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Selling old PC with OEM Windows license... while swapping HDDs


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Hi All,

 

 

I have a bit of a dillemma.

I think it's time to sell my old laptop while it still retains some value. It's now nearly 2 years old and earlier this year the HDD was replaced by a Seagate hybrid with 8GB SSD. I don't think I'll ever want to use anything less than a hybrid HDD+SSD.

 

I remember that when I got that new HDD set up, I had to use a special MS phone line to get the license activated. It's been a few months, so I can't remember the whole process. Originally the PC had Win7 on it, then I bought the upgrade license when there was a ?25 offer for Win 8, I think in January 2013. The new Seagate drive arrived after that.

 

Now, when the new laptop arrives, it's going to be a major upgrade in CPU, memory speed, etc... but it will have a 1000GB HDD spinning at 5400rpm. boo!

 

I have to wonder.... What would the Batman do in this situation?

 

a) swap the HDDs and find a way to activate the new OEM license on the old HDD+SSD. How would this work?

b) just sell the old laptop on eBay as is, with a drive that is nicer than most and hope people will bid a few extra ???, then get a new Seagate hybrid or a pure SSD for the new PC

c) sell the old laptop with no drive and no Windows and forget about it

d) activate the new OEM license on the new PC with a slow drive, shrink the partition to the size of the hybrid drive and somehow transfer everything there.

 

 

Any suggestions?

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Sell the old laptop, as is -- provided you get a decent price.

 

Install another hybrid drive on the new computer, using your profits.

 

Clone Windows to new hybrid.

 

http://www.amazon.com/Black2-Dual-Drive-2-5-WD1001X06XDTL/dp/B00GSJ9X4Q/ref=sr_1_1?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1409732504&sr=1-1&keywords=western+digital+hybrid+drive

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You cannot move an OEM license to another computer, it must stay on the computer it was originally installed on.

Yep. It's attached to the hardware that it came with. Sell the whole thing as is (or sans drive if you are particularly concerned about your data being scraped). Get the new machine. Get an SSD and enjoy your new hardware to its fullest extent.

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Hi again,

 

 

the new laptop arrives this monday. It's been a while since I last did this, so I'd appreciate your comments on the step by step I have in mind:

 

0) backups are done, there's no fear of losing data with these opperations

1) new laptop arrives (Acer) and its 500GB HDD is swapped with the 500GB hybrid drive I have in the HP

2) I boot up the Acer with a USB stick I have with Windows 8 and do a clean install to the hybrid drive. Prerequisite: the Acer needs to have a serial key for Windows 8 on a sticker somewhere.

3) Acer will update to Windows 8.1 etc, life is good. end of part 1.

 

 

PArt 2: the HP machine:

1) I put back the HDD that was included with the HP laptop, which will therefore will be running Windows 8.1 Pro but risks HDD failure

2) Assuming Windows will remain activated, I want to use the Acer's drive on this machine instead of selling it with an old drive

3) I resize the Windows partition to fit a 500GB drive using Easus partition manager or the tools that Windows includes

4) I clone this drive onto the Acer drive using Easus

 

2b) If this does not work, I move the Acer's drive to the HP and advertise this used machine as having Windows installed but requiring a new license.

2c) or I sell it without HDD and end of story.

 

Any steps you think won't work?

 

 

Thanks!

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