Refunds for Microsoft's pre-installed Windows operating system. How do I get a refund for the pre-installed Windows operating system? How to get money back for the operating system


Refund for pre-installed operating room Windows system Microsoft.

How much can you get and how.

AVER returned the money to himself. Refunds are possible in the Russian Federation. Yes, all sellers are in the know and you can chat with them. The main thing for them is to sell, and not deal with small ones. They will help.

But, if you don't have the time and gasoline, then it's not worth it. In principle, it is designed for this.

On the other hand, you have a sticker and an excuse. Yes license. But normal people (we belong to them, do not work with vista, starter, home ....).

If there was a refund in the store right away, then there would be no problems.

Refunds for the OEM version of Windows is up and running.

The OEM version of Windows is a preinstalled version that comes with most laptops and computers. When buying equipment that provides an OEM version of Windows, you pay money for it, because the price of a specific OS version is included in the product price. OEM versions of Windows are much cheaper than boxed versions, but they usually cost a couple of thousand rubles.

So - an overview:

Did you know that buying a laptop you can get your money back for the pre-installed licensed version of the Windows operating system? True, this event is fraught with the fact that, firstly, it is quite difficult to implement, and secondly, you clearly declare yourself as a potential offender who is going to install a pirated version of that operating system. There is of course an exception, for example if you are going to install free version Linux and at the same time you have a lot of free time to perform all the manipulations and this free time costs less than the returned amount. In this case, you will be helped by recommendations on the possibility of refunding money for a pre-installed OS from Microsoft from various manufacturers of computer equipment.

Refunds for windows on Acer products

  • The return program information page is located on the ACER website. An interesting information resource will also help you.
  • To receive monetary compensation, you must contact service center Acer or an authorized retail partner (the store where the computer was purchased) no later than 30 calendar days from the date of purchase of the device.
    For retail partners, the return procedure is voluntary, i.e. they may refuse to return Money and send straight to the service center (as usual).

Operating system - Returned amount, rub.
- XP Home - 100
- Windows 7 Starter - 400
- Vista Home Basic, Windows 7 Home Basic - 810
- Vista Home Premium, Windows 7 Home Premium - 1080
- XP Professional, Vista Business, Windows 7 Professional - 2430
- Vista Ultimate, Windows 7 Ultimate - 3330

Refunds are made within 3 days.

Refunds for windows on Asus products

Important:

  • The Return Program information page is located on the ASUS website. There is also a list of authorized SCs through which you can return the OS.
  • To receive monetary compensation, you must contact the Asus service center no later than 7 calendar days from the date of purchase of the computer.
  • Remove the license sticker from the computer, format the hard disk
  • Refunds for operating system It is NOT possible if:
    • The operating system has been activated
    • You have accepted the Windows license agreement
    • You have reformatted your hard drive
    • You have damaged or ripped off the license sticker
    • You did not provide all the disks and documentation that came with your computer
    • You have opened the disc packaging
    • You have not provided a payment document confirming the purchase of this product
    • You have not completed or signed the appropriate opt-out form
  • After abandoning the preinstalled OS, you lose the free technical support connected to the Windows OS in the SC or by calling the hotline. ASUS is not responsible for user-installed software and its compatibility with the hardware of the equipment.


- XP Home - 2.88
- XP Home LrgScrn LFD - 8.00
- Windows 7 Starter - 2.88
- Vista Home Basic, Windows 7 Home Basic - 26.00
- Vista Home Premium, Windows 7 Home Premium - 51.90
- Vista Business, Windows 7 Professional - 83.00
- Vista Ultimate, Windows 7 Ultimate - 137.90


Refunds are made within 3 days.

Refunds for windows on Dell products

Important:

  • The return program information page is located on the DELL website.
  • Before returning a product, you must contact Dell Russia and obtain a Product Refund Authorization number BEFORE the end of the current return period (21 calendar days)
  • You must return the product within 5 days after the registration number was assigned.
  • Refunds are made through a merchant or distributor
  • Remove the license sticker from the computer, format the hard disk
  • Refunds for the operating system are NOT possible if:
    • The operating system has been activated
    • You have accepted the Windows license agreement
    • You have reformatted your hard drive
    • You have damaged or ripped off the license sticker
    • You did not provide all the disks and documentation that came with your computer
    • You have opened the disc packaging
    • You have not provided a payment document confirming the purchase of this product
    • You have not completed or signed the appropriate opt-out form
  • If the returned Product does not meet the above conditions, then you (Customer) will be charged a re-packaging fee and a Product return fee up to 15% of the purchase price paid plus all applicable taxes.

