OEM licensing versus Volume Licensing for Windows
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OEM licensing versus Volume Licensing for Windows

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Article ID: 151744

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Updated On:

Products

Ghost Solution Suite

Issue/Introduction

Comparing types of licenses.

Resolution

A computer that comes with an OEM license has an activation key that is tied to that particular hardware. It is typically not legal to install the OEM operating system on a different machine.
  • Sysprep was not designed to work with OEM licenses, but only volume licenses.
  • If you plan to use a large number of machines with OEM licenses, it would be simpler to take one model, format the hard disk and install a 'volume license' version of the OS. That way you can clone it. Note: You will essentially lose the OEM license. You will also be using additional instances of your volume license. For licensing questions, contact your reseller or Microsoft.