[howell]

How can I build my own PC if shops won't let me buy an O.S? They say i have to buy a unit before they can let me buy a O.S. The shop told me it came from microsoft. What should i do?

[mjd420nova]

I've never heard of this. There are a million places on line that have just about any OS you need.

[lilxkid24]

You can buy an operating system anywhere. Windows Vista you can buy from any retailer store that sells them like Walmart, Costco, Radioshack, Circuit City, Best Buys, etc etc. If you want Windows Xp you cant buy them in stores anymore since Microsoft closed the sales for xp but you can still buy them on ebay.

[howell]

My location is Philippines.

But if i can't buy XP anymore, how can i finish my PC?

I think vista is not yet really that compatible to what XP is capable of. tsk.

[lilxkid24]

It depends on your system specs. You can buy xp on ebay. Im pretty sure you they can ship it to the Philippines

[howell]

Is e-bay that safe to buy the O.S?

[lilxkid24]

yea its safe just make sure they have most positive feedback. If you need help buying windows xp on ebay ask mpenterprise he knows the best.

[mphenterprises]

Hi Howell and welcome to the PCWorld Communities. :D




For future reference, please be as descriptive as possible in both the heading of your Discussion as well as the post itself. A three word Discussion header may lead to misinterpretation of your issue or may lead to your Discussion being avoided. The more information you provide to us the better.

Now, as LilxKid noted, eBay is a very good place to buy anything; however, you must be very careful and do your research on a seller before you place a bid on an auction. Here is a Document that will go into more detail.

{document:id=1152}

[coastie65]

Hi howell, As others have mentioned, you can get XP online. The thing is to make sure that the company will ship to addresses outside of the U.S.. This is somewhat problematic as some will ship to APO addresses only. coastie

[smax013]

As others have noted, you should not have a problem getting Windows for your computer. Having said that, there are some things to keep in mind...



The first things to keep in mind is the license type. There are three basic license types available to consumers...retail, OEM, and upgrade. OEM is meant to be sold WITH systems. If you build your own system, then you can purchase an OEM license for Windows...but some stores will ONLY sell you an OEM license when you buy some of the key components of a new computer build (such as a processor or motherboard). An upgrade license techinically requires to you have a previous version of Windows. You should have ZERO trouble getting a retail license of Windows...you can purchase it at anytime and install it on any computer (once).



The second thing is Vista vs. XP. Microsoft officially no longer sells XP. You will likely still be able to get it in some stores, but availability will become more and more limited if not already limited. Vista, OTOH, should NOT be problem.



The only other issue could be conterfeitting of the OS. It is possible that fake copies of the OS are a problem in some areas and some measures might be taken to try to stop that problem. This could potentially lead to restrictions on how you can purchse the OS (i.e. maybe you can only purchase with a new system).