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When I scrap old computers, there is often a sticker with a product key for whatever operating system was initially installed on the computer. Is there any market for product keys from old operating systems (like Windows XP or Vista)?

silversaddle1 should know he deals with lots of stuff. Hopefully he will chime in!

I just purchased 2 COA's vista ultimate for $25 Ebay.
and I had to shop 'em to get that price.
I had been running linux for the past year,
thought I'd grow to like it, but missed windows too much.

I do not know the laws regarding software license stickers/agreements. I do know that I have sold a few cases to guys for builds that had to have a sticker on them for the OS they wanted. IDK if you can sell the code key or not.

OEM licenses, the kind that come on anything with Windows pre-installed, are meant to be installed by the manufacturer / system builder on one system and, according to the license agreement with Microsoft, cannot be transferred to any other system. OEM licenses must be sold along with some piece of hardware, they cannot be sold by retailers as a standalone item. You could replace the guts of the original system and reinstall the operating system using that product key and still be in the green, but you cannot sell the product key to somebody else or transfer it to a different system. If eBay sees a listing for just a sticker or product key they will pull it (though a lot still get through).

That being said, from Vista on back the product codes will work for online activation a few times, and then phone activation a few times after that (assuming you are only actually using it on one live system at a time). With Windows 7 they (at least in theory) started tying product keys to hardware identifiers to make sure you are only reinstalling/reactivating the OS on the original system. For systems that come pre-installed with Windows 8, the product key is embedded in an encrypted part of the BIOS, there is no sticker on the box and you don't even get to see the product code. As long as you keep that same motherboard and don't wipe the BIOS, you should be able to reinstall Windows 8 on that system without needing to input a product code, but there is nothing for you to even attempt to sell or transfer to another computer anymore. You can still buy standalone copies of Windows 8 that come with a product code for building/upgrading your own stuff, but OEM systems don't have a visible product key. This means that the next generation of pallets of surplus computers won't have any product key stickers for scrappers to try to sell. Microsoft does not like other people making money off their software.

natsb88 wrote:OEM licenses, the kind that come on anything with Windows pre-installed, are meant to be installed by the manufacturer / system builder on one system and, according to the license agreement with Microsoft, cannot be transferred to any other system. OEM licenses must be sold along with some piece of hardware, they cannot be sold by retailers as a standalone item. You could replace the guts of the original system and reinstall the operating system using that product key and still be in the green, but you cannot sell the product key to somebody else or transfer it to a different system. If eBay sees a listing for just a sticker or product key they will pull it (though a lot still get through).

That being said, from Vista on back the product codes will work for online activation a few times, and then phone activation a few times after that (assuming you are only actually using it on one live system at a time). With Windows 7 they (at least in theory) started tying product keys to hardware identifiers to make sure you are only reinstalling/reactivating the OS on the original system. For systems that come pre-installed with Windows 8, the product key is embedded in an encrypted part of the BIOS, there is no sticker on the box and you don't even get to see the product code. As long as you keep that same motherboard and don't wipe the BIOS, you should be able to reinstall Windows 8 on that system without needing to input a product code, but there is nothing for you to even attempt to sell or transfer to another computer anymore. You can still buy standalone copies of Windows 8 that come with a product code for building/upgrading your own stuff, but OEM systems don't have a visible product key. This means that the next generation of pallets of surplus computers won't have any product key stickers for scrappers to try to sell. Microsoft does not like other people making money off their software.

Not like there was any big demand anyway.