their case tells you they own Vista Home Premium, and shows you what they key is.

No OEM restore disk is anywhere to be found, or there is one, but it is damaged. All your disks are either Windows 7 or XP. No vista disk to be found anywhere.

While you have given up piracy a long time ago, you know you can get a copy of the Vista Premium install disk on your favorite torrent site. You wouldn't be cracking it / using a keygen but rather just simply using it with the legal key the machine came with, on that machine.

Would this be legal, or would MS frown upon this?

Are there any better sources for windows install ISO's that may be more secure and more legal for situations like this, where you own a legal license, but don't have the physical media available to install it from?

Much obliged,
Matt
Click to expand...

Let me rephrase the question:

Would there be any issue with installing Vista from media that didn't come with the license key that I'm installing with?

No -- there is no issue. How you get the media is up to you. You just have to trust where you're getting your media from.
 
You aren't paying for the operating system itself. You're paying for a license to use it. It doesn't matter whether you buy a retail copy of it from Amazon, Best Buy, etc, or if you download it from Digital River or if you torrent it. If you have a valid license key to use it, then you're fine.

For your case, since it's a personal computer, then MS couldn't care less. The only reason to be worried is if it were a business computer or something along those lines.
 
Yeah, generally you're just paying for the license.

Please note, however, that OEM licenses may not necessarily work on retail copies of windows. You may have to obtain the recovery media specific to your brand and possibly model.
 
As long as you're using the users license the only qualm about getting the media from a 3rd party source is the potential for the source to have altered the software in a way that no virus detectors can detect.

All Microsoft cares about is the license. You're just buying the serial which grants you rights to use the software. Microsoft asks that you only use the license on one machine. So as long as that simple requirement is met Microsoft doesn't care and it's 100% legit.

Just remember that getting the software from a 3rd party source as opposed to downloading it from Microsoft can leave your friend exposed to unknown / undetectable altered code.

The beauty about Vista (I believe) and moving forward is it doesn't matter what media you install. It's the key that gives you the power.
 
Fort_Major said:
Just remember that getting the software from a 3rd party source as opposed to downloading it from Microsoft can leave your friend exposed to unknown / undetectable altered code.
Click to expand...

I thought of this. Is there a safe source from which to replace media if you already ahve the license?
 
I thought Microsoft had a downloadable trial version (probably not applicable to you here since they don't want to sell Windows Vista anymore) but it seems they only offer it for their Server Operating systems.

The following link has instructions about downloading media file(s) from Digital River (A Certified Microsoft Software Reseller). It should not be construed as

Windows Vista Does not appear to be available for public download from Digital River, best I can tell unless somebody has better links.
 
The key is the license. The media doesn't matter. Use what you can find.
 
You have my blessing to use the downloaded media my son. The cd key is your salvation.
 
Just search for a Vista OEM ISO torrent. It might need to be a specific ISO so if the COA (serial # label) says "Vista Home Premium" then you probably need to find a 'Vista Home Premium OEM' ISO.

At one point in time I thought I read that Vista or WIN7 discs had all versions on the disc and that the serial unlocked that specific version but I'm not sure if that's true or if they went through with that.

I would be safe and search for the OEM ISO using the name on the label on the case like I said above.

If you fix computers for friends then it's kinda nice to have a collection of OEM discs so that you can load an OS onto their system that's using a proper serial.
 
serpretetsky said:
Yeah, generally you're just paying for the license.

Please note, however, that OEM licenses may not necessarily work on retail copies of windows. You may have to obtain the recovery media specific to your brand and possibly model.
Click to expand...

Correct, you have to get the exact version of Windows that matches up with your key. Most people would be surprised at how many different versions of Windows have been released, even if they appear to be the same.
 
Avoid downloading Vista plus, ultra, mega hyper super duper light extreme and extra crispy editions that you'll find on torrent sites.
 
Yes, you can download any(preferably not cracked installation) and use it with your key, it will be legal.
 
Blkout said:
Correct, you have to get the exact version of Windows that matches up with your key. Most people would be surprised at how many different versions of Windows have been released, even if they appear to be the same.
Click to expand...

