Question about buying used retail version of Win ME

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Ed - 30 Jul 2006 08:19 GMT

I have a new AMD dual core 64-bit system and want to run VMWare
workstation and install Windows ME on the guest operating system. I
tried to install my Dell OEM Win ME cd (my old system is a Dell
Dimension 4100) and it didn't work. I posted on a xp64 group asking
about this and they informed me that I can't run the OEM version on a
different machine and need to get a retail version.

Anyways, since I can't find any store that have Win ME, I've been
checking ebay. One person is selling a retail version of Win ME that
is used. Can I use this if he has already installed it once?

There are others selling new and inexpensive OEM versions but they are
selling it with a piece of hardware. Would I have to install the
hardware for the OEM version to work?

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Mike M - 30 Jul 2006 08:46 GMT

Win Me hasn't been legally available to purchase for some years, at a
guess since mid 2002. Since both VMWare and VPC emulate hardware any OEM
copy of any operating system isn't going to run correctly if tied to a
specific item of hardware via the bios.

How you proceed has to be up to yourself but be wary about buying second
hand or used operating systems although unlike XP and later Win Me does
not use activation and relies on just the PID to keep you "legal".

Signature

Mike Maltby
MS-MVP Windows
mike.maltby@gmail.com

> I have a new AMD dual core 64-bit system and want to run VMWare
> workstation and install Windows ME on the guest operating system. I
[quoted text clipped - 10 lines]
> selling it with a piece of hardware. Would I have to install the
> hardware for the OEM version to work?

Reply to this Message

Ed - 30 Jul 2006 15:34 GMT

Thanks for the reply. I will keep it in mind.

> Win Me hasn't been legally available to purchase for some years, at a
> guess since mid 2002. Since both VMWare and VPC emulate hardware any OEM
[quoted text clipped - 23 lines]
> > selling it with a piece of hardware. Would I have to install the
> > hardware for the OEM version to work?

Reply to this Message