Does buying an old pc with COA keys make them mine ?

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martyyn

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#79597 19-Mar-2011 13:18

I assume when you by a desktop and it has the sticker on the top with an XP COA key for example you become the owner of that key and can rightly use the software.

But what if you buy a desktop and the harddrive hasnt been wiped. Do you legally own the keys which may be on there for Office for example ?

I bought an old workplace desktop a while ago and found the harddrive hadnt been wiped at all. On the outside it had the sticker for XP, but installed were Office and Visio both with what I assume were genuine keys. So does that make them mine to use ?

Kaos36

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#449859 19-Mar-2011 13:28

As far as I know could be wrong though, but as long as you got the cds and the keys with the deal then yes otherwise they are suppose to wipe the drive before selling. Thats the rule but 99 percent of need-to-make-a-quick-sale dont bother.

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martyyn

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#449865 19-Mar-2011 13:33

I didnt get any cd's with it, it was just the case.

I just bought it because I needed something to run as a server and it had the XP COA on the outside.

When I saw the harddrive had not been wiped and saw all the software I ran a key finder tool for Office and Visio.

freitasm

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#449871 19-Mar-2011 13:42

You only have the XP COA, so that's all you have rights on. None of the content is yours, including other installed software.

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martyyn

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#449872 19-Mar-2011 13:49

Thats what I thought, thanks for the confirmation.

Its interesting what people leave behind isnt it? Although this was clearly an old workhorse sat in a cupboard somewhere it had someones home movies, photos and a whole load of music.

You would think people would be more careful with their personal items on a work machine.