Utilizing OEM software

[kerwynk]

I recently purchased both Fusion and an OEM version of Windows XP. Upon attempting to install Windows, Fusion informed me that it was unable to find anything, and shut down. To my regret and surprise, I see that there are often difficulties in utilizing OEM software with Fusion, however - from what I can tell - these problems arise when trying to use OEM software with a second machine. I am normally a Mac user, and purchased this software exclusively for use with Fusion. Is there no way to use OEM software with Fusion? I purchased OEM to save money, and may now need to spend more to buy a non-OEM version of Windows!

Any suggestions? Thank you!

[RDPetruska]

OEM versions of OS's are usually licensed to be installed on certain, OEM, hardware. It is not legal to use them on other hardware/PCs - which your virtual machine is. You must either obtain a retail version or a volume license version.

[admin]

OEM copies of Windows are tied to the hardware and cannot be used on other hardware. I don't recall an OEM copy of Windows XP for Macs.

[kerwynk]

Hm. OK, but I am still confused. Why would \*anyone* purchase OEM software as a stand-alone item? Why would it even be offered to anyone other than manufacturers who would include it with their computers? I purchased my OEM software from ZTechSoftware and it all seemed on the up and up. My software certainly seems like it was packaged by Microsoft, and includes a registration key. If OEM software is only for particular machines, which machine was I supposed to use it with?

Thanks again,

kerwynk

[Xipper]

Why did you purchase the "OEM" version instead of the "Retail" version? Price? Many resellers cheat the system and bundle "OEM" with any piece of hardware, others just sell it on its own. This is a direct violation of the license agreement you and they agreed to.

However, I haven't seen too many OEM installation sets that were hardware specific with XP. Win 95/98 it was extremely common, but not as pervasive now.

What type of Virtual Disks do you have in your VM? SCSI or IDE? Have you tried using the VMware driver floppy to provide hardware drivers to your XP installation?

[RDPetruska]

>If OEM software is only for particular machines, which machine was I supposed to use it with?

With the motherboard or hard drive or whatever base component which you are also \*supposed* to buy from that vendor. Vendors are not legally allowed to sell you an OEM OS disc unbundled from the hardware... however, some do.

[admin]

My understanding is that there's OEM software that comes with say, a laptop. It might be missing drivers for other hardware, it might be built especially for that laptop, and the resotre/install CD it came with probably checks for the particular hardware. Because of this and because of the OEM license, you can't transfer it to another computer, and in fact it probably won't boot on other hardware.

There's also OEM software you can buy, say, from newegg. This is supposed to be bundled with new hardware (e.g. a motherboard, though from what I've seen they tend to be willing to bundle it with any hardware, e.g. an optical drive or a mouse on the assumption that you have all the other parts but forgot to get an OS earlier). This obviously isn't tied to hardware (since they don't know what hardware you're going to use it with) but according to the license can only be used with the first computer you install on - no moving it around. This is contrasted with a full license, which you can move around as long as you completely uninstall it from the previous computer.

If you fall into the second category, I would expect things to work. Does the disk disappear from the desktop when you boot the virtual machine?

I'm not a lawyer, haven't really read the Windows EULA recently, etc.

[kerwynk]

There's also OEM software you can buy, say, from

newegg. This is supposed to be bundled with new

hardware (e.g. a motherboard, though from what I've

seen they tend to be willing to bundle it with any

hardware, e.g. an optical drive or a mouse on the

assumption that you have all the other parts but

forgot to get an OS earlier). This obviously isn't

tied to hardware, since they don't know what hardware

you're going to use it with. but according to the

license can only be used with the first computer you

install on - no moving it around. This is contrasted

with a full license, which you can move around as

long as you completely uninstall it from the previous

computer.

If you fall into the second category, I would expect

things to work. Does the disk disappear from the

desktop when you boot the virtual machine?

I'm not a lawyer, haven't really read the Windows

EULA recently, etc.

Thanks for all of these replies. I also am not a lawyer, and didn't think that what I was purchasing might not be permited. As etung suggests, however, I only intend to use this software with this particular computer (which happens to be an Intel Mac).

My disk does indeed disappear from the Mac desktop when I bootup the VM. Not sure what to do next, however.

[admin · Accepted solution]

OEM software is typically priced lower than a regular copy of Windows. The trade-off is that the software is not transferrable and will not normally work on other hardware.

I'm not sure how you obtained your OEM software, but it was clearly aimed at a specific type of hardware. In cases where you want to run a VM on THAT SAME hardware, you can try adding SMBIOS.reflectHost = “TRUE” to the .vmx configuration of the VM to try to get the VM to see the underlying host hardware. This workaround still complies with the licensing scheme because the Windows running in the VM is still technically tied to that host hardware.

