WTB Windows 7 Pro Licence

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1024MAK

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WTB Windows 7 Pro Licence

#1

Post by 1024MAK » Sun Aug 21, 2016 5:20 pm

/Split Topic from UK EPG Licence Expiring

Has anyone got any "very cheap Windows 7 prof licences from Ebay for about £7"?

Or from anywhere else for that matter?

If someone knows of a reliable source, that would be helpful :D

Mark

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#2

Post by mercalia » Mon Aug 22, 2016 1:16 am

1024MAK wrote:Has anyone got any "very cheap Windows 7 prof licences from Ebay for about £7"?

Or from anywhere else for that matter?

If someone knows of a reliable source, that would be helpful :D

Mark

I did thats how I know - look for adverts that mention scrap pcs and unused licences as they are old obsolete pcs never activated, presumably that companies had in reserve?. my seller now sold out ( he had 100 ), but look for a seller with a reasonable reputation? you get sent the code by email within 24 hrs so no waiting and if you pay by paypal get-before-you-pay you are protected? Ebay wont allow that if they suspect the seller aint sound ( one cheap seller they wouldnt allow get-before-you-pay, so thats how I know ) I had to use the automatic phone in system to activate but that worked without problem - first time I have used it so was a bit worried. I actually recorded the dialogue as it gives you lots of numbers to type in and you have to use these in future, but you can keep on getting the robot voice to repeat them so no reason to get them wrong ( write them down). I also have just before the Windows 10 offer expired got quite a few Windows 8.1 prof licences the same way at less than £10 - these all activated the normal way. so there is no excuse to be running XP media center when you can get WIndows 7 at such a low price from Ebay. The money only buys the code so you have to download WIndows 7 iso and burn it to a dvd. The code works for both 32 and 64 bit.

I did the Windows 7 thing for a spare (duplicate) motherboard that I use for my media center - Another possibility I was considering was a Windows 8.1 key then exercise downgrade rights to Windows 7 & I would have done that had the Windows 7 keys not been available cheaper.

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IT Troll

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#3

Post by IT Troll » Mon Aug 22, 2016 8:04 am

If you had to go through telephone activation then it was not an unused licence. Should still be fine so long as it is not still in use somewhere else.

Downgrade rights only apply to OEM / Preinstalled copies. So these are no good for moving to another PC.

Windows 8 Pro Upgrade retail keys can often be got for low cost and are essentially a full retail key. The trouble is MS will no longer sell you a Media Center key and so you have to get this elsewhere...
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#4

Post by mercalia » Mon Aug 22, 2016 3:13 pm

IT Troll wrote:If you had to go through telephone activation then it was not an unused licence. Should still be fine so long as it is not still in use somewhere else.

Downgrade rights only apply to OEM / Preinstalled copies. So these are no good for moving to another PC.

Windows 8 Pro Upgrade retail keys can often be got for low cost and are essentially a full retail key. The trouble is MS will no longer sell you a Media Center key and so you have to get this elsewhere...
I dont think thats true - I did look this up some time ago about the various types of license. It seems there are some that are meant to be embedded in eg Dell's copy of Windows 7 as a certificate or something or the bios and so dont need online activation, but they have to supply a coa in case the disk/partition is lost and then have to go thru the automatic phone thing.


The Windows 8.1 licences seemed to be unused oem ones and activated in the normal way on a clean install, so not a matter of moving to another pc - install 8.1 on there first and then downgrade. I did in fact buy 4 of these and all worked fine with clean installs - the sellers made it clear they werent upgrade licences

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#5

Post by IT Troll » Mon Aug 22, 2016 3:48 pm

mercalia wrote:It seems there are some that are meant to be embedded in eg Dell's copy of Windows 7 as a certificate or something or the bios and so dont need online activation, but they have to supply a coa in case the disk/partition is lost and then have to go thru the automatic phone thing.
But for any of these type, the licence is only valid on the original hardware. Being able to activate doesn't necessarily mean you have a valid licence. Often companies with pay an uplift in their volume licensing to upgrade the included OEM licence. So the OEM key isn't activated but the licence is still consumed and is non-transferable.