This actually is one of the few things positive Microsoft started doing with Windows Vista and I believe they may have expanded it in Windows 7. Which means that it may not fully work the way you expect it.

You can have ANY downlaodable version of windows 7 or (windows Vista presumably)
Your Serial KEY determines WHAT version of Windows it becomes.

And I believe for Windows 7 and possibly Windows Vista they greatly expanded this - basicaly reducing the borders between Windows OEM, Windows Retail, Windows VLK, etc.

Somebody who has actually deployed this will be able to give you better details - but ultimately from my understanding that starting with Vista and expanding in 7 they basically were trying to reduce the hole "key won't work on OEM" because it was reported as a huge pain point for customers without them understanding why.

And ultimately tons of customers don't have Windows Media because their manfuacturer didn't give them it and they needed to reinstall Windows.

But you should still stay away from pirated versions of windows, even if they claim to "not be cracked". There is no telling what has has been altered and if you were able to do a binary comparison of every file with a legit Microsoft copy then you wouldn't need to download it.
 
I have a spare Vista Home Premium and Ultimate OEM DVDs if you want them. I have no need for them. PM me and we can work something out.
 
Fort_Major said:
This actually is one of the few things positive Microsoft started doing with Windows Vista and I believe they may have expanded it in Windows 7. Which means that it may not fully work the way you expect it.

You can have ANY downlaodable version of windows 7 or (windows Vista presumably)
Your Serial KEY determines WHAT version of Windows it becomes.

And I believe for Windows 7 and possibly Windows Vista they greatly expanded this - basicaly reducing the borders between Windows OEM, Windows Retail, Windows VLK, etc.

Somebody who has actually deployed this will be able to give you better details - but ultimately from my understanding that starting with Vista and expanding in 7 they basically were trying to reduce the hole "key won't work on OEM" because it was reported as a huge pain point for customers without them understanding why.

And ultimately tons of customers don't have Windows Media because their manfuacturer didn't give them it and they needed to reinstall Windows.

But you should still stay away from pirated versions of windows, even if they claim to "not be cracked". There is no telling what has has been altered and if you were able to do a binary comparison of every file with a legit Microsoft copy then you wouldn't need to download it.
Click to expand...

in 7, you'll have to remove a file from the disc to get the option to install any version. The reason why the went back to the old way was because people would get confused over which version they had, and choose the wrong one, forcing a reinstall to the right one, or calls complaining that the key isn't working.

Also, it's worth noting that even if he has the right copy, using the product code on the sticker is going to generate a call to activate. Don't worry about it, they just started that as people and some shady resellers were stealing stickers from machines in retail stores, so they are just checking to make sure everything matches up.
 
Ryokurin said:
in 7, you'll have to remove a file from the disc to get the option to install any version. The reason why the went back to the old way was because people would get confused over which version they had, and choose the wrong one, forcing a reinstall to the right one, or calls complaining that the key isn't working.

Also, it's worth noting that even if he has the right copy, using the product code on the sticker is going to generate a call to activate. Don't worry about it, they just started that as people and some shady resellers were stealing stickers from machines in retail stores, so they are just checking to make sure everything matches up.
Click to expand...

ei.cfg needs to be deleted. Once that's gone, Windows 7 setup shows all versions.
http://code.kliu.org/misc/winisoutils/ <- eicfg removal utility is the quickest way
 
Ryokurin said:
in 7, you'll have to remove a file from the disc to get the option to install any version. The reason why the went back to the old way was because people would get confused over which version they had, and choose the wrong one, forcing a reinstall to the right one, or calls complaining that the key isn't working.

Also, it's worth noting that even if he has the right copy, using the product code on the sticker is going to generate a call to activate. Don't worry about it, they just started that as people and some shady resellers were stealing stickers from machines in retail stores, so they are just checking to make sure everything matches up.
Click to expand...

Interesting. My understanding was you just put the key in and it looked at the key and said "You have this and enabled the said options"
 
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