Even a couple hundred dollars can be worth it to you to sell rather than recycle , repurpose or shove in a drawer to be forgotten. Before turning that sluggish PC into cold hard cash, though, you'll need to do some housekeeping. From backing up your personal files to wiping the hard drive, set aside some time to ensure that your PC is ready for its new owner. Read more : These are 7 used tech items you never want to buy or sell.
Nobody wants to lose important work documents or pictures and videos you've stored on your PC for safekeeping. Before factory resetting your PC, remember to take a few minutes -- or hours, depending on how many files and folders you have -- and move it all to an external hard drive. If you don't have an external hard drive, you can always upload them to a cloud storage service like OneDrive, Dropbox or Google Drive.
Take a few minutes to sign out of all your email accounts, apps and services on your Windows PC. Doing so will ensure that whoever ends up with your computer won't be able to access any of your personal info after your rig changes hands. While that's unlikely to happen, it's an extra security step you can and should take, especially since the new owner could decide to sell it to someone else. You never know where it'll find up. Open each app you're signed into and log out.
With all of your files and folders safely backed up and accounts removed, it's time to wipe all of your information and data off of your PC. If you're working on a laptop, make sure it's connected to a power source. The process of erasing the hard disk can take a while, especially if you have a lot of information stored on your computer.
On your Windows 10 PC, click on the Start menu icon in the lower-left corner of your screen. Click on it. Locate and click on Recovery in the list of options on the left side of the window. Select how you'd like to reinstall Windows 10 as part of the process. Cloud download will install a fresh new Windows 10 image after the hard drive is erased, while a Local reinstall will use a Windows 10 image that's stored on your PC.
Either method will work, with the local reinstall option being the faster of the two. Click on the Change Settings option and slide the switch under Clean data. This will force Windows 10 to clean the hard drive after deleting your files, making it harder for others to recover your personal files.
Updated November 25, One of the most popular posts I have ever published at ZDNet was this one, originally titled Seven perfectly legal ways to get Windows 7 cheap or even free. I wrote it in late , and posted a follow-up one year later If you had followed my advice, you could have saved hundreds of dollars on upgrades and special deals for students and IT pros.
Six years later, Windows 7 is in the rear-view mirror. Most of the deals listed in those original posts are no longer available. But it is indeed still possible to find great deals on PCs running Windows 7, if you know where to look. It's also possible to tweak and tune newer Windows versions so that they are functionally equivalent to Windows 7. In that spirit, I've completely reworked this post with information that reflects the current PC market. Windows 7 is officially middle-aged.
It was publicly released more than six years ago, on October 22, With each passing day it is getting further and further from the midpoint of Microsoft's year support lifecycle for Windows releases.
In January , Microsoft ended mainstream support for Windows 7, and the five-year extended support phase began. In January , the Windows 7 support lifecycle will officially end. But four years is a long, long time, and if you prefer the familiar environment of Windows 7 over its successors, you still have lots of options available. If you navigate your way through the confusing maze of Windows licensing rules, you'll find that the best deals go to PC manufacturers, which means you'll find the best new and refurbished PCs with Windows 7 preinstalled and ready to run.
If you just need the software, you can still buy Windows 7 software in shrink-wrapped retail and OEM packages, sometimes at prices that are literally too good to be true.
If you're an IT pro or developer who needs Windows 7 for testing, you also have subscription options, although they're less of a deal than they were six years ago. For students, the best options come with newer versions of Windows.
Most of the details I include in this post apply to Windows customers in the United States, but you should be able to find similar offers in other countries. My goal in this post is to point you to deals that customers legitimately qualify for. I am not trying to encourage attempts by anyone to get away with something you're not entitled to. If there are restrictions for a specific offer, I've noted them here. By far the best way to buy Windows 7 today, six years into its lifecycle, is to purchase it preinstalled on a new PC.
You get a warranty and, more importantly, you get the OEM's assurance that the hardware and software were designed to work together. This option also spares you from the pain of Windows setup, especially the hassles of hunting down essential drivers and system-specific updates when you upgrade or downgrade a PC. There's a catch, though: As of October 31, , any new PCs they offer must include the more expensive Windows 7 Professional.
Machines that were manufactured before that date with Windows 7 Home Premium can still be sold. Normally, the sales lifecycle for PCs with Windows 7 preinstalled would have ended long ago, but Microsoft extended that deadline in February PC manufacturers will no longer be able to sell new PCs with Windows 7 Pro as of October 31, , For details, see "What the Windows 7 Pro sales lifecycle changes mean to consumers and business buyers.
The trick in shopping for these machines is to skip the front door and go straight for the business section. Among online merchants, for example, Dell offers filters to show all available desktops and all-in-ones and laptops running Windows 7. HP has separate pages for business desktops and laptops , but you have to look at each model to find the models with Windows 7 available.
Big online retailers that serve business markets should have similar selections covering a wide range of brands and the full spectrum of prices. There are plenty of sites where you can find "factory reconditioned" PCs for sale at legitimately low prices. Amazon-owned Woot, for example, always has lots of choices in its Computers section , although you'll have to dig into the specs to confirm that the operating system you're looking for is included.
I don't recommend taking a chance with random sellers on eBay or Craigslist--not when there are so many well-established merchants that offer proper warranties and return policies, as well as an assurance that the underlying Windows license is legitimate. Under Microsoft's arcane licensing rules, you can legitimately purchase OEM copies of Windows 7 any edition.
However, the license agreement with those copies explicitly prohibits you from using that software on a PC you build or refurbish for your own personal use. Crazy, huh? ZDNet takes a look back at very best tech stories and features of From the year's tech turkeys to products and services that get business done, we round up top gadgets, cloud highs, security lows -- and much more.
Yes No. Sorry this didn't help. Thanks for your feedback. Thanks for your quick reply. This was the original link. Generally, an end user can upgrade or replace all of the hardware components on a computer— except the motherboard —and still retain the licence for the original Microsoft OEM operating system software.
If the motherboard is upgraded or replaced for reasons other than a defect, then a new computer has been created. Microsoft OEM operating system software cannot be transferred to the new computer, and the licence of new operating system software is required. Retail Operating System License, that you buy and install yourself, are allowed to be transferred to another machine. Hi there, I recently deconstructed a gaming computer and have sold all its parts separately, what is left is the Windows 7 Home Premium Key and its CD.
I have read J W Stuart's post about freeing up a Windows 7 Product key but unfortunately did not do that before deconstructing my PC and wiping all the drives: How can I get my key de-activated and ready for re-sale? I have the same question 0. Report abuse. Details required :. Cancel Submit. LemP Volunteer Moderator.
Basically, a Windows retail license permits the owner of the license to use Windows on one computer. There is no "de-activation" for Windows licenses Product Keys. How satisfied are you with this reply? Thanks for your feedback, it helps us improve the site.
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