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Acer Windows Vista Licence - Rip-off?
mxxx
Posts: 100 Forumite
in Techie Stuff
Hi,
I had a baffling, frustrating and suprising experience yesterday and I thought i'd share it as its made me quite angry.
I am and IT technician and have been given an Acer Aspire desktop PC as it was dead. I've had a look at the PC and ascertained that it needed a new motherboard, to get the same board again would have cost nearly as much as the machine is worth so I bought a cheap generic board and fitted it. The PC has a licence for Windows Vista Home Premium on the side of the case so I intended to use this but when it came to actually put the key into the Vista install wizard it wouldnt accept it and kept saying the key was invalid.
Well, I skipped this step and continued with the install, hoping I could activate it once it was installed. It installed fine but again wouldnt accept the key, saying it was not valid. I tried installing all the windows updates but still couldnt get it to accept the code.
I did some searching online and found that there are a lot of people having this same problem with Acer machines and no one seemed to be able to find a solution so I thought i'd contact Acer directly. Once I filled out their contact form I got a list of suggested knowledge base articles, one of which explained to me that if I changed the motherboard on my Acer PC I wouldnt be able to use the Windows licence any more and that they wouldnt be able to support me either! I continued to contact them anyway and recieved a reply this morning offering me two choices:
1. Send the machine to them and they will reimage my hard drive at the cost of £71.50
2. Purchase a new licence for Vista and download the drivers from the Acer website.
No offer of an apology just a small note explaining that their OEM windows licences dont use the key and instead activate from the BIOS of the motherboard, as I now have a different motherboard, tough luck.
This seems totally wrong to me, the price of the PC as new included a licence for Windows Vista and I am trying to use that licence on the PC that it came with.
I am not going to pay them to reimage my hard disk, I am an IT Tech and am quite capable of doing this sort of thing myself, but there seems no other option. Looks like i'll have to fork out for ANOTHER licence key but it just seems rediculous that they can get away with this, what are your thoughts??
I had a baffling, frustrating and suprising experience yesterday and I thought i'd share it as its made me quite angry.
I am and IT technician and have been given an Acer Aspire desktop PC as it was dead. I've had a look at the PC and ascertained that it needed a new motherboard, to get the same board again would have cost nearly as much as the machine is worth so I bought a cheap generic board and fitted it. The PC has a licence for Windows Vista Home Premium on the side of the case so I intended to use this but when it came to actually put the key into the Vista install wizard it wouldnt accept it and kept saying the key was invalid.
Well, I skipped this step and continued with the install, hoping I could activate it once it was installed. It installed fine but again wouldnt accept the key, saying it was not valid. I tried installing all the windows updates but still couldnt get it to accept the code.
I did some searching online and found that there are a lot of people having this same problem with Acer machines and no one seemed to be able to find a solution so I thought i'd contact Acer directly. Once I filled out their contact form I got a list of suggested knowledge base articles, one of which explained to me that if I changed the motherboard on my Acer PC I wouldnt be able to use the Windows licence any more and that they wouldnt be able to support me either! I continued to contact them anyway and recieved a reply this morning offering me two choices:
1. Send the machine to them and they will reimage my hard drive at the cost of £71.50
2. Purchase a new licence for Vista and download the drivers from the Acer website.
No offer of an apology just a small note explaining that their OEM windows licences dont use the key and instead activate from the BIOS of the motherboard, as I now have a different motherboard, tough luck.
This seems totally wrong to me, the price of the PC as new included a licence for Windows Vista and I am trying to use that licence on the PC that it came with.
I am not going to pay them to reimage my hard disk, I am an IT Tech and am quite capable of doing this sort of thing myself, but there seems no other option. Looks like i'll have to fork out for ANOTHER licence key but it just seems rediculous that they can get away with this, what are your thoughts??
0
Comments
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Unfortunately, that's the way MS licence things (as a technician I would have thought that you knew that already); OEM licences are limited in scope, they don't (these days) give you the right to own that operating system and install it on which-ever PC you want.
Alternatives? software4students offer upgrade versions of Win7 which may work (I don't know if an upgrade of an unlicenced version can be installed fine, but some googling should help you on that). The price for that is under £40 if you are eligible for a student licence.
Linux? Free... (sorry, if I don't suggest it, someone else will!)
Matt0 -
I would prefer to use Linux/Ubuntu rather than Vista any day. If you want to stick with Windows then buy the retail version of Windows 7 and you can install it on any computer you own (one licence). Alternatively buy the OEM version for around £60 - £70 but that will only be licenced for your machine.0
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I agree with you that it is a bit frustrating but what you have put forth is common practice.
What I would suggest in this situation is not reinstalling the OS. Perform a repair install on the existing OS installation.If my post helped you in anyway, please hit the "Thanks" button! Please note any advice I give is followed at your own risk!0 -
Hi,
I had a baffling, frustrating and suprising experience yesterday and I thought i'd share it as its made me quite angry.
I am and IT technician and have been given an Acer Aspire desktop PC as it was dead. I've had a look at the PC and ascertained that it needed a new motherboard, to get the same board again would have cost nearly as much as the machine is worth so I bought a cheap generic board and fitted it. The PC has a licence for Windows Vista Home Premium on the side of the case so I intended to use this but when it came to actually put the key into the Vista install wizard it wouldnt accept it and kept saying the key was invalid.