[kerwynk]

In cases where you want to run a VM on THAT SAME

hardware, you can try adding SMBIOS.reflectHost =

“TRUE” to the .vmx configuration of the VM to try to

get the VM to see the underlying host hardware.

This workaround still complies with the licensing

scheme because the Windows running in the VM is

still technically tied to that host hardware.

This is exactly what I would like to do. How do I add something to the .vmx configuration? I basically have no idea what this means (I am new to this program and am not particularly techno-saavy, alas). I saw DaveP had a whitepaper on this, but it was extremely technical and confusing for me.

Thanks again!

[admin]

Power off your VM. Browse your file system for where your VM configuration files are stored. Go to the configuration file which will be your .vmx and add the parameter and value I just mentioned to the bottom of the list, and then save. Then try powering on your VM to see if it made a difference.

[admin]

I'm not sure what the SMBIOS does, but from the name, it sounds like it passes the BIOS through to the guest. This won't work in OS X, since Macs don't have a BIOS. Also, with Fusion there's another step involved, since you have to get inside the .vmwarevm bundle (ctrl-click in the Finder, select Show Package Contents).

kerwynk: Can you check if you can boot the OEM CD on another PC (don't install, of course)?

[admin]

I agree, although it's a simple test. The SMBIOS is meant for a traditional Windows machine (e.g. Dell, HP, IBM).

The best solution is to get a non-OEM licensed copy of Windows.

[admin]

Nah, the best solution is to avoid Windows Failing that, a non-OEM version is good.

[Doobla]

I have often bought OEM copies of Windows XP and they are not made to install on specific hardware unless you obtained them from say gateway or something which then is made for gateway computers.

The OEM rules at the time stated that the OS need on be sold with hardware and that the license required that the OS and the hardware it was sold with stay together as a single product. If you bought a USB hard drive with an OEM copy of windows and used them both with your mac, it would be perfectly legal. I believe they have cleaned up the EULA with Vista though.

You should not have any problems installing an OEM windows on Fusion though unless it is made for a specific company's hardware, in which case the cd is labeled with that company's name instead of the microsoft anti-piracy holograms, etc.

[Giulio]

If you bought a real OEM version (as opposed to a Dell/HP version which could be locked to a Dell/HP BIOS, and which shouldn't be available for sale) then you should have no problem using it on any machine. OEM versions are not locked to any hardware.

The only issue with OEM versions are:

1) in some cases you have to buy some piece of hardware with it (ie: mouse, IDE cable, .....) this is just a stupid licensing issue; but the OEM software is not locked to such hardware.

2) With an OEM version you have no support from MS. This is why they cost so much less.

So, usually OEM is the way to go if you want to save money.

I think the problems you are experiencing may be due to:

1) some arbitrary software restriction imposed by vmware fusion, or maybe even Apple at a lower level (ie: check to see if they allow OEM for boot camp or if they voluntarily block it, if they block it then maybe they disable any OEM MS CD/DVD as soon as they see it) on OEM licenses; if this is true, then maybe they had to do it to please MS or Apple (Apple had major cash infusion from MS some time ago and they may have some agreement).

2) some setup issue unrelated to the software being OEM.

[kerwynk]

Pangchen got it right! Thank you, Pangchen (and everyone else)!

For the record:

1) I uninstalled Fusion

2) Reinstalled it, but did not continue when it asked me for the Windows disk

3) Changed the preference file (Library-Preferences-VMware Preferences-preferences) as Pangchen suggested (adding SMBIOS.reflectHost = “TRUE” to the end of the list)

4) Loaded the Windows disk

and viola!

Not sure if it was really necessary for me to start completely over by reinstalling Fusion, but it worked.

Thanks for everyone's help!

[DaveP]

Unless he is using an SLP version of Windows, e.g. Dell, IBM, HP etc., which is tied to the BIOS, an OEM copy should work just fine. Suggest there may be something else wrong.

[admin]

I just noticed that you added this to your preferences file, but pangchen suggested adding it to your vmx file. The preferences file is a user-wide file, while the vmx file affects just that virtual machine. While I'm glad it works for you, I'd be concerned that this might cause problems if you use other virtual machines.

[DaveP]

Please note this won't work for all SLP versions of Windows. (Please remember in the strict MS naming sense SLP is tied to hardware via BIOS SLP settings OEM isn't and can be bought over the counter). For example Dell CDs cannot be installed this way as the information that is being searched for in the BIOS isn't in the SMBIOS tables. However, some like Fujitsu-Siemens is and will work with this method.