Can I sell an OEM copy of Win 7?

longblock454

longblock454

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Nov 28, 2004
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I just bought a new laptop and was forced to buy a copy of Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit. Well actually it came with it and I stalled for months hating the fact I was actually thinking of sending m$ a single penny.

Anyhow, I got over it and ordered the laptop. Now I have a copy of Win 7 that was never booted once as I had my Linux install DVD in the drive on the very first boot!

I'm not looking to make a huge sell here and would have paid Acer the exact same price for the laptop if they would have just left the HD blank! Even if I sell it really cheap I can say I didn't buy it someone else did!

So, can my Win 7 serial be of any use to somebody else or it is somehow labeled as an OEM and not installable as a generic?

Thanks.
 
It's tied to the hardware once it gets installed and the COA is attached to it.
 
It's also illegal to resell it per the OEM license terms.
 
Theres a good chance it was tied to your laptop back at the factory, but who knows.

I say keep it and dual boot. Alternatively, if you ever sell the laptop, you should recover some of the cost by including windows 7.

lol at m$......all publicly traded companies are compelled to do whatever they can to increase profits. If they don't, they are subject to litigation from shareholders. The icing on the cake is that the man who has personally profited more than any other from microsoft, bill gates, is giving an overwhelming majority of his fortune to charitable causes. Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_&_Melinda_Gates_Foundation
 
longblock454 said:
Mmmm, since it never booted with Windows I never accepted the license terms and the hardware is not attached to the COA?
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As Furystrike said, OEM licenses are usually keyed at the factory. The only way to tell would be to sell it, then have the buyer email you to tell you that it's not working :p In the end it's up to you to take that chance.
 
Technically it's illegal, but I'm pretty sure that nobody is gonna care you sell it on craigslist, MS isn't gonna waste thousands in litigation fees to sue you for selling one copy.
 
alex2792 said:
Technically it's illegal, but I'm pretty sure that nobody is gonna care you sell it on craigslist, MS isn't gonna waste thousands in litigation fees to sue you for selling one copy.
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The major problem with that, is it will almost certainly show up as an already activated key.
 
longblock454 said:
would have paid Acer the exact same price for the laptop if they would have just left the HD blank!
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Yet you stalled for months over giving Microsoft (sorry, M$ screams uninformed kiddie), any money??? Yikes.

Anyway, it technically isn't legal to resell. You wouldn't be able to sell it on Ebay, for example. However, if you tried to sell it on Craiglist to someone who has an Acer laptop, you should be flying under the radar.
 
You can't resell an OEM license. If you do get a refund by contacting Acer, I would be surprised if you got much for it. I'm really curious if removing Windows from the laptop changes the support obligations on Acer's end.
 
I've been refused support for things that are obvious hardware problems (IE - dead fans) because the system was no longer running the original OS. This was years ago but I'm sure that your support options are still going to be limited if you go non-MS.
 
That makes sense and my first assumption would be a loss of or reduction of support/warranty services. It's a shame really.
 
Microsoft has never been clear on the issue of reselling OEM copies that have never been installed by anyone other than authorized resellers. (At least, not that I can recall.) However, according to Microsoft there is one legal way to "resell" it. As you all probably know an OEM copy of Windows must be sold with a piece of hardware. (I realize not every reseller follows this requirement, but it does exist.) For the purpose of sales the hardware sold with the OS is unimportant. It can be a mouse, keyboard, video card, whatever. They do not care. Now, this is where it gets confusing; Once installed, it is legally bound to the motherboard of the system the OS was installed on. The license is only transferable to another board if the original board that was in the system dies and needs to be replaced. At which point it is bound to the new motherboard. In this situation it doesn't matter if the board is the same or not. This is a valid qualifier for re-activation of the product code on another installation ID. If you sell the motherboard for a system upgrade then you are obligated to transfer the OS with the motherboard.

With all that said, (This came from Microsoft directly, in a face to face meeting with one of their licensing sales reps.) no one does this. They know they don't, and they'd enforce the letter of the OEM / Reseller licensing agreement *IF* they knew a way to do it which was feasible and cost effective.
 
tesfaye said:
That makes sense and my first assumption would be a loss of or reduction of support/warranty services. It's a shame really.
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Well at the end of the day it is all about reducing liability for the manufacturers. They are also unwilling to spend the time or the money to support operating systems and upgrades that they never tested themselves. Some companies are worse about this than others. Sony used to void your warranty if you bought a machine that came with Windows 95, then upgraded to Windows 98. No kidding, they really used to do that. It was insane.
 
