the difference is that the OEM is full version, not an upgrade...  the vista upgrade means that you have to install XP first.... yuck

 and if you buy the OEM version you can get (if you pick the right one) a free win7 upgrade.. which is better than just a plain vista upgrade.

can you imagine  XP with a vista upgrade installed on top then a win7 upgrade on top of that...  your OS would be so fat you would see come out of the side of the case

You don't have to install XP first.

Can use:  Acronis + Universal Restore for converting Windows Vista to another computer >

http://www.allacronis.com/acronis-true-image-echo-workstation-review.php

And how exactly do you reuse OEM's over and over? Clarify please. And as for the power supply, Im not being stupid and having it in upside down, the instructions on my case specifically say that it goes in with the fan facing downwards.

You can load it onto a new system and activate without issue as long as you don't do it many times in a short period. I can't recall, but I believe it's a 6 month period before Microsoft 'resets' your activation allowance. (I'm probably not explaining this very well).i.e if you don't have to activate again for a period of six months (maybe it's as long as a year), you'll have no issues doing so on a new build.

Suffice to say, I've done the same thing: transferred my OEM copy of XP from its original machine to a new build and from that to another new build. (Note: it was removed from the old machines). You can activate it several times before you are required to call Microsoft and even then if you tell them you've upgraded your hardware, they'll activate it.

Last time I checked you have to buy a new copy of Windows for every new PC. So basically you pirated Windows?

Hmm I see. I'm burning the recovery Discs now. Will It revert it to the way HP had it set up? or will it just be vanilla windows? And should I keep Hp's recovery partition on the hard drive? Thanks

OEM copies are tied to a single PC. If you want to transfer to another PC anytime, you should have bought the full version.

I'm not going to get into an argument with you. All I'm saying is you can transfer an OEM copy to a new build. Call it pirating if you want. I don't. My copy exists on only one machine.

Read what Fuzzy said.

MS says in the ELUA one copy per PC. You can't keep transfering the copy to every new PC you get.

If you install this recovery disc 'as is' it will revert to the same setup as HP... with the bloat/crapware and recovery partition.  Now while this may work, it probably is not the best way to put Windows on a new machine.  As others have stated, a HP (Dell, Acer) OEM is supposed to remain with the original machine, so there could possibly be some issues with licensing/activation, etc.  Your best bet would be to purchase a fresh copy... a System Builders OEM would do the trick and save you some cash.

While this is technically true, particularly with HP/Dell/Acer OEM's, a Systems Builders OEM is a little more flexible.  For example, my copy of Vista Ultimate is a System Builders OEM, and it technically is on a new machine from the one it was originally installed, due to mobo, CPU, RAM and GPU upgrades.  While the OS is on the same physical HDD, everything including the case has been changed since the original installation, and MS knows this as it was explained during an activation call.  Now while MS didn't seem to have a problem with it, I don't know the same could be said of a proprietry OEM, such as HP's.

the manufacturer versions DO look to the motherboard and also load the drivers for the motherboard so they are more difficult to move to another motherboard if the orginal dies.

harpo

This is the big difference. My copy is a system builder's OEM (bought and installed by me). The proprietary ones such as provided by HP or Dell, I do not think will work if migrated to a new system. FWIW, I agree with a previous suggestion to just wait until Win7 is released and buy a copy of that to install. Whether to go with OEM or retail is up to the OP. Depends on if he wants to have MS support or not.

As an aside, the reasoning Microsoft put forward for tying the OEM copies to the original motherboard on which it was installed (and that is what it's tied to - you can change any and all other components except the motherboard and MS will still consider it the same machine) is because OEM copies are supported by the vendor, not by MS. They figure if you change your mobo, the vendor should not be on the hook to provide support, since (as in the case of Dell, HP, and other big OEM vendors), they tie many of the software components to the mobo (drivers, etc.).

Since I build my own personal machines, this is why I have no problem migrating my XP copy from my old retired rig to the newly built one, and wipe it off the old rig. I'm not putting anyone on the hook for support except me. If anyone wants to consider that piracy, I'm fine with that. Fill your boots. And that's the last I'm going to address that particular subject.

Bloody double posts. Apologies.

GAH! Triple post. Apologies again.

That's why I never buy pre-builds... too many restrictions, not to mention all the crapware.  My very first PC (didn't know anything about puters back then) was a Compaq with a 486, 32mb Ram and Win 95... what a POS that was.  It wouldn't allow me to install a 56k modem with the mobo, low end CPU and small amount of RAM, so I took it to a mate who tried swapping out them out for something better... but no go. 

The OS wouldn't reinstall on the new (actually second-hand) hardware, so we went back to original and put in a 28k modem, which was as slow as a wet week.  Damned thing wouldn't go above 64mb RAM, neither, so it was underpowered and Win 98 wouldn't run too well on it at all, and being non-upgradable I decided on a custom build with XP, a P4 @ 2.8 and 512mb RAM.  It was a vast improvement on a 'get what you're given' pre-build and I've never looked back... on my fourth home build now and couldn't be happier.

Like I said above, I've done it with my System Builder OEM of Vista Ultimate (twice now) and MS didn't have a problem with it, activation was approved, quick and painless... so if MS is fine with it, then is isn't piracy.

Starkers: We bought a new emachines last month. I had to uninstall very little trial programs.

I will be buying another soon. Price is worth it and I really don't want to build another one for myself.

Since when did emachines start building Macs?

Personally, I've always built my own machines and always will. A bit more rewarding that way.

I've only owned a Mac three times in my life. The last was last year.

I can build my own machines and usually do but in this case it was cheaper part for part to buy the emachines.

I had an OEM versio of XP and Vista, and I was in a period of tweaking and overclocking my system alot and I would reinstall my OS on my system with different hardware configurations all the time... on average every 30-60 days i would reinstall qand never once did i have an issue except a phone call to microsoft once to twice... i was doing that for about 3 years... 

It's not just the crapware for me... I'd rather build my own than buy a 'get what you're given' rig off the shelf.  That way I can mix and match comonents to get the best bang for the bucks I can afford to spend. 

I saw a pre-built system similar to mine - AMD Phenom II x4 920 on a Gigabyte GA-770 mobo - but it only had 4gb of generic RAM and a 8600GT Nvidia card.  All up it would have cost me around AUD $250 more than my current build, which has 8gb of Corsair RAM and a Galaxy 9800GT.  I also have two extra HDD's and a multi card reader and a Creative X-Fi Xtreme Gamer Pro sound card with dual DVD burners... extras that would have put up the price of the pre-build to around AUD $600 more.

Granted, it makes sense to buy a cheap pre-build offf the shelf if you intend only to use it to surf the net, as a word processor, etc, but I have greater expectations of my machine and need something with more grunt to record, edit video... something that I discovered over-taxes an under-powered machine and shortens its life.  Yeah, I could have seriously over-clocked, but that still would have given me less power than what I have, and it probably wouldn't have lasted anywhere near as long, either.

So yeah, it made sense for me to build an over-powered machine, for regular use, that is, but when the extra power is needed it is there.  I would have liked to have got myself an i7 920 with 12gb of RAM, way more powerful again, but my budget wouldn't have allowed that, being that I would have had to get a bigger PSU as well. Oh well, what I have does all that I need it to, so maybe next time.

Well if you add up what that emachines has in it it was cheaper to buy it from the store than build it up myself. I saved money.

That's good... I'm glad you got what you wanted at a price you're happier with.  Pre-builds are somewhat better these days to what they were when I first got into PC's, so if you can find one at a good price that suits your needs, why not go for it!