Refunds for windows on Lenovo products

Important:

  • The return program information page is located on the LENOVO website.
  • You must contact a Lenovo Retailer no later than 15 calendar days from the date of purchase of your computer to receive compensation. (the link above lists the exceptions related to Retailers)
  • Remove the license sticker from the computer, format the hard disk
  • Refunds for the operating system are NOT possible if:
    • The operating system has been activated
    • You have accepted the Windows license agreement
    • You have reformatted your hard drive
    • You have damaged or ripped off the license sticker
    • You did not provide all the disks and documentation that came with your computer
    • You have opened the disc packaging
    • You have not provided a payment document confirming the purchase of this product
    • You have not completed or signed the appropriate opt-out form
  • After abandoning the preinstalled OS, you lose free technical support related to Windows OS in the SC or by calling the hotline.

Operating system - Returned amount, rub.
- XP Home - 900
- XP Home installed on netbooks - 300
- Windows 7 Starter - 300
- Vista Home Basic, Windows 7 Home Basic - 1200
- Vista Home Premium, Windows 7 Home Premium - 1800
- Vista Business, Windows 7 Professional - 3000

Refunds are made within 10 days.

Refunds for windows on Samsung products

Important:

  • The return program information page is located on the SAMSUNG website.
  • To receive monetary compensation, you must contact the Samsung service center no later than 14 calendar days from the date of purchase of the computer.
  • Refunds are made only in the country where the product was purchased.
  • Remove the license sticker from the computer, format the hard disk
  • Refunds for the operating system are NOT possible if:
    • The operating system has been activated
    • You have accepted the Windows license agreement
    • You have reformatted your hard drive
    • You have damaged or ripped off the license sticker
    • You did not provide all the disks and documentation that came with your computer
    • You have opened the disc packaging
    • You have not provided a payment document confirming the purchase of this product
    • You have not completed or signed the appropriate opt-out form
  • Upon receipt of the laptop, the consumer receives an opinion on the removal of the pre-installed OS, which is necessary to receive a refund.
    Within 30 days from the date of receipt of the conclusion, the consumer sends the following documents by mail to the Samsung information center at the address indicated in the conclusion:
    - the original of the Conclusion, together with the Certificate confirming the authenticity of the OS copy (COA sticker)
    - copies of sales and cash receipts
    - disks with OS distributions (if they were included in the delivery set and mentioned in the conclusion)
    Payment of compensation is carried out to the consumer's bank account according to the specified details within 14 days from the date of receipt of the conclusion on the removal of the pre-installed OS.
  • After abandoning the pre-installed OS, you lose free technical support related to Windows OS in the SC or by calling the hotline. Samsung is not responsible for the software independently installed by the user, its compatibility with the hardware of the equipment.

Operating System - Amount returned, $.
- XP Home - 5.00
- Windows 7 Starter - 15.00
- Vista Home Basic, Windows 7 Home Basic - 18.00
- Vista Home Premium, Windows 7 Home Premium - 26.80

The amount is returned in rubles at the official rate of $ established by the Central Bank of the Russian Federation at the time of contacting the SC.
Refunds are made within 14 days.

Refunds for windows on Sony products

Important:

  • The return program information page is located on the SONY website.
  • To receive monetary compensation, you must register with the VAIO Link service (8-800-700-0939), contact a Sony service center no later than 30 calendar days from the date of purchase of the computer.
  • Upon refund, Sony's Warranty Terms will be void. The right to purchase an extended warranty will also be canceled.
  • If you voluntarily recall Sony products, your computer may be excluded from the recall program.
  • Refunds are made only in the country where the product was purchased.
  • The license sticker is removed from the computer, the hard disk is formatted.
  • Refunds for the operating system are NOT possible if:
    • The operating system has been activated
    • You have accepted the Windows license agreement
    • You have reformatted your hard drive
    • You have damaged or ripped off the license sticker
    • You did not provide all the disks and documentation that came with your computer
    • You have opened the disc packaging
    • You have not provided a payment document confirming the purchase of this product
    • You have not completed or signed the appropriate opt-out form
  • After abandoning the preinstalled OS, you lose free technical support related to Windows OS in the SC or by calling the hotline.