Well, I skipped this step and continued with the install, hoping I could activate it once it was installed. It installed fine but again wouldnt accept the key, saying it was not valid. I tried installing all the windows updates but still couldnt get it to accept the code.
I did some searching online and found that there are a lot of people having this same problem with Acer machines and no one seemed to be able to find a solution so I thought i'd contact Acer directly. Once I filled out their contact form I got a list of suggested knowledge base articles, one of which explained to me that if I changed the motherboard on my Acer PC I wouldnt be able to use the Windows licence any more and that they wouldnt be able to support me either! I continued to contact them anyway and recieved a reply this morning offering me two choices:
1. Send the machine to them and they will reimage my hard drive at the cost of £71.50
2. Purchase a new licence for Vista and download the drivers from the Acer website.
No offer of an apology just a small note explaining that their OEM windows licences dont use the key and instead activate from the BIOS of the motherboard, as I now have a different motherboard, tough luck.
This seems totally wrong to me, the price of the PC as new included a licence for Windows Vista and I am trying to use that licence on the PC that it came with.
I am not going to pay them to reimage my hard disk, I am an IT Tech and am quite capable of doing this sort of thing myself, but there seems no other option. Looks like i'll have to fork out for ANOTHER licence key but it just seems rediculous that they can get away with this, what are your thoughts??
Hopefully this had added to your knowledge. But you should know that his has little to do with ACER and more to do with Microsoft and your previous lack of knowledge of the licencing agreement..
The fact that you did not know that the licence is tied to the Motherboard was simply an error on your part.
In addition, it is Microsoft that has deactivated those COA Product Keys from online activation.
Try going through phone activation.
Which model of Motherboard did you fit?0 -
If you have only changed the motherbord, and are using an identical version of windows to install (oem version probably), then ring Microsoft and tell them you replaced the board because it was faulty.
A standard Home Premium disc or full DVD will do. Phone activation is the way to go...as long as it has not been done before.0 -
If it's rejecting the key as it's typed in, (as opposed to activation failing), that's usually a mismatch between key and disc (ie oem key used with retail disc), not a detection of motherboard change.
No such thing when it comes to Vista and Windows 7.
OEM and Retail mismatches occur only with XP.0 -
Hi,
No offer of an apology just a small note explaining that their OEM windows licences dont use the key and instead activate from the BIOS of the motherboard, as I now have a different motherboard, tough luck.
You no longer have an Acer PC, what you have is a few Acer components and peripherals on a new non Acer motherboard, which lets face it is the major part in any PC.
As others have said the OEM licence doesn't cover what you now have and it never will.
Your only legal option is to buy a new version of Windows or install Linux.
Look on the bright side, Vista was rubbish, providing the hardware is up to it you'll be able to get Windows 7 which is a far better OS than Vista.One by one the penguins are slowly stealing my sanity.0 -
like to see that in the EULA say nothing about changing a faulty mother boardYou no longer have an Acer PC, what you have is a few Acer components and peripherals on a new non Acer motherboard, which lets face it is the major part in any PC.
As others have said the OEM licence doesn't cover what you now have and it never will.
Your only legal option is to buy a new version of Windows or install Linux.
Look on the bright side, Vista was rubbish, providing the hardware is up to it you'll be able to get Windows 7 which is a far better OS than Vista.
in case you cannot find the link http://www.microsoft.com/About/Legal/EN/US/IntellectualProperty/UseTerms/Default.aspx
if i remember right oem codes nead oem disks ,and if its a vista sp1 code it needs sp1 disk ect ectthere or their,one day i might us the right one ,until then tuff0 -
Well firstly thanks for all the bashing, I came to discuss my annoyance at Acer's licensing arrangements, not to be criticised.
Now, to make things clear, this pc is not for me, I already have a pc running windows 7. I am repairing this pc to sell, hence why I was hoping to not have to purchase a new vista licence.
To those who are saying to use telephone activation... This isn't an activation issue, I'm not getting to the activation part, the key isn't actually being accepted as valid full stop so I can't even enter it.
This isn't a key/disc mismatch as I am using a fully open Vista CD which should work with all keys. As someone has already mentioned here, the different oem/retail versions issue disappeared with XP
Those who are saying this is how OEM licensing works... Again not true, I've used oem licence codes from dell, hp, toshiba etc for years on other hardware (don't worry, all legit) without any issues for XP, vista and seven. In fact, I'm now reinstalling Vista on this exact same pc with the exact same disc using a HP oem licence from a scrapped laptop and it's installed and activated fine
I have still got most of the original equipment, I appreciate that the motherboard is the crux of the pc but I disagree that I should have to purchase another licence because the motherboard has failed. If the board has failed I should have an option to transfer the licence to a new board.
Oh and I can't do a repair as I gave the hdd back to the original owner for security reasons.
So... To clarify, I am not interested in any suggestions or tips on other options, I just wanted to discuss what acer are doing, find out if people agree with it or not and if anyone has had any similar experience or found a way around it0 -
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