[ROBO58]

Hi,

I have a computer or two I'd like to sell. I thought of posting on ebay or craigs list but I'm not sure on what the legality is regarding the installed software and O/S.

If one just sells the basic hardware is it acceptable to include the original and upgrade O/S's ? This assumes they were installed and registered.

Thanks

[Big Mac]

As long as you provide the original installation discs and don't keep any additional copies of the same software, you can legally leave that software installed on the computer you're selling. That's the technical answer. Practically, people often leave a lot of software on computers without giving the original discs without any issue. Since the purchaser of the computer is benefiting from getting the unlicensed software, he or she has little incentive to turn the seller into the software police. So in the end it's the seller's decision.

[Dork.]

The basic expectation is that software that comes with a computer (like the original OS discs) should be included with the computer when you sell it (including the original discs). If you're not doing this, make sure you tell the seller, because to be legal they'll have to get their own copy from somewhere.

Software beyond that (like, major OS upgrades and applications) are legal to bundle provided you include the original discs and any documentation you have (and don't keep a copy for yourself ). You definitely want to mention these in your item description, they may increase the value of the auction.

You ought to totally reformat the hard disk on a computer before selling it anyway, so that the buyer doesn't accidentally get any of your personal information. From there, you shoud do a "software restore" from the original OS disks. If you're nice, you can install any additional software you are selling after that. If you're real nice, you could hook the computer up to your network and run Software Update so that the version of the OS has the latest patches. (You may need to reboot and run SW upate again a few times before its totally done).

eBay sometimes pulls auctions for hardware when the sellers are too obvious about saying that they are including software without the original discs. If you decide to do that, just be subtle about it, OK?

[andreas_g4]

Big Mac and Dork. said everything.

OT: I for myself could not stand using a system that I didn't setup myself. Imagine all the "John Does" in your applications etc. Cruel.

[Bandit240]

I get computers all the time that still have programs/info from their last owners. Picked up 2 pre-G3 and a G3 powermacs yesterday that stil had loads of info and software on them. The only software disk that came with them was an OSX cd for version 10.1, yuck. I havent dont anymore with them than boot them to see if they work. Just a few weeks ago i got a 5260 that was loaded with games. The one didnt get its drive erased.

Most of the time i erase the drive and reload an OS to use. If there is software id like to keep, well i keep it. Ill back up to a floppy or ZIP most of the time, but some times i just wont erase the drive. I always try to erase all personal info on the computer.

The iBook i got at a pawnshop still had all the owners info(wasnt stolen, called to be sure), but it had all the stock CD's with it too.

[ghporter]

Either sell the computer with everything that came with it (and use the OS disc to reinstall to factory state) and provide ALL the discs that came with it, or don't sell it. Many times (though not so much with Macs) someone will sell a computer without these discs, and the buyer is stuck having to also buy a copy of the OS, the apps that came with the computer when new, etc. That's bad business, and will cause people not to like you. Give 'em the works!

On a side note, if you're going to sell a Windows computer with the license tag on the case, you MUST provide all the Windows discs that came with the computer; the tag IS the license and separating the two puts the person with the discs in the wrong.