The only OEM licences which are OK are the generic system builder ones if they haven't already been used. They should install without requiring telephone activation.

Retail licences are safer as they can be moved as many times as you like and still remain valid.
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#6

Post by mercalia » Tue Aug 23, 2016 6:21 pm

IT Troll wrote:
mercalia wrote:It seems there are some that are meant to be embedded in eg Dell's copy of Windows 7 as a certificate or something or the bios and so dont need online activation, but they have to supply a coa in case the disk/partition is lost and then have to go thru the automatic phone thing.
But for any of these type, the licence is only valid on the original hardware. Being able to activate doesn't necessarily mean you have a valid licence. Often companies with pay an uplift in their volume licensing to upgrade the included OEM licence. So the OEM key isn't activated but the licence is still consumed and is non-transferable.

The only OEM licences which are OK are the generic system builder ones if they haven't already been used. They should install without requiring telephone activation.

Retail licences are safer as they can be moved as many times as you like and still remain valid.
ofcourse retail are better, if you can get one at a cheap price. so what in practice is the conseqence of having a pc that has activated but dont have a valid license? The W7 ones I have seen on Ebay were for scrapped pcs ( which you could collect if you wanted to!). When I got mine I knew I was taking a gamble £7 or so not too much I think. It seems that many have been sold.

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#7

Post by STC » Tue Aug 23, 2016 8:45 pm

Those are OEM licenses that are meant to stay on the original hardware. Even though you can call in and reactivate them on new hardware you have broken the licensing agreement with MS.
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#8

Post by mercalia » Wed Aug 24, 2016 9:25 am

STC wrote:Those are OEM licenses that are meant to stay on the original hardware. Even though you can call in and reactivate them on new hardware you have broken the licensing agreement with MS.
so what? rather strange of them to allow activation that are not licensed? as activation is the only way that endusers know that all ok

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#9

Post by IT Troll » Wed Aug 24, 2016 3:19 pm

mercalia wrote:so what? rather strange of them to allow activation that are not licensed? as activation is the only way that endusers know that all ok
Well it will probably keep working fine. Just don't be under the illusion that you have any more right to to run the software than someone who has used an activation crack.
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#10

Post by mercalia » Thu Aug 25, 2016 10:09 am

IT Troll wrote:
mercalia wrote:so what? rather strange of them to allow activation that are not licensed? as activation is the only way that endusers know that all ok
Well it will probably keep working fine. Just don't be under the illusion that you have any more right to to run the software than someone who has used an activation crack.

to conflate the two together is stupid, there is a world of a difference.

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#11

Post by 1024MAK » Thu Aug 25, 2016 12:31 pm

Hey, let's keep this thread sensible.

Thank you everyone for the information :clap:

Mark

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#12

Post by IT Troll » Thu Aug 25, 2016 2:23 pm

mercalia wrote:to conflate the two together is stupid, there is a world of a difference.
There may be a world of difference in the intention. But the end result in terms of your entitlement (or lack of) to run the software is exactly the same, which was my point. If you pay someone £7 to email you a Windows Pro key it would be stupid to think you have a legitimate licence. A genuine licence has a much higher value than that.

The cheapest legitimate keys I have seen are retail 7/8 Pro upgrade licences for around £30. These have transfer rights and are legitimate so long as you have an existing licence for a previous version. This includes XP or Vista which most people will have.
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#13

Post by STC » Thu Aug 25, 2016 11:54 pm

If you've broken the license agreement, ethically you may as well use a cracked copy. That's a very fair comparison. You can activate it because you're calling in and confirming hardware 'changes' to the original platform the OEM license was first registered to.
Consider the OEM license to be one the manufacturer of the hardware purchased from MS at a much reduced price compared to retail. For that reason it is technically not allowed to be used on other hardware as a retail license is.
For all you know you may have a Technet or MSDN license. One key installs on multiple PCs but it is only allowed to be used on non production systems for training and eval. You may be sharing the very cheap key with others and not know it. You may even have a key that belongs to a corporate business that someone fobbed off to make a few bucks.

