How to upgrade at an enterprise and not lose software licenses
I made a call to Microsoft with the question:
- “How to deal with purchased licenses if our organization changes its name?”
- “How to choose a Windows 7 product that supports computer upgrades or isn’t tied to it?”
With products such as:
Windows Server 2xxx
Microsoft Forefront
no problems, because There is a special procedure for transferring licenses,
“Instructions for transferring licenses of Microsoft Open License”
, and so, in principle, the first issue is quickly resolved.
There are about 20 machines in the organization; upon purchase, Windows XP SP2 OEM was installed on them, and this is exactly where the problem arises.
Since this is an OEM product, you cannot transfer it to another computer or upgrade it! Humble yourself!
So how in the future to have a licensed product and be able to upgrade the computer park?
Two ways!
1) Buy a version of BOX. It gives you the right not to bind a license (sticker) to the system unit, you can completely change the computer or upgrade it and there will be no problems during the verification. But you must have documents on making a purchase, a box and a sticker that may not be on the system unit itself, but on the box itself (information from the Microsoft licensing service).
But this method is not very convenient in organizations, because Each system unit will have its own serial number when installing the system.
It is this method that Microsoft offers.
During a conversation, I accidentally remembered GGK products by accident, because we have them installed on three machines, and here a pleasant moment begins.
2) Buy “Solution for licensing the installed operating system Windows 7 Professional (Get Genuine Windows Agreement (GGWA) ”
This is the solution that interests us, because it comes on the same media with one serial number and the required number of “stickers” called - Certificate of Authenticity (SOA). This product, unlike the BOX version, does not provide for transferring the license to another computer, but it does not prohibit upgrading, as its OEM version prohibits.
So what are the advantages of this product for the organization?
- by purchasing this product we will not spend an additional nth amount of funds as on the BOX version;
- It is recommended (but not required) to reinstall the OS if the initial installation was made from non-original media;
- simplification in OS deployment;
- You can use this package with already installed:
- Windows Vista Business
- Windows XP Professional
- Windows 2000 Professional
- Windows NT Workstation 4.0 or 3.51
- Windows 98
- Windows 95
and subsequently upgrade computers using the method described below.
- the possibility of modernization.
And so, choosing this product, we need to stick a sticker on the system unit body, we can also inside, because there it will not be subject to accidental destruction in the event of a move (the MS licensing service does not prohibit this, the main thing is that there is a sticker on the case).
When upgrading or replacing a fleet of computers, you should leave this system unit with a sticker (if this is not done, we will lose the license, see Features of using the OEM version). The appearance of the system unit does not particularly suffer during operation and, as a rule, under the table, it does not callus the eye, for example, a missing plug for a DVD drive.
Those. it is necessary to approach the purchase of the case itself with special care, because it should last 4-6 years and it will depend on it whether we will need to spend additional funds on the purchase of a second license.
Open License
The Open License program is intended for organizations that need to purchase several copies (licenses) of one or more Microsoft software products. Already with the purchase of 5 licenses, the client receives a significant discount compared to the cost of purchasing the same products in the form of a box . Within two years after placing the first order, the client will be able to use the received corporate discount when placing the next arbitrarily small orders.
Unpleasant moment with OEM licenses.
I would especially like to draw attention to it (for me it was honestly a discovery). It turns out that if your motherboard burned out at the end of the warranty period, then EVERYTHING, your license is invalid !!!
Features of using the OEM version
The main distinguishing feature of the OEM version is that they are “tied” to the computer on which they were originally installed and cannot be transferred to a replacement computer or any other PC.
The term "personal computer" means a fully assembled computer system, including at least a central processor, motherboard, hard drive, power supply and chassis. When replacing any component of the computer except the motherboard, the user retains the right to use an OEM license. When replacing the motherboard, a new license is required, except when replacing the motherboard with a similar or identical one under warranty repair.
The user receives the rights to use OEM versions on the basis of the End User License Agreement ( EULA ) concluded between the end user and the system builder. In particular, this agreement gives the right to the end user the technical support of the product, which the system builder must provide.
Those. in fact, your “licensing” may be one year, because A year of warranty on the system unit is provided by the organization from which you purchased the computer. But there may also be such a situation in which the motherboard may not fall under warranty repair after three months, in this case - that's it, you are already using a non-licensed OS !!!
Let's make a small comparison in money terms when buying 20 licenses (prices are approximate, I took them from the online stores offered, but the difference is not significant + - 300 rubles.):
- BOX - 6667 rubles. * 20 = 133340 rub.
- GGWA - 5750 rub. * 20 = 115,000 rub.
At the moment, the Microsoft website does not have a license agreement for GGK Windows 7 Professional in Russian, I wrote a letter requesting translation of this document with a view to presenting it to inspection bodies. The translation was made in a day and was sent to me. Who needs it, we take it .
I hope this article shed light on some points that you did not know about before or will help you in the future.