MrGuvernment said:
No it wont.

because the OEM uses a volume license key, the key in your OS isnt the same as on the sticker.
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Why would they give you a second different key? If they are using a volume license key, why wouldn't they just have that on the sticker.
 
The volume license is so they can push out the images in mass quantities, without worrying about activation. It is the same reason why large companies use a VLK key. The license on the side of your computer is what you actually paid for. This way, you get a unique license, while they get to set up the systems as easy as possible on their end.
 
Snowdog said:
Why would they give you a second different key? If they are using a volume license key, why wouldn't they just have that on the sticker.
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No idea why. The ones on the stickers do require activation where as the pre-installed OS is activated for you.
 
That explains why they use a volume license key and why they do batch installs. That is common sense.

It doesn't explain why they give a different key with your disk. They could just give your a reinstall disk with the Volume key. Presumably, you can just write down your volume key and reinstall using that one (and with no activation hassle) and you have a second key you can now use on another computer or sell (regardless of the license issues).

That just seems like the kind of loophole that could flood the market with spare OEM copies of windows, and the fix seems obvious and Microsoft doesn't seem like they would ignore the obvious.
 
MrGuvernment said:
No it wont.

because the OEM uses a volume license key, the key in your OS isnt the same as on the sticker.
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So this means the key on the sticker is virgin and won't be tied to my Acer hardware?

I could absolutely care less about the refund I'd get or the amount it's worth on craigslist. If in the end I give it away to somebody that was gonna buy it anyhow i'm satisfied that I didn't help them in any way.
 
DeaconFrost said:
Yet you stalled for months over giving Microsoft (sorry, M$ screams uninformed kiddie), any money??? Yikes.
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You are more wrong than our current governing officials! I spent my first 6 professional years tasked with improving the horrible uptime/performance/issues related to Windblows. Granted this was back in the 95/98 days and things have gotten better, but once I moved to Unix/Linux there was no looking back.
 
longblock454 said:
Windblows.
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Just as a suggestion, if you want people on hear to treat your posts with respect, you won't us M$, MicroShaft, or Windblows at all. Those are reserved for kiddies who don't know any better. If you've spent 6+ years in the industry, then surely you'll know how important and necessary Microsoft is to the entire industry. My comments above don't make me wrong at all. You may not agree, and that's fine, but let's keep the discussion at an adult level. I have 13 years in the industry, so does that make my opinion mean more than yours? No, certainly not. Throwing arbitrary experience numbers around doesn't help your posts be taken seriously either.
 
DeaconFrost said:
Just as a suggestion, if you want people on hear to treat your posts with respect, you won't us M$, MicroShaft, or Windblows at all. Those are reserved for kiddies who don't know any better. If you've spent 6+ years in the industry, then surely you'll know how important and necessary Microsoft is to the entire industry. My comments above don't make me wrong at all. You may not agree, and that's fine, but let's keep the discussion at an adult level. I have 13 years in the industry, so does that make my opinion mean more than yours? No, certainly not. Throwing arbitrary experience numbers around doesn't help your posts be taken seriously either.
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You started it with kiddie, think what you wish. I now write for a power utility, be glad it doesn't run m$, Microshaft, Windoze or Windblows, your goldfish I'm sure thanks me!

This thread is about crap I'm forced to buy, I'm free to make fun of them all I want!

Anyhow, could I interest you in a copy of Win 7?
 
Snowdog said:
The major problem with that, is it will almost certainly show up as an already activated key.
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i have successfully taken the key off of the bottom of my dell and used it to activate another copy of vista on a dell laptop.

With vista the install looks for a BIOS string identifying the latop and then installs already activated. I am pretty sure it is the same with 7 as I have never had to enter the MS key on the bottom of my laptop when reinstalling vista or 7 using the dell supplied OS CD..... and no you cannot sell your OEM copy of Windows it is part of the machine it came with.

judging by the mentality of the thread so far, I would not be suprised if the OP did try to sell it though........
 
Nope, I've started a line with Acer, sounds like more fun to me! Like I said, I could care less about the cost/refund, just that one less copy gets sold. Not that in the end Acer would send it back, but still a minor victory.

Appreciate those who provided the insight. The Wikipedia link gives me some ammo.
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