Buying new Desktop - Give your suggestions

[Sushubh]

here is the thing. i personally do not recommend anyone to buy a OS less machine from a branded manufacturer.
unless of course they want to run Linux on it or already own a retail version.
sure if you can manage it on your own, good for you. but for others? i do not want to end up being the IT guy to help them installing Windows and Office on their machines.

 

[mhsabir]

A bit offtopic, but just wanted input from someone who was clear with the info - I am likely to be upgrading a desktop (say almost buying the entire desktop expect monitor, printer is a possibility) within 3 to 6 months. So Windows 8 (bought in the upgrade offer over a retail version) & MS-Office, can they be uninstalled on the fly? Especially Win 8, will I face any issue - As I suspect the PC may crash at some point, not giving enough time to recover and uninstall, just calling MS & telling them to shift license of this PC be sufficient for them to allow me to activate?

 

[Sushubh]

As long as the older installation is not functional, you should not face any issues. You might need to get it manually activated by calling their regional call center. Which can be an annoying experience based on my own past dealings.
I really doubt uninstalling Windows 8 would send a message to Microsoft that you are freeing up your license
I am not even sure if you can uninstall Windows 8 to go back to Windows 7.

 

[mhsabir]

Well, the other option would be to install the Windows 7 retail in the new machine & call up to get it activated (which I have done a few years ago, when I had to replace the motherboard, and they asked purcahser name, city and date, store of purchase etc ) & then install Win8 on top of that. But, since I installed Win8 after downloading and if they ask details, I am not sure if that would be suficient (online purchase date, and name) to activate that.
I am also confused what to retain & what not - as i have been upgrading this PC since 2004, and often had to compromise on compatibility to get parts which are not the latest to make it work with existing hardware - hence the thought of a complete ramp up. But then would hate to just store some of the old parts idle in some corner as would have spent some money on them as recently as 1-2 years ago.

 

[genie]

Preloaded OS is a waste of money?
Compare the OEM price with the retail price of operating systems please.

It is better to assemble the system and buy a Windows license with the money saved because lot of these branded systems put crap components inside. Though the price difference is not much nowadays it is still worth it even if you have pay a bit more.

 

[rajnusker]

@sachinbr - Dont tell me, you are suggesting getting OS through "other" sources...
or maybe he meant Linux...

He clearly mentioned "for a lesser price".

 

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[mhsabir]

Retail price being cheaper than OEM - Even I would wonder where..

 

[dovahkiin]

win8 upgrade keys won't let you do a clean install on a new hdd and activate it, it needs a registry hack follow this , copy paste this somewhere and save it.Press the Windows key and type regedit. Press enter to open the Registry Editor. Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/Software/Microsoft/Windows/CurrentVersion/Setup/OOBE/ and double-click on the MediabootInstall key in the right pane. Change the key's value from 1 to 0. Exit the Registry Editor, press the Windows key again, and type cmd. Right-click on the Command Prompt icon and run it as an administrator. Type slmgr /rearm and press Enter. Reboot Windows. activate windows. done or follow this guide. http://lifehacker.com/5984278/how-to-do-a-clean-install-of-windows-8-with-an-upgrade-disc btw win 8 has a nifty feature where you can reformat without any media , it has a has a built in feature that allows you to reset your PC back to scratch (ie. reformatting) without needing installation media or a CD key. You can get to it by hitting Winkey + I and going "Change my PC Settings" then "General" and then "Remove everything and re-install windows" You can also access this from the advanced startup boot menu that can be accessed by choosing it from the same page in settings, or holding Shift+F8 on boot.

 

[Sushubh]

I would need this one day!

 

[DNA_Uncut]

I would suggest you to wait for a month atleast. As intel Haswell chips is going to get launched tomorrow at the Computex trade show. Would take less than a month for it's official availability in India ...