Dear all:
First of all I want to say I have done some research about Windows OS OEM vs. Full version (in box) topics in this forum. But I still have some questions, and hoping that you guys can help me out...

Story:
Previous IT Manager made a wrong decision purchasing Win Home edition for all desktops, and now the whole IT system seems very unstable (a lot of glitches, here and there, daily help desk is required). Currently I am pushing my company to deploy Windows XP Pro over 2000 and Home edition for easier-managed and more reliable IT infrastructure. There will be about at least 15 desktops / notebook that need to be reinstalled (not upgrade) with Windows XP Pro.

Method:
My purpose is to use Symantec Ghost to create image for one deskop, and deploy over the network. I will need one XP Pro disc but definitely 15+ licenses.

Problem:
Because it is for company use. I have read that OEM CDs can be only purchased with Hardware. Since we did not purchase OEM CDs with original Hardware (original desktops are Dell with W2K or Win Home), would this be ok or? We do not need support from Microsoft because we have techspot and google =) Besides, Microsoft is useless...

Also, there is this website called http://www.netsoftbiz.net/index.php who sells OEM CDs in download version over the internet. Has anyone tried it? I do not wish to wait for shipment. If I can purchase by downloading, I can get the product key within few hours and start my installation. What do you guys think?

Any recommended site for OEM Win XP Pro SP2...? Thank you =)

www.netsoftbiz.net is a fly-by-night outfit, that only registered its website on the 10th of June 2005, like last weekend!

They will thank you for your credit-card details, and probably pass them on to Moscow or St.Petersburg.
They maybe even let you download an (illegal) copy of XP, that you can burn yourself. Where is the COA? What COA?

Buy XP-Pro/SP2 retail-upgrade for $187.95 from Newegg
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16837116200

As a business, you should not even consider anything less, unless you can buy in bulk direct from M$

Wow thanks for the info:
But how did you find out the website registration date and time?

Well, company budget is low... Old fashion people do not understand the importance of reliability / compatibility / efficiency that XP Pro brings over XP Home. They always have me to go to the desktop and fix the bugs, and if I can't figure out, rebooting the system is likely to work 95% of the times... sigh~

About retail upgrade, newegg states OEM OS comes with new purchased hardware only... we need full version of XP Pro, upgrade will not do (although I have heard that you only need one pre-XP Pro OS CD and the upgrade CD for XP Pro upgrade to install, but i am not sure if that will work with norton ghost...)

Sam Spade has the answer.

You can go to Directron.com and get an OEM copy of XP Pro for $135.99 per copy. They only ask that you buy a small item to cover the hardware requirement. They have a drop down on the page with items to choose from, I would just select the $3.99 optical mouse so each station gets a new OS and mouse. I have ordered from them numerous times and have never had an issue.


http://www.directron.com/winxppro.html

not sure about xp pro, but i know that with windows 98 upgrade cd you could do a full install from a clean HD as long as you had your old win 95 cd for it to verify, thereby bypassing all the problems upgrading caused.

Yes, the XP upgrade CD will allow you to do a fresh install if you have an existing valid Windows CD with you for it to verify.