How to upgrade in the enterprise and not lose the software license

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 upgrading a computer or without being tied to it?”



With products such as:
Windows Server 2xxx
Microsoft Forefront
There will be no problems. there is a special procedure for transferring licenses
"Instructions for the transfer of licenses Microsoft Open License"
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like this, in principle, the first question is quickly resolved.


There are about 20 machines in the organization, when buying them, Windows XP SP2 OEM was installed, and that's 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?
There are two ways!

1) Buy a version of BOX. It gives you the right not to tie a license (sticker) to the system unit, you can completely change the computer or upgrade it and there will not be any problems during the check. But you must have purchase documents, a box and a sticker that may not be on the system unit itself, but on the box itself (information from the licensing service of Microsoft).

But this method is not very convenient in organizations, because each system unit will have its own serial number when installing the system.
This is exactly the way Microsoft offers it.

During the conversation, I accidentally remembered GGK products randomly, since on three machines we have them installed, and here is where the pleasant moment begins.



2) Buy a "Solution for licensing the installed operating system Windows 7 Professional (Get Genuine Windows Agreement (GGWA) "

This is the solution that interests us, because it is supplied on one carrier with one serial number and the required number of “stickers”, referred to as the certificate of authenticity (SOA). This product, unlike the BOX version, does not provide for the transfer of a license to another computer, but it does not prohibit upgrades, as the OEM version prohibits it.

So what are the advantages of this product for the organization?
- purchasing this product, we will not spend an additional unlimited amount of funds as for the BOX version;
- it is recommended (but not required) to reinstall the OS if the initial installation was done from a non-original media;
- simplified OS deployment;
- You can use this package with you already installed:

• Windows Vista Business
• Windows XP Professional
• Windows 2000 Professional
• Windows NT Workstation 4.0 or 3.51
• Windows 98
• Windows 95

and later to upgrade computers using the method described below.
- the possibility of modernization.

And so, choosing this product we need, stick a sticker on the case of the system unit, you can also inside, because there it will not be subject to accidental destruction in the event of a move (the licensing service of MS does not prohibit this, the main thing is to have a sticker on the case).
When upgrading or replacing the computer park, you should leave this particular system block 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 the operation and being usually under the table, it does not hurt the eyes, for example, the missing plug under the DVD drive.
Those. it is necessary to approach the purchase of the body itself with special care, because it must last 4-6 years and it will depend on it whether we need to spend additional funds to purchase a second license.

Open License
The Open License program is intended for organizations that need to purchase multiple 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 customer will be able to use the received corporate discount when placing the following arbitrarily small orders.

Unpleasant moment with OEM licenses.
I would like to especially focus on it (for me it was an honest 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 OEM versions 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 that includes at least the central processing unit, motherboard, hard drive, power supply, and chassis. When replacing any component of the computer, except the motherboard, the user retains the right to use the OEM license. When replacing the motherboard, a new license is required, except for cases of replacing the motherboard with a similar or identical one for warranty repairs.
The rights to use OEM versions are obtained by the user under the End User License Agreement ( EULA ) concluded between the end user and the system builder. In particular, this agreement entitles the end user to technical support for the product, which is required to provide the system builder.

Those. in fact, your “licensing” may be one year, because year warranty on the system unit, gives the organization from which you purchased the computer. But there may be such a situation in which the motherboard may not fall under warranty repair after three months, in this case - everything, you already use a non-licensed OS !!!

Let's make a small comparison in terms of money when purchasing 20 licenses (prices are approximate, taken from those offered by online stores, but the difference is not significant + - 300 rubles):

• BOX - 6667 rubles. * 20 = 133340 rub.
• GGWA - 5750 rub. * 20 = 115,000 rubles.

Savings - 18 340 rubles.

At the moment, there is no license agreement on the Microsoft website for GGK Windows 7 Professional in Russian, I wrote a letter asking for a translation of this document in order to present it to the inspection bodies. The translation was made in a day and was sent to me. From whom need, we take away .

I hope this article has shed light on some points about which you did not know before or will help you in the future.