Operating System - Amount returned, $.
- XP Home, XP Media Center - 20.00
- XP Pro - 50.00
- Windows 7 Starter - 20.00
- Vista Home Basic, Windows 7 Home Basic - 20.00
- Vista Home Premium, Windows 7 Home Premium - 40.00
- Vista Business, Windows 7 Professional - 50.00
- Vista Ultimate, Windows 7 Ultimate - 80.00

The amount is returned in rubles at the official rate of $ established by the Central Bank of the Russian Federation at the time of contacting the SC.
Refunds are made within 15 days
.

When buying a laptop, the user practically does not have a question of which operating system to choose. The manufacturer decides everything for him. Is it possible to abandon the pre-installed OS and return the cost
licensed copy?

You can get a refund for the pre-installed operating system. Most likely, it will be an amount of $ 20 for Windows XP and $ 80 for Windows Vista Ultimate. However, this is extremely difficult to do - it will take a lot of free time and a strong nervous system to resist the existing bureaucracy.

According to paragraph 2 of Article 16 "Invalidity of the terms of the contract that infringe on the rights of the consumer" of the Law "On the Protection of Consumer Rights" when buying a laptop with a pre-installed system, you must contact the "seller (performer)" of the goods, however, you should rush to the head office of the company with an application for a return - laptop manufacturer.

If you nevertheless decide on this difficult task, make sure that the following conditions are met (valid for Russians):

  1. Most important: When you first started the system, you did not accept the Windows user agreement. If the system has been started at least once using the supplied license key- money will not be returned.
  2. You have not exceeded the manufacturer's specified refund deadlines. The companies give time for reflection in different ways, for example, Samsung - 14 days, Acer - 30 days.
  3. The OS is preinstalled on a laptop that was purchased from a manufacturer authorized location. Usually, such a list can be found on the manufacturer's website, or you can check by phone about the store of interest, through the contact phone number indicated again on the laptop manufacturer's website.
  4. The laptop was purchased new, i.e. your computer should not be refurbished or discounted by the seller.
  5. You have on hand a warranty card and a purchase receipt for the laptop. Make sure that the receipt indicates the price of the laptop, the place and time of the purchase, and that the warranty card is stamped and all required fields are filled in.
  6. The "Certificate of Authenticity" sticker is not damaged on the laptop, it is usually located on the bottom of the laptop and contains the license number installed version OS.
  7. You can provide all discs in original, unopened (!) Packages that came with the kit.

Once you have determined that you meet the above conditions, you should contact the head office of the manufacturer.

In an ideal scenario, you will be asked to write an application for a refund for the OS, attach all available evidence that the OS was not used by you, and then provide the laptop for a while to the service center to remove the OS distribution from your laptop, and return it immediately after the end of this procedure. money for the OS.

V real life, most likely, you will have to remind yourself more than once to the manufacturer's contact persons, make several inquiries to Microsoft in order to assure the manufacturer that it is he who is responsible for returning money for the OS, and then rely on the manufacturer's conscience that in the end your computer will be rid of Windows, and your account will be replenished with several tens of dollars.

At the moment, both the official authorities - the Federal Antimonopoly Service, and unofficial organizations - for example, Free Technology Center, are fighting for the rights of buyers. So, perhaps, in the near future, every customer will have the opportunity to immediately get their cherished bills when buying a laptop for refusing to use the pre-installed Windows.

However, at the moment, venturing into a refund for the OS is a dubious pleasure.


The vast majority of modern laptops come with Windows 10 preinstalled, and in general, most of the buyers are comfortable: you don't need to install the system, drivers and a bunch of junk software yourself - the device is ready to work right out of the box. But there are always those who are not averse to saving money and "activating" the system on their own, or those who are going to use Linux at all, and they do not need a Windows license.

In any case, you can return the money for the system if you followed all the rules - this is written in black and white in the license Windows agreement 10:

Depending on how you obtained the software Windows software, this document is a license agreement between (i) you and the device manufacturer or installer software that distributes software along with your device; or (ii) you and Microsoft Corporation (or one of its affiliates, depending on where you live or where you primarily do business) if you purchased the software from a retailer.
...
By accepting this agreement or using the software, you agree
with all these terms and conditions, and you also consent to the transfer of certain
information in the process of activating and using the software in
in accordance with the privacy statement described in Section 3. If you not
accept these terms, you cannot use the software
or its components. Contact your device manufacturer, installer, or retailer
to the seller if you purchased the software directly for the rules
return the product and, in accordance with these rules, return the software, or
device for receiving a refund of its value or crediting an equivalent amount
to your account. You must act in accordance with these rules, which in order to
for a refund or for crediting an equivalent amount to your account may
the software must be returned along with the device on which it was
installed if applicable.

