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Windows 7 OEM Hardware Upgrade Policy

If I buy a PC with OEM Windows 7 Preinstalled, am I allowed to later:
1) upgrade the primary CPU to a faster model with more cores?
2) add an additional CPU if my motherboard supports it?
3) replace the HD on which OEM Windows 7 was installed with a newer faster HD?

Below are some likely corses of action I might want to take:
1) Purchase a z400 Hewlett Packard 2.4 GHZ Dual Core Xeon W3503 workstation with OEM Windows 7 now and upgrade the CPU to a 2.66 GHZ Quad Core Xeon W3520 a few years later when I have the money.
2) Purchase a z400 Hewlett Packard with Windows 7 OEM installed on the 160 GB Hard Drive now, but install Windows 7 OEM on a newer 10,000 RPM 500 GB hard drive when I either have the money or the original 160 GB Hard Drive crashes.

I just figured I should ask now before I buy a system with Windows 7 OEM installed because I know there are certain laws determine what I can and can't upgrade when I am using an Microsoft OEM OS.  I want to get all of this straight now so can ensure that I don't lock myself into an obsolete technology.
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Answer

This is a bit tangential to my original question but Microsoft has just made life easier for us Power Users!!!

 

"If you are building a PC for your personal use or installing an additional operating system in a virtual machine, you can now purchase OEM System Builder software using the Personal Use License." -
 
This is crazy awesome!!! The terms of the Personal Use license are very reasonable and they make it where us power junkies can start going back to Newegg and TigerDirect!!!
 
Thanks Microsoft.
 
You Guys Rock!!!
 
Shawn

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If I buy a Hewlett Packard with 1 Gig of RAM and OEM Windows 7 pre-installed does installing 4 Gigs of Kingston RAM from TigerDirect.com invalidate my OEM Windows 7 License?
No, Windows Product Activation checks eight different categories of hardware:
  • Display Adapter
  • SCSI Adapter
  • IDE Adapter
  • Network Adapter (including the MAC Address)
  • RAM Amount Range (e.g. 0-512 MB)
  • Processor Type and Serial Number
  • Hard Drive Device and Volume Serial Number
  • Optical Drive (e.g. CD-ROM)
If I buy a Hewlett Packard with a single hard drive and OEM Windows 7 pre-installed, would I invalidate my Windows 7 license by installing an external hard drive?

No

If I buy a Hewlett Packard with a single hard drive and OEM Windows 7 pre-installed, would I invalidate my Windows 7 license by installing a second internal hard drive?

No

If I buy a Hewlett Packard with OEM Windows 7 pre-installed onto a hard drive and then later REPLACE that hard drive with one that is better, does that invalidate my OEM Windows 7 licence?

No, but you will have to reactivate your installation of Windows 7.

If I buy a single CPU Hewlett Packard with an OEM Windows 7 pre-installed, would installing second CPU invalidate my OEM Windows 7 license?

No, but you will have to reactivate your installation of Windows 7

If I buy a single 2 GHZ CPU Hewlett Packard with OEM Windows 7 pre-installed, would replacing that cpu with a 3 GHZ cpu invalidate my OEM Windows 7 license?

No, but you will have to reactivate your installation of Windows 7
Andre Da Costa http://adacosta.spaces.live.com http://www.activewin.com
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Andre
twitter/adacosta
groovypost.com

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Last updated March 14, 2021 Views 55,934 Applies to: