Yes, you are correct about a company needing to keep legitimate copies of all software which they use. Some individual game developers think that they are free to use pirated software, but when the g o v agency aud its them, then they will be caught with their pants down.

Most PCs have Windows in system backup so you can use a recovery disk or default factory fresh restore if at any time you need to reinstall Windows for whatever reason. This answers the question about a copy of Windows direct in IT issues. Legally, you are in general entitled to keep a backup copy of anything. System Image Recovery Backup is the best, by the way, because it backsup all data on the hard disk, including your software settings and configurations - everything in exact place in which it was copied to backup. This is the standard and legally safe way in the industry. Some licenses allow software to be installed on several machines under the terms and conditions of that particular license. There is even a way to backup a whole network, if your company has the eventual need for it, and perfectly legal to do the backup.

It used to be that a person could download or redownload Windows direct from Microsoft if the user had the authorization code for that exact copy of Windows which is unique to that purchaser of the license. That probably is still available but check to be sure. Other software publishers offer similar license to download or redownload their software if you can positively identify yourself, especially with an authorization code.

There are good reasons, such as speed and convenience, to get a CD or DVD media version copy of a software.

Keep all your receipts and/or authorization codes, if there are any!

Some software are deductible in taxes for startup businesses or special gov programs which sponser business expansion thru grants or loans. How this relates to your legal compliance is that you will again need to keep ALL receipts and authorization codes to prove your compliance.