Anybody bought XP on Ebay?

[Busdriver]

We have an older Aptiva with W98SE. I'm thinking about doing a clean install of XP, NOT an upgrade. Looks like one can buy XP on Ebay that is considerable cheaper than, say, Amazon. Are these legitimate copies that people are selling?

[Kati Compton]

I would be concerned that someone else is using the license key already. Plus, I think technically none of MS's stuff is permitted to be resold by end users... but I'm not sure on that. Are the people selling XP individuals or do they run computer stores and this is one way they sell their inventory?

[JustinGTP]

You have to be careful as Katie said - you can only plug in the key once, that't it.

To save you the hassle, I would just and buy from Amazon or Best Buy to make sure you have the real legit deal. It may cost you more, but you can save your self a lot more if you don't get into a scam (not that I am saying that all of eBay is a scam)

-Justin.

[ironguy]

You must always be carefule with ebay purchases. HOwever, there are many inmdependent sellers on ebay that do have the right to resell MS products. They are MS partners. Check and see what other auctions they have going.

BTW, Win XP can be moved to another machine. It requires calling MS, explaining the 'whys', then having the key associated with the original machine removed, then activated on the new machine.

All in all, though, it's probably safer to buy retail. Check around at Sam's Clubs, Costco, or Walmart for deals. If you're a student, or have one in your family, you may be able to get a student discount. If you're using a fairly old aptiva, it might be prudent to get a new PC with XP installed. If you really don't need super speed, you can get an older Dell refurb or something else well under $500.

[smashcasi]

The best place I've found to get XP is NewEgg (http://www.newegg.com/software/). They even throw in a free cable to satisfy the OEM requirements. Same software, no worries, reasonable price.

[shawnc]

At the risk of stating the obvious, the best indicator of software (or any other ebay purchase) legitimacy is to read the sellers feedback. No one here can give you a better feel than what reading feedback will provide. I have made many transactions (some seller, mostly buyer) and I thoroughly review feedback prior to bidding. I only bid with sellers who have a high "net" feedback and even then only after reviewing all of their negative feedback.

[Roosterman]

I don't know what your configuration is on the Aptiva but I would think you could get quite an upgrade buying a new one from Dell or somebody else. You can get a 2.4Ghz Pentium for $400 - $500 that I would think is faster then the old one.

[mberry]

You can still buy the upgrade even though you are doing a clean install. You currently own a copy of WIN98... this qualifies you for the upgrade price.
After you fdisk the drive... boot to the WINXP disk and start the install... it will seach your drive for a copy of something to upgrade... seing as the drive is empty it will ask you to put your WIN98 disk in the drive, verify that its legit and then remove that disk, reinsert the XP disk and away you go.

On the topic of buying software on EBAY... dont do it... its not worth the hassle... if you dont get scammed, your most likely buying pirated software. In an article i recently read http://www.baselinemag.com/article2/1,3959,1410236,00.asp?kc=624 99% of the software purchased was pirated, and some of the purchases were just scams and they lost thier money.

[Jason Dunn]

I buy and sell on ebay quite a bit, and like someone else said, it's safe as long as the person you're buying from has a high positive feedback dating (95%+) and they have at least 10+ feedback rating points. You can definitely get the upgrade, you don't need the full version, but like someone else said, you may want to consider a cheap new computer vs. XP on the old one.

[Busdriver]

Thanks for all the replies. We buy and sell on Ebay every once in a while and have always had good luck. I've just never dealt with software before and was wondering what the chances were that I would end up getting pirated stuff.

Maybe I'll stick with W98SE for a while longer, seeing as to how MS has extended their support for it :wink:. It's my daughters computer and still does everything she wants it to do.

[Roosterman]

If you do decide to upgrade sometime in the future, don't forget the hardware requirements for XP. They say Pentium 300 and above with 128 MB of ram. With that setup, it will run like a sick puppy :pukeface: . You need at least 500+ speed and minimum of 256 ram, better if 512 especially if the cpu is slow.

Good luck.

[DrtyBlvd]

I've bought Xp & other MS stuff recently, Office & OneNote - all legitimate versions that were boxed and "fresh" with no problems - The 'dubious' versions are pretty easy to spot from price alone, sellers history and bids on the product. :roll:

Engage a seller in email first and go with your instincts I'd say! If in doubt post the URL and take a poll :lol: