Windows OEM

[x9200]

On Ebay there are many offers like this one:
http://www.ebay.com.sg/itm/WINDOWS-7-PR ... 4187b187be

For this particular one I understand the licensing workaround but I have problems to believe somebody sells relatively new system (in terms of the generation) for probably 1/4th of the price. Do you think something smells here bad or it is entirely possible somebody could get OEM versions of such software at such low price? Note that this is not a single recovery disk coming from a single dell pc but this person sells many pcs of it.

[taxico]

this past august i bought a windows 7 license key on a whim on ebay for cheap from a french seller for an old desktop PC.

i clicked BIN and then paid by paypal (using amex in case the key didn't work).

the key came by email - i couldn't get it to work so i called up microsoft. i was told it is a valid key, unactivated, but for developers only. it is not meant for sale to the general public... but it's legit, nonetheless.

i then asked a friend who told me to enter the key in a different manner because it's not a fresh install (since microsoft has deactivated a previously working but pirated copy of windows 7) and it worked immediately.

the original pirated install was for windows 7 home but the key activated the full ultimate version (i can't tell the difference) and displayed it as such.

all is fine. i think i paid 25 EUR? the seller included a download link for french and english versions of both 32 and 64 bit version of windows 7. i assume the key's good for all of them.

so... it worked for me.

[zzm9980]

On Ebay there are many offers like this one:
http://www.ebay.com.sg/itm/WINDOWS-7-PR ... 4187b187be

For this particular one I understand the licensing workaround but I have problems to believe somebody sells relatively new system (in terms of the generation) for probably 1/4th of the price. Do you think something smells here bad or it is entirely possible somebody could get OEM versions of such software at such low price? Note that this is not a single recovery disk coming from a single dell pc but this person sells many pcs of it.

It sounds to me like they have an old scrapped Dell PC that came with an individual license key that was never used. (The Windows sticker on the back of most Dells). It is probably from a corporation that had a volume license key (VLK) for a corporate Windows image.

[x9200]

Thanks taxico, zmm, but what makes me still uncertain is, if these are really scrapped PCs then they could hardly be called "old". Windows 7 is 5yo. Is it common in a corporate office environment to scrap a 4-5yo PC? Surely not in the corporations I worked for.

[zzm9980]

Thanks taxico, zmm, but what makes me still uncertain is, if these are really scrapped PCs then they could hardly be called "old". Windows 7 is 5yo. Is it common in a corporate office environment to scrap a 4-5yo PC? Surely not in the corporations I worked for.

Very common IMO. Glad I don't work where you work!

I'm on an 18-month refresh cycle since the company I work for also makes the laptop I use, but 2yr is quite common everywhere else I've worked.

Also keep in mind these could have been 'budget' desktops that costs just $200-300 each at the time of purchase. They could have been POS/Cash Registers for closed locations, lots of things.

[x9200]

I am still on a P4 Dell with <1GB RAM, but none of my work is computer related. For some standard office work it's roughly ok, especially under Linux.