Using the operating system from a dead product.

Hey guys,

I bought a Lenovo T61 a year or two back and loved it, however now the graphics card has become corrupted. (not sure how) I have confirmed that I would need a new gpu for the unit if I ever wanted it working again. Instead of spending 250$ -500$ or more I decided to use the money towards a desktop. Would anyone know if it is possible to use the product key for my vista operating system on the new desktop? I mean I did own it right?

I do have a key for vista because I had used their anytime upgrade DVD to perform a clean install on my T61 and the anytime upgrade DVD does contain the entire operating system on it.

Any help is appreciated.

 

If I recall correctly, the Vista licence key you got with your T61 is an OEM version. This means you can't really use it on another system... I'm not sure if the Vista CD will just detect you're trying to load it onto something other than a ThinkPad and prevent you from installing it, but it might do just that.

I know that retail versions of Vista don't have this limitation. The T400 I just received today had Win7 on it, which I just didn't particularly like. On a whim I popped in the hard drive to my X61s, which has a retail copy of Vista on it... it required me to re-activate it, but there was no fuss getting it to work.

 

Windows7 OEM is $105 at newegg.
It's cheaper than the non OEM version but once installed you won't be able to legally install it on another machine, or replace the motherboard that it is installed on.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ..._7_home_premium_64_bit-_-32-116-754-_-Product

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Edit: I should mention there are some issues with using the OEM version for your own use. Do some research on oem version EULA (End User License Agreement) before you buy.

Read this article first.
http://blogs.zdnet.com/Bott/?p=1561&tag=col1;post-1561

 

Ah, bummer. Thanks for the info, I'll have to check out windows 7 OEM.

Or maybe it would be better to bite the bullet and go ahead and buy something I can use in the future as well. If I bought retail I'd be able to reuse the product in the future right? (as long as I uninstalled it on the last machine)

 

Time to go linux, if you ask me.

 

However, if you're looking for a cheap workaround, I have seen legal Vista licences on Feebay for cheap. As long as you can get your hands on a Vista install disc, you're set. I've used my retail copy of Ultimate to install three legal licences... one of which I found for as low as $20.

 

I've considered it, however I built this new machine for games and I know next to nothing about playing games on (or even working with) linux. Maybe I'll install a distro on a spare drive.

Great idea, I'm going to look into that.