Getting the certificate in which the key is printed is the way to go, rather than just an email with a number on. It will state what it is. If it's a photo of one stuck to a PC chassis, it's near as damnit OEM.
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#14

Post by CyberSimian » Fri Aug 26, 2016 3:27 am

STC wrote:If you've broken the license agreement, ethically you may as well use a cracked copy. That's a very fair comparison.
So you condemn the re-use of second-hand licences, but condone able-bodied users pretending to be disabled in order to get the free upgrade from Windows 7/8 to 10:

http://www.thegreenbutton.tv/forums/vie ... 30&t=10198

How would you feel if Microsoft decided to withdraw the free upgrade for disabled users due to the large number of able-bodied users who were abusing Microsoft's generosity? Just wondering!

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#15

Post by Doctor Feelgood » Fri Aug 26, 2016 5:47 pm

Whether the info is still sought or not, I have bought a few licenses from this guy over here...

https://hardforum.com/threads/fs-window ... e.1881194/

You can see his source and fine print on his legalities, which really did not concern me.

All have activated online without problem, with 2 of the 3 used for Windows 10, while the other was used for an old system to run Win 7.

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#16

Post by STC » Fri Aug 26, 2016 6:02 pm

CyberSimian wrote:
STC wrote:If you've broken the license agreement, ethically you may as well use a cracked copy. That's a very fair comparison.
So you condemn the re-use of second-hand licences, but condone able-bodied users pretending to be disabled in order to get the free upgrade from Windows 7/8 to 10:

http://www.thegreenbutton.tv/forums/vie ... 30&t=10198

How would you feel if Microsoft decided to withdraw the free upgrade for disabled users due to the large number of able-bodied users who were abusing Microsoft's generosity? Just wondering!

-- from CyberSimian in the UK
The option to upgrade via that path was a deliberate ploy by MS to allow you to go that route as I understand the procedure was released by MS themselves stating you don't have to have the assistance options enabled to upgrade (big hint there). Since then you can now upgrade as my second post states via a 7 or 8 key upon clean install. They are pretty desperate to continue offering 10 for free but have to do so almost covertly to save face.
This can't really be compared with using an OEM license for a purchasable product as if it were retail.
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#17

Post by STC » Fri Aug 26, 2016 6:16 pm

Microsoft wrote:
The Microsoft Software License Terms is granted to the end user by you, the system builder. It is related to the OEM System Builder License for the PC on which it was originally installed.

You are required to support the license on that original PC, but you cannot support a license that has been moved from a PC that you manufactured to one that you did not. This is one of the key reasons why an OEM System Builder License can’t be transferred. ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

PC transfer to another end user
The entire PC, however, may be transferred to another end user, along with the software license rights. When transferring the PC to the new end user, the following must be included:

Original software media
Manuals (if applicable)
Certificate of authenticity (COA)
It is also advisable to include the original purchase invoice or receipt. The original end user cannot keep any copies of the software.
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#18

Post by Ed  » Fri Aug 26, 2016 6:23 pm

STC wrote:The option to upgrade via that path was a deliberate ploy by MS to allow you to go that route as I understand the procedure was released by MS themselves stating you don't have to have the assistance options enabled to upgrade (big hint there). Since then you can now upgrade as my second post states via a 7 or 8 key upon clean install. They are pretty desperate to continue offering 10 for free but have to do so almost covertly to save face.
This can't really be compared with using an OEM license for a purchasable product as if it were retail.
You're simply believing what you want to believe there. It's meant only for those with legitimate accessibility software needs, and only them; no matter how convenient it is for those without those needs to exploit. It's hypocritical, and that's OK, as long as you acknowledge it and don't try to kid yourself or anyone else.
Last edited by Ed  on Fri Aug 26, 2016 6:28 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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#19

Post by STC » Fri Aug 26, 2016 6:27 pm

Youre missing the point. They wanted it to be available to all and stated so.
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#20

Post by Ed  » Fri Aug 26, 2016 6:29 pm

STC wrote:Youre missing the point. They wanted it to be available to all and stated so.
Available to all with legitimate assistive technology needs. You're missing/glossing over/ignoring that point.

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