Selling old PCs, what to do about the OS?

[Flak Beard]

So we are having a garage sale in the next couple weeks, and I have a few old PCs I want to get rid of. They all need to be reformatted and have the operating system reinstalled. I was given a corporate copy of XP from a friend that is supposedly "re-distributable", but I'm not sure if this puts me in a legal bind when selling these computers. They were all given to me, so I have no recovery disks or anything like that.

Would it be ok to sell the machines with the copy of XP I have installed on them?

[Ivo]

Would it be ok to sell the machines with the copy of XP I have installed on them?

Is Linux out of the question?

If it must be Windows, can it be 98 (if they are old, they might even handle it better)?

If it must be XP, you can always inform the buyer what is the deal. Probably they have XP in another PC already and they can install it themselves?

Ivo.

[ImportBoy]

XP isn't a good idea, cause it might not pass genuine validation tests if the buyer tries to run Windows update or something something. If you are selling at like some county fair with no way to trace you...all well and good. But since it is a garage sell you might have people looking for a refund if they find Windows is pirated.

Do any of the PCs have XP serial stickers still on them? If so, then I'd say its fair game.

I would suggest you get a copy of Windows 2000 and install that along with Service Pack 4. You can find serials all over the net. Most modern programs will run fine under Windows 2000 and should have no trouble locating drivers. I wouldn't suggest even looking at Linux (what person at a garage sale would know how to use it anyhow; they'll expect Windows), probably not worth the effort trying to track down drivers for propitary systems like that.

I also sold 3 PCs at a garage sale last year. They were old, so I just loaded Windows 98 on two and Windows 95 on the other.

[retro_gammer79]

Load www.ubuntu.com Linux on it!!!!!!

[Flak Beard]

I unfortunately don't have any Win98 or 2000 discs at the moment, but I guess I could track some down. I could always try installing XP and then see if I can update. I would get some kind of warning right if there a problem with licensing?

[Cerulean]

yeah itll put that sign that says non legal copy of windows xp or some such like that.

[Flak Beard]

Guess I'll try and track down Win 2000 then. Anyone know if this can be booted off the CD for a fresh install, or will I need to make a floppy boot disk beforehand?

[aaron]

i would just sell them unformatted then tell them if they want to get "hooked up" with an os that you can do that for them for a nominal fee.

or i'd just sell it and hope they never contact you.

[Mozgus]

Everything has already been said, but I want to confirm that an XP key will become invalid after a few reformats. I had a legit key until I used it on 3 different machines, or basically 5 clean installs, whichever caused the key to become invalid. I've had to use WGA cracks ever since.

[marurun]

Supposedly you can call Microsoft and get your XP code re-enabled, as long as you are removing it from previous machines before installing on new.

Also, look into installing simple, user-friendly Linux installs on those computers. Trying to track down outdated Windows installs will be as much trouble as it will fix.

Either that or donate the PCs to an organization that recycles PCs for use in schools and take a tax deduction commensurate with the value of the PCs