So you have no right to refuse a refund, but, alas, often you still have to prove it. But first, here are the points that you must complete in order to be able to get the money back for the system:

  1. The device must be purchased from an authorized reseller in Russia.
    If you bought it through Amazon or Ebay, or in the nearest basement store, or your friends brought it to you from the United States, you will not be able to return the cost of Windows in Russia.
  2. The device must have been purchased no more than 10 days ago.
    Previously, the term was 30 days, now it has been reduced to 10. It can be seen that soon there will be only an hour left for a refund. In any case, it is better not to hesitate and immediately start the refund procedure (about it below).
  3. You don't have to format HDD or tear off or damage the COA label (the Windows sticker on the case).
    Apparently, laptop manufacturers don't bother and just copy the old rules. Starting with Windows 8, the key is stitched into UEFI (a modern analogue of BIOS), so formatting and even replacing hard disk does not remove the license, and the product key is no longer on the sticker. But in general, meeting these requirements is not difficult.

  4. You should have a warranty card, the device itself and a recovery disc from the kit.
    Well, everything is logical here: the warranty card confirms the date of purchase and allows you to check where you bought the laptop, the recovery disc contains windows image which you can no longer legally use.
  5. The device should not have been repaired and the warranty seals should not be damaged.
    Another delusional point in order to complicate the return of the license. The very maximum of elements that can be changed in modern laptops are a video card, RAM, wireless module and storage. And even the joint replacement of all this does not in any way affect the license, which is tied to motherboard and the processor, which is soldered to it. But, in general, again - within 10 days you can be patient and not go inside the device.
Refund procedure

Now the most important thing is the Windows license refund procedure. To do this, you need a set from point 4 above, and all conditions must be met. If so, you should contact the official service center of the laptop manufacturer in Russia (all addresses and phone numbers can always be found on the official website, for example, here they are for ASUS - ASUS SC in Russia). After that, the label is removed from the device, the recovery disk is taken from you, and Windows is uninstalled. The operation usually takes no more than 1-2 days (and it so happens that they do it with you), after which the same SC will refund you the money for the license.

The cost of various Windows 10 licenses

The most pleasant moment - how much money will be returned to you? Alas, I did not find accurate information on Windows 10 on the Internet, but the service center of one company suggested that the price has hardly changed since the days of Windows 8 - they will return you about$ 30 for Windows 10 and $ 70 for Windows 10 Pro... However, there are enough pitfalls - for example, Acer's procedure for uninstalling and deactivating the OS costs ... $ 100. Yes, yes, in the end you are left without a system, and still owe $ 30-70 for this. Other manufacturers do not have this, but it is still better to clarify this by phone before going to the SC.

For comparison, the cost of previous licenses is lower Windows versions:

Tips before buying a laptop

So, you are going to buy a laptop and have definitely decided that you will be refunding the money for the system. And here there is one nice moment - there are quite a lot of laptops on sale without a system (usually they write that DOS is installed, but this is not entirely true), or with Linux - in both cases, such solutions are cheaper than with preinstalled Windows. But if the laptop you need without a system is not, and you take a laptop with Windows, then it is extremely important to complete one step - under no circumstances agree with the Microsoft license agreement at the first start of the system- otherwise, you confirm that you want to use Windows, and no one will return the money to you. But then the question arises - how to check the laptop? It's very simple - just bring a USB flash drive with you portable version system, and boot from it - this is quite enough for a basic check of all components of the device.

One more important point- can this license be returned later? Alas - no way: if you refused it, then the only option to return to licensed Windows is to buy it in the store, and there the cost will be 3-5 times higher than the money that was returned to you (no, this is not from - because of the company's "greediness" - just other licenses, OEMs, are given to laptop manufacturers, and there are completely different scales - hundreds of thousands of copies are counted, so the cost of each copy turns out to be significantly lower).

