Do I trust ebay?

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daves87rs

daves87rs

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After fixing some surprise issues and having a friend try to help give me a way to try it (failed sadly), I have our old gateway ready for it's jump from Vista to a new OS...

I could throw either windows 7 or 10 on it, but I'd much rather just upgrade to 7 and keep my stuff currently on there (10 would require a clean install)

Ebay seems to offer endless choices for me to buy. I've been told from some that they are all a scam, while still others have told me they had no issues both getting and installing on their computer.

I'm willing to bet many of those "disks" with codes are from computers that are no longer "with us", which I think (put not sure) that they would work.

From those of you that have tried (and my IT friends here), is it really worth it?

Would really like to get this desktop rolling along soon....
 
Look for a retail packaging sale and seller with great feedback. Plenty of people selling legitimate old windows 7 disks/keys that they no longer use, just go by seller feedback.
 
Reddit has a key swap board. It's more of a trust buy then anything you don't have much security in preventing them from scamming you but a lot of people use it as income and that relies heavily on their reputation as a key seller.

Microsoft works with a lot of colleges and universities. They give software and operating system keys to these schools for very cheap/free.

The schools pretty much give the kids the keys at request and many just sell them. It's a really thing I just can't recall the name.

To be honest using the keys like this is against Microsoft's terms of service but very few are ever caught. Many people who build PC's use this to save money (including myself).

It may be worth your time tho for all I know tho the keys on eBay could be the same exact thing as well but you can save a good bit of money like this.
 
I buy key codes retail for $8 and you can get them on EBay as well for $3 to $5.
And a download link. A few weeks ago I built a W10 machine and the OS install was flawless.
No big deal. Very inexpensive as well.
 
Don't rely on your old Gateway.

Go to the Dell "refurbished" section and buy a new desktop for $120 with the best new hardware and latest software.
Transfer the files you need via thumb drive.

I do this every six years. It's only $20 a year and I get a new computer with better everything.
 
Originally Posted By: Linctex
Go to the Dell "refurbished" section and buy a new desktop for $120 with the best new hardware and latest software.

I like the Dell refurbished idea, although $120 isn't going to get you anything close to "the best new hardware".
smile.gif


But it might still be better than what the OP currently has - hard to tell since he didn't provide any specs.
 
Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
Originally Posted By: Linctex
Go to the Dell "refurbished" section and buy a new desktop for $120 with the best new hardware and latest software.

I like the Dell refurbished idea, although $120 isn't going to get you anything close to "the best new hardware".
smile.gif


But it might still be better than what the OP currently has - hard to tell since he didn't provide any specs.


It's a bit on the old side (2008) but it has 4GB of RAM, a overclocked intel quad core, and 620GB hard drive. Used to be a gaming computer.....
 
Originally Posted By: daves87rs
Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
Originally Posted By: Linctex
Go to the Dell "refurbished" section and buy a new desktop for $120 with the best new hardware and latest software.

I like the Dell refurbished idea, although $120 isn't going to get you anything close to "the best new hardware".
smile.gif


But it might still be better than what the OP currently has - hard to tell since he didn't provide any specs.




It's a bit on the old side (2008) but it has 4GB of RAM, a overclocked intel quad core, and 620GB hard drive. Used to be a gaming computer.....

Yeah, so a $120 dell is probably not going to best that.
 
so probably a dell or hp refurbished workstation?
with a ssd for operating system drive?

i would read sleddriver's thread about custom/not in production power sources.....
 
I purchased a DELL 7010 Optiplex with 7 pro a year ago from Dell and paid extra for cosmetics. The machine looked like it had never been used at all. There were no scratches, mars, rubs, anything. Inside looked like fans had never run. No fuzz,dust,lint, nothing. Installed a SSD. One of the best purchases I ever made.
smile.gif
 
Three Win10 Keys from here, and no problems with the two I have used.

https://www.scdkey.com/microsoft-windows...ncTWZbWCQLo1XTw

Oddly enough, the one key I did buy from Ebay, many years ago, WIN7 Ultimate, worked OK for about six months, and then came up as "not activated". I got scammed by some temp key that let software testers evaluate/troubleshoot compatible software. After all these years on Ebay, that has been my one negative experience.
 
Originally Posted By: daves87rs
It's a bit on the old side (2008) but it has 4GB of RAM, a overclocked intel quad core, and 620GB hard drive. Used to be a gaming computer.....


Sounds like my 2008 HP. If you have a decent graphics card, mine came with Nvidia 8800GT, then your machine is more than capable for normal day to day usage and some mild gaming. My oldie has no problems running 4K youtube videos, for example.
It will run Vista, W7, W8, W8.1 and W10 with no problems.

If you can't get a W7 key, don't hesitate to go W10. From the old hardware POV, it will run excellent.
 
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