Windows 7 Ultimate (full) for $70 shipped ??

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Gawd
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Nov 26, 2006
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Saw this listing on eBay for a brand new, sealed copy of Windows 7 Ultimate (the full version, not upgrade) for around $70 with free shipping. The buyer is located in New York and has some positive feedback, but it is all for him as a buyer not seller. The listing says there are "more than 10 available" and has a history of 22 sold as of now.

Just wondering if this sort of thing happens and is on the up and up? I've got some pretty good deals on eBay over the years and when it's a physical good I'm not too concerned with the items legality or how the buyer procured it, but with something like a copy of Windows I'd rather not pay the $70 and then have MS not accept the serial because this guy is selling a batch of Windows 7 DVDs that are somehow not legit or that MS knows is stolen or what have you.

That being said, I'd also love to get a full version of Ultimate for $70 for my new build (that I could then use for future builds) rather than the $130 OEM version of Windows 7 Pro I was looking at from a vendor. Have any of you guys bought software or an operating system through questionable venues such as this?

Here is the listing, BTW
[ame="http://cgi.ebay.ca/New-Microsoft-Windows-7-Ultimate-32-64-bit-Full-Version-/330584357473?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4cf85cfa61#ht_500wt_1156"]http://cgi.ebay.ca/New-Microsoft-Windows-7-Ultimate-32-64-bit-Full-Version-/330584357473?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4cf85cfa61#ht_500wt_1156[/ame]
 
Scam, there was a thread about a guy selling win 7 Ultimate from NY a few months ago and it was some crap copy from china that did not work. If you search you might be able to find it. Do not buy software for sources you do not know are legit.
 
caniba said:
Scam, there was a thread about a guy selling win 7 Ultimate from NY a few months ago and it was some crap copy from china that did not work. If you search you might be able to find it. Do not buy software for sources you do not know are legit.
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Alright thanks. Figured as much, glad I checked here first :cool:
 
if it seems to good to be true it is, i highly suggest not buying anything disk based off ebay.
 
99% of the time the people are/were selling copied DVDs (not original hologram media direct from Microsoft) and a Technet key along with the product. They don't do it nearly as much as they used to since Microsoft changed Technet last year from 10 keys per product to only 2. When it was 10 keys per product per subscription, someone could sign up for a Technet account, and make a shitload of cash:

Each of the 10 keys has 10 activations, so that's a major profit right there. That would mean 100 activations for Windows 7 Home Premium, 100 for Pro, 100 for Ultimate, etc. If you ever see people "selling" Product Keys for < $100 on places like craigslist that's how they were doing it - considering a Technet sub for your average Joe (not me, I assure you) would be $349 or even less with some discount coupon code that Technet has from time to time, that could translate into a considerable amount of profit.

I know that this week Fry's is selling Windows 7 Professional OEM System Builder edition for $99 out the door (their normal pricing is $129.99 for either version), and that's 100% legit with the hologram media as well. You'd be hard pressed to find a better deal at the moment that's truly legit. Even Newegg hasn't gone that low for Windows 7 Professional - their current pricing for the 32-bit version is $139.99 and the 64-bit is $134.99 but it has a $10 rebate available so $125 or so final cost.

Fry's just stomps the shit outta Newegg on pricing most of the time, and this is surely one of 'em.

Of course, you might want Ultimate but it really offers nothing much over Pro, and Pro has everything Home Premium has and more so, in the long run the only choices that matter are Pro or Ultimate. For $99 for legit media and a Product Key, it's pretty substantial. The best chart I've ever found for differences between the editions of Windows 7 is here:

[ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_7_editions"]Windows 7 editions - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia@@AMEPARAM@@/wiki/File:Windows_Thin_PC.png" class="image"><img alt="" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/3/3c/Windows_Thin_PC.png/220px-Windows_Thin_PC.png"@@AMEPARAM@@en/thumb/3/3c/Windows_Thin_PC.png/220px-Windows_Thin_PC.png[/ame] (scroll down to the big chart)

Pro even has support through 2020 while Ultimate "dies" in 2015 so that's a consideration also. Pro has been my choice for Windows 7 since day 1, so unless you actually have a specific requirement for some feature that Ultimate supports that Pro doesn't, perhaps Pro is the better (and cheaper) overall choice.