And finally - my personal opinion: you shouldn't bother with a refund for the system. Firstly, most laptops come with regular Windows 10, for which you will be refunded somewhere around 1,700 rubles at the exchange rate - of course, this is quite serious money, but the problem is that you will have to go to the service, wasting your time, and in the overwhelming majority of SCs, you will fight to prove that you do have the right to a refund. Secondly, Microsoft will support Windows 10 for an extremely long time, releasing major updates several times a year. And in order not to suffer with the activation and reinstallation of the system, it is easier to use the license. But this is just my opinion, as I already wrote above - you have the right to return the money for the license, and if you really need it - go for it.

We only assumed that soon users will be able to receive refunds for OEM versions of the operating system, but from mid-September this is a valid fact. The money for the pre-installed version of XP or Vista is refunded, although the final prices and regulations for such processes depend on the vendors and differ, sometimes quite significantly. Let's analyze the situation critically.

Description of the situation

At the moment, regarding the situation with the refund for OEM versions of Windows, there are as many as two litigation processes, in each of which for recent times managed to go through two sessions. The first and most serious one goes to the Federal Antimonopoly Service of Russia. It was there, after conducting control measures and analyzing the situation, back in early June, nevertheless, it was decided to initiate proceedings against Acser, ASUSTeK Computer, Toshiba, Hewlett-Packard, Samsung Electronics and Dell on grounds of violation of clause 5 h . 1 tbsp. 11 of the Federal Law "On Protection of Competition". According to the Federal Antimonopoly Service, the above manufacturers, acting on Russian market, impose on the buyers the terms of the contract, unfavorable for them or not related to the subject of the contract. All of them are accused of having pre-installed Windows Vista on more than 90% of their mobile PCs, which is why buyers simply could not find a similar model of technology without this OS or could not refuse to use Microsoft products imposed along with the device. And the very imposition of an OEM version of Windows on users was found unreasonable, and the requirement to pay for the goods (in this case- a copy of the OS), in which the user is not interested, is illegal.

Getting money for an OEM version of Windows is real

The main problem is that even now many buyers are forced to overpay about 10% of the cost of a new PC for unnecessary OEM software. Previously, this worried a small proportion of buyers, mainly users of alternative operating systems. But since the beginning of the forced imposition of Windows Vista, the percentage of dissatisfied people has grown significantly: for example, according to CST, no more than 15% of buyers are satisfied with the pre-installed Windows Vista. The second process was initiated by representatives of the consumer protection society "Public Control". In July, they filed a claim against Samsung Electronics Co Ltd., ACER CIS Inc., Hewlett-Packard A.O., and Infomash LLC, which manufactures computers under the trademark Rover Computers. The third party to the claim is Microsoft Rus LLC, a Russian representative of Microsoft Corporation. The main goal of this step is, based on the provisions of the Federal Law "On Protection of Consumer Rights", to prevent the practice of imposing software from Microsoft when selling computers. This, according to Mikhail Anshakov, Chairman of the Society, does not meet the interests of those consumers who do not want to use the software of this company. Among the requirements set out in the statement of claim, it is indicated the need to communicate to users before purchasing full text Microsoft's "End User License Agreement" (the so-called EULA), which contains certain restrictions, as well as establish a procedure for refunding funds for the OS and inform the buyer in advance of the purchase the amount of such refund if he wants to abandon the OEM version of the OS ... In military tactics, such actions are called concentric strikes in converging directions. In this case, certain results were achieved even before the final decisions on both processes were made. The first and significant result that has been achieved so far is that Microsoft is organizing in Russia a service for free exchange of the unpopular Windows Vista operating system for a fully functional Windows XP Home SP2. Moreover, such an opportunity in the very near future will appear not only for owners of expensive versions of Windows Vista Business and Ultimate, where the "rollback" to previous version was allowed by default, but for those then bought a laptop with Windows Vista Home Basic and Windows Vista Home Premium. Formally, this proposal from Microsoft was made within the framework of the third process, also in the FAS, but the result is still evident. Since there is no information about this process on the official Microsoft website yet, we were not too lazy and called to " hotline"companies in Russia. As the call-center operators told us," the regulations for such actions will be posted on the company's official website closer to the beginning of October, and only those users who bought Vista OS after January 1, 2009, will be able to take advantage of this offer. " So far, it is assumed that this promotion should last at least until the end of 2009 (although its extension is not ruled out). In addition, it will be free for users. The mechanics of the process in this case are quite simple - the subscriber just needs to indicate on the website of the software manufacturer your credentials and mailing address, then wait about a couple of weeks and receive a CD with the OS kit and a one-time key for Windows activation XP. However, there will be no other help from the software manufacturer - therefore, he will have to search for drivers for his computer that will "recognize" the software components for Windows XP and reinstall this OS on his own - no smooth "rollback" is expected. True, advanced users are not confused by this.

