How to redeem XP upgrade to Vista on home-made PC?
January 30, 2007 7:15 PM Subscribe
Last month I built my own PC from components purchased from Newegg.com including Microsoft Windows XP Pro SP2b 1pk w/Upgrade Coupon for Vista - OEM
What do I enter as my "PC-Model" and "Serial" at the upgrade site listed on the upgrade redemption certificate since my home-rolled PC has neither a manufacturer model number nor a serial number?
One of the reviews on the NewEgg product page says:
"Here's what newegg customer service told me: "YES – ALL customers who purchased during this promotional time will qualify and be honored the promotion. Regardless if a Microsoft rep said otherwise. If they experience an denials, please report to newegg. "YES – The customer will still qualify even though they didn’t purchase a PC system. ...all purchase promotions will be honored. "If you have any further questions or concerns, please visit our FAQs page." There's nothing useful in the FAQ that I could find."
Well, that sounds promising, but isn't exactly helpful. AskMeFi to the rescue?
One of the reviews on the NewEgg product page says:
"Here's what newegg customer service told me: "YES – ALL customers who purchased during this promotional time will qualify and be honored the promotion. Regardless if a Microsoft rep said otherwise. If they experience an denials, please report to newegg. "YES – The customer will still qualify even though they didn’t purchase a PC system. ...all purchase promotions will be honored. "If you have any further questions or concerns, please visit our FAQs page." There's nothing useful in the FAQ that I could find."
Well, that sounds promising, but isn't exactly helpful. AskMeFi to the rescue?
yah, microsoft wants to tie licenses to particular computers now so that you can't install it on multiple machines. even just reformatting and reinstalling windows on the same machine requires a phone call to microsoft to activate windows.
it's pretty much a "windows vista birth certificate" - you can put whatever you'd like, although i'd make sure it wasn't ridiculous and i'd write it down (put it on a sticker on/inside the computer even, like dell does!)
posted by noloveforned at 7:43 PM on January 30, 2007
it's pretty much a "windows vista birth certificate" - you can put whatever you'd like, although i'd make sure it wasn't ridiculous and i'd write it down (put it on a sticker on/inside the computer even, like dell does!)
posted by noloveforned at 7:43 PM on January 30, 2007
DEC PDP-11
Serial number: 000-00-004
That'll raise some eyebrows in Redmond.
posted by paulsc at 8:51 PM on January 30, 2007 [2 favorites]
Serial number: 000-00-004
That'll raise some eyebrows in Redmond.
posted by paulsc at 8:51 PM on January 30, 2007 [2 favorites]
If you want to give them some kind of real information, you could try using the model and serial of your CPU.
posted by Mark Doner at 9:55 PM on January 30, 2007 [1 favorite]
posted by Mark Doner at 9:55 PM on January 30, 2007 [1 favorite]
Best answer: The instructions tell you to put a "0" on the serial if you don't have one (as in, you built your own). Ditto for the model name. As far as the company name goes, it's NOT a required field so there's no point to putting anything in.
posted by Muu at 4:47 AM on January 31, 2007 [1 favorite]
posted by Muu at 4:47 AM on January 31, 2007 [1 favorite]
This thread is closed to new comments.
I'm really only half joking, maybe you can insert anything and it will work?
posted by altcountryman at 7:29 PM on January 30, 2007 [1 favorite]