OSDev.org

Hi!

I've just been given a second-hand Windows 7 laptop from family but I'm not too sure about this. I'm intending on putting Linux on it anyway, but in my decision about whether or not to retain Windows I'm a bit concerned about the legality of the situation.

The laptop was heavily used by the previous owner until the Windows "became corrupted" (we think we messed it up by mistake, but anyway that's another story) and then he reinstalled Windows but didn't really use the laptop since then (he's upgraded now anyway). He told me it's got "blank factory-default Windows 7" on it, but I'm not sure how much he's used it since he reinstalled and I also suspect that it might have Microsoft Office on it as well (I'm also not sure if the reinstallation really changes anything, since I think it's probably still registered to him). He didn't supply any disks or manuals or anything like that; only a charger (I don't know what recovery partitions it's got on it because I haven't tried turning it on yet).

The bottom line is that, without going into a discussion about personal files (I know how to deal with those cleanly), I want to know whether or not it is legal to use the Windows 7 and/or Microsoft Office (not sure which version) on this laptop, as I was unable to find out anything clear-cut online. I'm asking because as much as I want it primarily is a Linux machine for college I might still need to use Windows now and again and Mom's keen to Skype off of it and I can't promise her that I'll be able to set up Skype under Linux properly.

Any ideas?

Thanks,

onlyonemac

I set up skype on my Ubuntu 14.04.1 LTS about 20 minutes ago, absolutely no problem.

As far as the Windows and Office installation is concerned, I don't think somebody will even notice. A lot of such second-hand notebooks are sold without even worrying about personal files (nobody's even close to care about that licensing) and I don't see anything illegal there (but I'm not a lawyer). The licenses are paid, M$ has gotten its money and everything should be fine, especially if the previous owner is a relative.

Umm... That's about as vague as I was trying to avoid. I was hoping for something a bit more reliable from others who have been in a similar situation before and have read proper information, not just said that "I don't think somebody will even notice". No, nobody will notice if I steal £10, will they?

Also, can we not turn this into a discussion about setting up Skype under Linux; that's a separate discussion.

The laptop should have a Microsoft Windows Certificate of Authenticity sticker on it somewhere. On that you should find the serial number. At that point, you can just grab any Windows 7 (presumably Home Premium) CD and re-install it. Quite a lot of manufacturers stick them on the bottom (which often results in the serial number rubbing off, as my friend has found to his annoyance, "Your copy of Windows is not genuine" indeed); you might find it in the battery compartment or such if your manufacturer has been a little more sensible.

So wait, you seek off-topic legal advice on a technical forum and then complain about someones vagueness? What were you expecting?

Wipe the drive and install whatever you want, or swap it out for a new one and save the original. If in the future you need to install Windows, just follow Owens advice about the OEM sticker. If that doesn't work, I'm sure Microsoft still sells boxed copies.

IMHO, I'd consider an OS installed by someone else to be already untrustworthy.

Former computer shop employee here. Basically the situation is, if there is a COA sticker on the laptop with a Windows key that matches the version you have installed on the laptop, you're good to go.

Windows 7 sticker on bottom of laptop => you can use Windows 7 on that laptop.

There are some exceptions, but they are fairly rare and nobody would care anyway.

Well I found out today when I tried powering it up that it was actually unregistered since he reinstalled it. He had indeed installed Microsoft Office (which we're going to uninstall since we know the story behind that one) but he hadn't gone past the 30-day trial period. For that matter were a bit concerned actually since after phoning him for the password which he had forgotten to give us (quite why he put a password on a machine which he was setting up for us I don't honestly know) we were then told that "activation had expired", but then it took us to a perfectly usable desktop except for the " Windows is not genuine" message in the corner. Nevertheless we got it activated using the key on the sticker underneath.

Anyway in still going to install Linux as I much prefer it to Windows 7 (obviously!) but I'm going to keep Windows on it as I've become rather attached to it now.