In the past I’ve mentioned that I will undoubtedly have problems down the road with my copy of Windows 7 (Professional, 64-bit) because it’s an upgrade disk – I have to first install Windows XP and then upgrade, but I’m finding that most newer motherboards don’t even recognize Windows XP as a valid OS. This meant earlier this year that I (regrettably) had to use my wife’s Dell version of Windows 7 to get my computer up and running while my regular motherboard was back at the manufacturer’s getting rebuilt. It’s back now, and as soon as I get up the courage to do yet another computer teardown/rebuild, I’ll be back in action the way I prefer – but as I said, down the road I’ll have the same problem, and on a more permanent basis.
So I started looking around earlier this year for somewhere I could buy a full copy of Win 7 Pro – but I found either nothing at all or a confusing number of choices that I couldn’t figure out, with an even wider variety of prices that did nothing to help me find what I wanted.
Earlier this month we bought my son a new laptop from Dell, and I just received an email with a gift e-card for $80 – the catch being, of course, that I can only spend it at Dell. So just out of curiosity I checked, and they do have a copy of windows 7 available – and since it’s for $149, I would like to assume it isn’t the Dell-centric version of Windows, but a ‘real’ vanilla copy that is what I’m looking for.
Here’s a link to their product: http://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/microsoft-windows-7-professional-w-sp1-license-1-pc-oem-dvd-64-bit-lcp-english/apd/a7737207/software
I don’t know what the ‘LCP’ indicates, nor am I so confident that the ‘OEM’ cancels out any hopes I may have of getting the vanilla version I’m hoping for. But if anybody can clarify just what that is, I’d be very appreciative, of course. After I saw this I did a bit of searching online to find what LCP stands for, but it doesn’t look like Microsoft is very forthcoming with details like that, so I’m still unsure. (I’ve always gone under the assumption that OEM was just another term for bare-bones packaging of an original product, but who’s to say they aren’t using that indiscriminately now, to indicate anything that originated with Microsoft, even if it has been altered from the original.)
And of course if this isn’t any more than Dell trying to cash in on the DVDs that they used to hand out for free with a warranty hard drive replacement, then I’m still anxious to find a copy of Windows 7 as insurance against future problems. So if anybody has a lead on where that might still be available, I’m all ears!