Buy Windows 7 Multiple License

ESU is licensed per device. For traditional on-premises or dedicated Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI), each endpoint that accesses a VM that runs Windows 7 ESU must have an ESU license. In other words, it's not the VMs that must be counted, but the terminals. If the customer moves to Azure Virtual Desktop (AVD), ESU is covered for no extra cost for the full three-year coverage period.

buy windows 7 multiple license

Download Zip: https://www.google.com/url?q=https%3A%2F%2Fjinyurl.com%2F2uhAAu&sa=D&sntz=1&usg=AOvVaw1F1G9Hv9gJsVjix_rwuQvN

We continue to work to fully automate the validation process. If a customer purchased ESU as part of their Enterprise Agreement, an agent can verify the purchase by asking for the customer's Enterprise Agreement number or for the full customer name. To locate their Agreement Number, a customer can sign in to Volume License Service Center, and go to Licenses > License Summary. Typically, the License Summary displays recently purchased licenses within 24 hours after Microsoft receives a customer order from a Microsoft Partner.

The Windows 7 or Windows 8 product keys that commonly work for this method are the retail and OEM varieties. Only sporadic success has been reported for volume license keys (i.e., enterprise or educational licenses) working with this loophole.

License types are different than operating system versions. They dictate what you can do with the software, while OS versions are distinguished by the features available. Multiple Windows license types exist, but the two commonly available to a home user are the retail and OEM varieties.

In that latter camp are a number of community colleges, and they often make the Windows 10 license free or supremely affordable (usually $15). The catch: You have to sign up for at least one course to qualify for campus discounts.

Microsoft offers many ways to buy Windows 7. You can buy the operating system preinstalled on a new PC, upgrade an existing PC using a shrink-wrapped retail package, purchase an upgrade online, or build a PC from scratch and install Windows yourself. In each of these cases, you can also take your pick of multiple Windows editions The price you pay will vary, depending on the edition and the sales channel. There are different license agreements associated with each such combination. Those license agreements are contracts that give you specific rights and also include specific limitations.

This might sound arbitrary. Indeed, a common complaint I hear is that Microsoft should simply sell one version of its OS at one price to every customer. That ignores the reality of multiple sales channels, and the fact that some people want the option to pay a lower price if they don't plan to use some features and are willing to pay a higher price for features like BitLocker file encryption.

I have been studying the topic of Windows licensing for many years. As I have discovered, Microsoft does not have all of this information organized in one convenient location. Much of it, in fact, is buried in long, dry license agreements and on sites that are available only to partners. I couldn't find this information in one convenient place, so I decided to do the job myself. I gathered details from many public and private sources and summarized the various types of Windows 7 license agreements available to consumers and business customers. Note that this table and the accompanying descriptions deliberately exclude a small number of license types: for example, I have omitted academic and government licenses, as well as those provided as part of MSDN and TechNet subscriptions and those included with Action Pack subscriptions for Microsoft partners. With those exceptions, I believe this list includes every license situation that the overwhelming majority of Windows customers will encounter in the real world.

The table below is your starting point. The license types listed in the columns of this table are arranged in rough order of price, from least expensive to most expensive. For a detailed discussion of each license type, see the following pages, which explain some of the subtleties and exceptions to these rules. And a final, very important note: I am not a lawyer. This post is not legal advice. I have provided an important disclaimer on the final page of this post. Please read it.

OEM (major PC manufacturer) This is, by far, the cheapest way to purchase Windows 7. The top 20 or so PC makers (sometimes called "royalty OEMs") collectively sell millions of PCs per month with Windows already installed on them. When you start up that PC for the first time, you accept two license agreements, one with the manufacturer and one with Microsoft. Here's what you need to know about this type of license agreement:

OEM (System Builder) If you buy a new computer from a local PC builder (sometimes called a "white box" PC), you can get an OEM edition of Windows preinstalled. This type of OEM license differs in a few crucial details from the version the big PC makers sell:

Let's assume you have a machine with Windows installed on it. Maybe you bought it preinstalled from a PC maker. Maybe you upgraded a previous version (like XP to Vista or Vista to Windows 7). Maybe you built it yourself with a full retail license. Whatever. Now you want to upgrade. You have two options.