The boxed version of the OS costs 3-8 times more expensive than the OEM version - with similar functionality.

There is another option for those who don't need XP or prefer Linux. As the chairman of the board of the regional public organization "Free Technologies Center" Viktor Alksnis notes, "at the moment, without waiting for the verdicts of the official bodies, eight laptop manufacturers have presented their regulations for the return of unnecessary OS: BenQ, Asus, Acer, FTS, RoverComputers, Lenovo, Sony and Samsung, Toshiba - and several other manufacturers are preparing to introduce similar regulations. new order, namely, the need to separate hardware and software. "But the position of Dell and HP remains unshakable: according to their representatives who participated in the FAS meeting, they will introduce such a procedure only if the Federal Antimonopoly Service of the Russian Federation decides that they owe it Now the companies are ready to return the money to the user only for the computer together with the OS and only if there is a defect in the conveyor during the assembly of the device. What does this situation mean for the user in practice? Although you can try - the key point will be the need to prove to the service center specialists that Windows Vista was not activated upon purchase and was removed from the computer's hard drive. fill out the relevant documents and comply with the regulations for the return of one or another manufacturer (about this by see below for details). Up to this point, although the EULA text hinted at the possibility of returning an unnecessary OEM-Windows to the manufacturer, and Microsoft formally provides for such returns in contracts with vendors, in reality it turned out to be an impossible or, to put it mildly, an extremely difficult problem to compensate for the cost of the pre-installed OS.

Acer MS Windows operating system refund program.

Let us also note one more point, which in this connection remains open to question. The fact is that to test a mobile PC during the purchase process, you must at least turn it on. But the regulations of all vendors without exception require that the EULA is not accepted by the user - and meanwhile, without this, the system will not boot. Thus, it becomes impossible to check the functionality of the system (for example, USB ports, built-in camera, CD / DVD drive, etc.) right in the store. Consequently, it would be most correct to go straight from the store to the desired service center, without even unpacking the system - if any components do not work there, the official "repairmen" will repair them or issue a conclusion on assembly defects on the conveyor.

Return motivation

There is no doubt that the vast majority ordinary users Windows prefers to get a ready-made and fully working solution. A certain (and very significant) part of users is fully satisfied with the "bundle" of "Windows Vista + mobile PC". But very often in models of the lowest price group, as well as in solutions for business users, Windows Vista is put "by default", without regard to system parameters devices, and not all even new computers meet the recommended system requirements the given OS (the attempt of some manufacturers to put Vista on netbooks causes a separate bewilderment). "To put it simply - the specialists of the Free Technologies Center wrote to the Federal Antimonopoly Service in their time, - work on a PC with a smaller volume random access memory, a lower processor frequency, etc. running Windows Vista is very difficult. "

The confirmation request to remove the pre-installed Microsoft Windows operating system from the Fujitsu Siemens Computers computer is a classified document, according to the company.

The option could "save" the manufacturers, when ordering a laptop directly from the manufacturer would be possible in an individual configuration (by analogy with the car market). But even if the representative office has its own virtual store with a version for Russian buyers (like, for example, Samsung), then it does not differ from the usual "virtual showcases" of retail chains in any additional service (although, in theory, it should have) ... Thus, advanced users instead of the expected working "bundle" of hardware and software get Windows Vista, and all this in the complex does not always work satisfactorily. “Everyone remembers well how the market took the Windows Millenium. Roughly the same thing happened with Windows Vista,” Viktor Alksnis is sure. “But in the first case, Microsoft quickly recalled its product and offered it a replacement. In the case of Windows Vista, Microsoft recognized its failure only after Windows 7 loomed on the horizon. The vast majority of computers are now sold with preinstalled Windows Vista; apart from self-assembly, netbooks and nettops, the choice of computers without this OS is extremely limited. massively consume low-demand OS ".

ASUS service centers that are authorized to uninstall OEM versions of Windows.

