On Mon, 4 Apr 2016 20:59:43 -0400, "Mayayana"
wrote:

| Lots of OEM installations require authentication (if they use an
| install disk instead of an image)

They don't use a disk. It's pre-installed
and locked to the BIOS. It's rare to even get
a restore disk anymore. Most just have a
hidden partition for restore. The OEM license
specifies being limited to a single machine.
Not providing a disk helps enforce that.

I'm in the business. There are 2 ways "oem" licences are provided.
There are the smaller OEMs that use an OEM install disk that is
identical to a retail package except for the key, and then there is
the "pre-install" The "pre-install" comes 2 different ways. Some come
with an installtion key and requires authentication. Others, like the
new ACERS do not have a separate installation key and do not
(generally) require authentication.(all VM4630G systems, for instance,
use the same installation key). I have had some that required
re-authentication after adding or changing things like different hard
drive, add-on video, and a RAID controller. I think it is 3 "major"
changes trips the authentication - and "usually" the online
authentication doesn't work - but phone-in does. When they ask how
many systems this copy of the program is installed on you have to say
"one" and it says "confirmed" and authenticates.

With both of the latter, there is a hidden partition that contains an
"image" that it installs from. It has all the drivers for the
equipment that comes on the computer, and virtually no extras - and is
usually also full of "bloatware". Both are also capable of creating a
"restore disk" - and "restore disks" are available for purchace from
the company. Virtually NONE are locked to the bios in that they will
not run on another motherboard of the same model - and very few won't
install on a different motherboard with the same chip-set. (I've had
to replace a few motherboards on off-warranty systems and have used
boards from other manufacturers - as long as they have the same
chipset )

On the newest computers that don't use a "bios" and don't use an "MBR"
things are more complex. I have not had to replace any motherboards -
but cloning a hard-drive to put in a larger drive can be a real
challenge. Rolling out software on one system and then cloning the
drive to the other 49 sytems on a 50 system install doesn't work like
it did on the systems with a bios and MBR.


The first type uses an "installation disk" - not a "restore disk" -
and it will work on virtually any hardware - but it requires the
proper installation key.

| and the installed Win* may well be
| an upfrade purchaced retail, or a total new installation purchased
| retail.

That's possible. He says it has a Vista sticker
but that it's running Win8. He may just be
misquoting the message it's giving him. I could
imagine someone shoehorning any old Win8
onto the laptop with no possibility of ever
activating, only as a means to get it sold. Most
people would consider Win8 better than Vista
because it's newer.