(what is it with those funky links now... guess it's a preview of sorts for some things, odd...)
 
You're right, I don't really need or want Ultimate. I was simply going to get it if the eBay thing seemed legit or reliable. I was looking at OEM Pro versions earlier and will be going with that :)

Thanks guys.
 
Joe Average said:
9
Each of the 10 keys has 10 activations, so that's a major profit right there. That would mean 100 activations for Windows 7 Home Premium, 100 for Pro, 100 for Ultimate, etc. If you ever see people "selling" Product Keys for < $100 on places like craigslist that's how they were doing it - considering a Technet sub for your average Joe (not me, I assure you) would be $349 or even less with some discount coupon code that Technet has from time to time, that could translate into a considerable amount of profit.
Click to expand...

Does that mean that you can activate the same key 10 times and all 10 be actively running?
 
Zepher said:
Does that mean that you can activate the same key 10 times and all 10 be actively running?
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Theoretically, yes, but I've never attempted it personally. The idea behind activation is a single machine - based on the checksum/hash created by the specific hardware in the given machine along with some random data, time of day, date, etc - gets "stamped" with an approval aka activated and that info is stored on Microsoft's side of the equation. If the same machine needs to be reactivated, it'll look at the activation checksum/hash and figure out that yes, it's the same machine so it'll grant another activation of the 10 provided.

I'm not 100% sure that yes, you can use the 10 keys x 10 activations per key = 100 different machines, but I'm gonna bet that that's part of the draw for those scammers dumping those Product Keys cheap on fleaBay/craigslist/etc.

It's not meant as a "trick" to get people more activations/use the keys more than they're supposed to be used: the idea behind Technet is people actually testing out software on the OSes/products (as development is more akin to MSDN, the developer network). The problem is any old average Joe (again, not me, I assure you) was buying up Technet subs like they were going out of style when Windows 7 came out over 2 years ago and then dumping the keys for profit, then using some of that profit to buy another sub, selling more keys, making more profit, buying more subs, etc.

People were buying the subs ignoring the fact that the Technet acquired software isn't for personal daily use aka your own computer just to have an OS on it or for a cheap way to get a lot of Product Keys legitimately, which is why they had the massive influx of people signing up for Technet right about the time Windows 7 came out.

Some people made a shitload of money off that process but Microsoft finally got somewhat wise to it and now they have a 2 Product Key limitation on the Standard sub and perhaps the Professional sub as well. I let my Pro sub lapse over a year ago as I had a legit Product Key for Windows 7 Pro and didn't require the Technet keys any longer.
 
Joe Average said:
Fry's just stomps the shit outta Newegg on pricing most of the time, and this is surely one of 'em.
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I have to disagree with that statement. I live right near a Frys, but I still buy most of my stuff from Newegg. Even with shipping and CA sales tax, Newegg is very competitive with Frys pricing, if not better. And the customer service is way better. And the selection. And the ability to read product reviews.

More than once I have bought something "new" from Frys that was a re-shrinkwrapped return.
 
The only reason for ultimate on a home machine is if you're testing for MC*** certifications. Ultimate has Bitlocker, Applocker, and the other goodies to coincide with a 2K8R2 server domain setup so you can work with all that.

If thats your only purpose for it, there's a 90 day trial version from MS for that purprose, ad you can reload the activation at least 1 time, giving you 6 months of free use for it to test with.

Pro is really the level most people should go to.

To fill in the blanks, avoid those places. If you need something inexpensive and not going to deploy it on anything but tested hardware, get a Technet sub.
 
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