"If Windows had a competitor on the OS market with a comparable market share, or better yet, two or three such competitors, Windows users they would have won both in price and quality, - the coordinator of the Internet project CEST Leonid Krivoshein is sure. - Microsoft would be forced to release a more "polished" OS to the market, constantly lower prices, rather than raise them. Peripheral manufacturers would have to reckon with other operating systems, make drivers not only for Windows, but also for competing operating systems. This would somewhat complicate the process of creating drivers and firmware firmware, but on the other hand, the output would be more compatible and better solutions, and all kinds of imperfections would be detected already at the early stages. "Good examples in this regard, says Mr. Krivoshein, is a significant decrease prices for Microsoft Office after the establishment of OpenOffice.org or more strict adherence to the W3C standards in new versions Microsoft browser Internet Explorer after losing a significant market share in favor of its main competitors - Mozilla Firefox and Opera. "However, competition is unprofitable for the monopolist," he is sure. Microsoft is trying to maintain its position at any cost. Partly, manufacturers are also interested in the current state of affairs. Support from their side of the Microsoft monopoly is beneficial to PC manufacturers, because "constant change of innovations" forces users to update the park machines or buy more expensive hardware. It is also beneficial for peripheral manufacturers because it is cheaper, faster and easier for them to release a product that is compatible with only one version of the OS from the Windows family. " For a more accurate presentation of the situation, in addition to familiarizing yourself with this material, we recommend reading the forum on the CEST website, OZPP, as well as on this topic on 3DNews.

When buying a laptop, the user practically does not have a question of which operating system to choose. The manufacturer decides everything for him. Is it possible to abandon the pre-installed OS and return the cost
licensed copy?

You can get a refund for the pre-installed operating system. Most likely, it will be an amount of $ 20 for Windows XP and $ 80 for Windows Vista Ultimate. However, this is extremely difficult to do - it will take a lot of free time and a strong nervous system to resist the existing bureaucracy.

According to paragraph 2 of Article 16 "Invalidity of the terms of the contract that infringe on the rights of the consumer" of the Law "On the Protection of Consumer Rights" when buying a laptop with a pre-installed system, you must contact the "seller (performer)" of the goods, however, you should rush to the head office of the company with an application for a return - laptop manufacturer.

If you nevertheless decide on this difficult task, make sure that the following conditions are met (valid for Russians):

  1. Most important: When you first started the system, you did not accept the Windows user agreement. If the system has been launched at least once using the supplied license key, the money will not be refunded.
  2. You have not exceeded the manufacturer's specified refund deadlines. The companies give time for reflection in different ways, for example, Samsung - 14 days, Acer - 30 days.
  3. The OS is preinstalled on a laptop that was purchased from a manufacturer authorized location. Usually, such a list can be found on the manufacturer's website, or you can check by phone about the store of interest, through the contact phone number indicated again on the laptop manufacturer's website.
  4. The laptop was purchased new, i.e. your computer should not be refurbished or discounted by the seller.
  5. You have on hand a warranty card and a purchase receipt for the laptop. Make sure that the receipt indicates the price of the laptop, the place and time of the purchase, and that the warranty card is stamped and all required fields are filled in.
  6. The “Certificate of Authenticity” sticker is not damaged on the laptop, it is usually located on the bottom of the laptop and contains the license number of the installed OS version.
  7. You can provide all discs in original, unopened (!) Packages that came with the kit.

Once you have determined that you meet the above conditions, you should contact the head office of the manufacturer.

In an ideal scenario, you will be asked to write an application for a refund for the OS, attach all available evidence that the OS was not used by you, and then provide the laptop for a while to the service center to remove the OS distribution from your laptop, and return it immediately after the end of this procedure. money for the OS.

In real life, most likely, you will have to remind yourself more than once to the manufacturer's contact persons, make several inquiries to Microsoft to assure the manufacturer that it is he who is responsible for returning money for the OS, and then rely on the manufacturer's conscience that in the end your computer will be rid of Windows, and your account will be replenished by several tens of dollars.

At the moment, both the official authorities - the Federal Antimonopoly Service, and unofficial organizations - for example, Free Technology Center, are fighting for the rights of buyers. So, perhaps, in the near future, every customer will have the opportunity to immediately get their cherished bills when buying a laptop for refusing to use the pre-installed Windows.

However, at the moment, venturing into a refund for the OS is a dubious pleasure.