Retail upgrade Here's the one that has caused all the recent controversy. A retail upgrade package is sold at a steep discount to a fully licensed retail product. The idea is that you are a repeat customer, and you get a price break because you already paid for a full Windows license earlier. Retail upgrades qualify for free technical support from Microsoft, even if the copy you're replacing was originally supplied by an OEM.

So who qualifies for a Windows 7 upgrade license? The Windows 7 retail upgrade package says "All editions of Windows XP and Windows Vista qualify you to upgrade." The same language appears on the listings at the Microsoft Store. Specifically:

To use upgrade software, you must first be licensed for the software that is eligible for the upgrade. Upon upgrade, this agreement takes the place of the agreement for the software you upgraded from. After you upgrade, you may no longer use the software you upgraded from. [emphasis added]

As the table on the first page indicates, you can transfer a retail upgrade license to a new PC. This fact confuses some people. Remember that the PC on which you install the upgrade must have a qualifying license first. So if you buy a new PC with an OEM Windows license, you can remove your retail upgrade from the old PC (restoring its original, un-upgraded Windows edition) and install your retail upgrade on the new PC. This is covered in Section 17 of the Windows 7 license:

I saved the high-priced spreads for last. The full license product represents the highest price you can pay as a consumer, but it also includes the most generous license. Big customers who are willing to buy in bulk can get full-featured editions of Windows, bundled with support contracts and special benefits, by signing up for Volume License agreements. Here's how these two products work.

Disclaimer: I am not a lawyer, and this post does not represent legal advice. The information in this post comes from official Microsoft sources and represents my interpretation and belief based on my extensive experience with Windows. I believe this information to be accurate, but you should not rely on anything written here to make any buying or deployment decisions without reading the full license agreements. If you are concerned about your legal rights and responsibilities, you should consult an attorney and get any necessary legal advice for those issues.

I don't recommend taking a chance with random sellers on eBay or Craigslist--not when there are so many well-established merchants that offer proper warranties and return policies, as well as an assurance that the underlying Windows license is legitimate.

Under Microsoft's arcane licensing rules, you can legitimately purchase OEM copies of Windows 7 (any edition). However, the license agreement with those copies explicitly prohibits you from using that software on a PC you build or refurbish for your own personal use. Crazy, huh?

You can find OEM System Builder software from dozens of online merchants. The current price for OEM Windows 7 Professional at Newegg, for example, is $140. When I checked a few minutes ago, Amazon was offering OEM Windows 7 Professional packages from multiple sellers at prices ranging from $101 to $150. When I checked just now, a package specifically intended for refurbished PCs cost only $50 for a 64-bit copy.

If you purchase a new PC with a business version of Windows 8, Windows 8.1, or Windows 10 already installed by the manufacturer, the license agreement gives you the right to downgrade to Windows 7 Professional. So if your PC originally came with Windows 8/8.1/10 Pro, you can replace the installed operating system with Windows 7 Professional at no cost.

Did you purchase a retail copy of Windows 7 any time in the past six years? Any full or upgrade license purchased through the retail channel or directly from Microsoft can legally be transferred to another PC. That includes any of the deeply discounted upgrade offers that Microsoft made available when Windows 7 was new, including the three-license Family Packs of Windows 7 Home Premium.

If the PC on which you want to install Windows 7 originally included a license for any version of Windows, you can buy a Windows 7 upgrade license from any vendor that has the software in stock and install that upgrade on your PC. You don't need to reinstall the old operating system; if you want to perform a clean install using upgrade media, you can use the workaround I describe in this post: Boot from the upgrade media and do an installation without entering a product key. Then use the same media to "upgrade" your brand-new installation.

The most expensive option is to purchase a full retail license for Windows 7. It's guaranteed to work with any PC, with no installation or licensing complications. The problem is finding this software, which Microsoft stopped selling years ago. Most online merchants today offer only OEM copies of Windows 7. 041b061a72