What should i install on a pc ima sell

[huntsman]

hey guys well i have a few computers laying around that i dont use, so i put everything together and made a working pc, Only problem is i dont know what OS i should put on it. Right now i have linux but people dont use that alot and i think if i said that it has windows xp or 7 people would want to buy it since not alot of people know how to use linux.

question is how should i install it i was thinking of a 30 day trial but i cant find one to download

or a copy of windows xp but you wont be able to do downloads as then it says windows is not genuine but would that be okay to sell or is it illegal.


any ideas on what i can do ?

thanks

 

[zucchini]

I would give them an oem copy of windows 7 with the computer. just add it in the price.

 

[Jonmor68]

There is no such thing as a trial version of Windows. So your options are limited, either you buy an OEM version of Windows and add it to the selling price, or sell it without Windows.
The 30 days you are thinking about, is the time Microsoft allows you before you need to activate the product and it becomes unusable.
As a reseller of pc's, when you load a version of Windows on a pc, you are required to attach the sticker with the product key on the front or rear of the case.

 

[huntsman]

ah i see well, see i was thinking of starting like a very small business i guess just like selling some older computers and parts and stuff like that, so how can i make a profit in that.

this is the pc specs

intel pentium 4 2.4ghz
1gb ddr pc2700
geforce fx5500 256mb
380watt psu
two 40gb ide hard drives
1 dvd /cd burner/reader and 1 dvd/cd reader
and floppy.
and a mother board didnt check what company it is yet.

but thats the pc that i finished putting together and want to sell, but i see my best bet would be to sell it with linux as an oem windows 7 is 100 bucks plus tax, so say sell the pc by itself some where around 100 - 120 bucks and then with windows like 250 ? but i dont think anyone would buy it for that price.

 

[Shadow703793]

There is no such thing as a trial version of Windows. So your options are limited, either you buy an OEM version of Windows and add it to the selling price, or sell it without Windows.
The 30 days you are thinking about, is the time Microsoft allows you before you need to activate the product and it becomes unusable.
As a reseller of pc's, when you load a version of Windows on a pc, you are required to attach the sticker with the product key on the front or rear of the case.

Actually that is not true. You can install an RC version of 7 or you can install Server 2008 R2 for 180 days: http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2008/en/us/trial-software.aspx

You can re-arm it for up to 1 year.

 

[geofelt]

I think you will get more by selling off the parts individually on ebay . Check it out.

 

[Shadow703793]

^ Agreed. This is usually the case, but it takes about 4x longer to sell every thing.

 

[geofelt]

^ Agreed. This is usually the case, but it takes about 4x longer to sell every thing.

On ebay it takes a week. If you price a part properly(check completed listings) and you describe it accurately it you can get a fair price. I find that sellers on craig's list overprice their goods.

 

[huntsman]

i wouldnt say that cuz if you look you can find some good deals, i found a ati hd4890 for 60 bucks that was a while back but i should of gotten it.

 

[Jonmor68]

Actually that is not true. You can install an RC version of 7 or you can install Server 2008 R2 for 180 days: http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2008/en/us/trial-software.aspx

You can re-arm it for up to 1 year.

The RC has expired and yes you could install the server version, but you will have very ticked off customer when he can no longer use his pc. While those in the know can use tricks like re-arm, most end users don't wan't to do anything but use their pc.

 

[Shadow703793]

^ :lol: I can just imagine some one trying to install AV software on Server 08....

FYI: Consumer versions of most AV software refuse to run on Server OSes as the manufacturers want to sell the higher priced ones for servers.

 

[huntsman]

well been going through linuxes and havent really found one that would be good to sell with the pc, these are the ones i tried linux mint, ubuntu and pclinuxos lxde, i would have to say pclinuxos is the best one so far kinda disappointed.

 

[kaa0653]

There is a trial of Windows 7 also but I wouldn't recommend going that route.

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/evalcenter/cc442495.aspx

As others said oem copy of windows or sell it for parts are probably your best bet.

 

[MechaNintendoMaster]

With those older parts you might just wanna sell it for parts. How many people would want a fresh Windows 7 with old parts?

If you do install windows it might run better with XP.

 

[huntsman]

actually ima stick to linux and i think i have found the right one, linux opensuse 11.3 i only played around a lil bit with it today and it looks good ima mess around some more but seems like its a keeper, think ima stick with this os.

and whats a reasonable price for the pc ? like 110 bucks

 

[Shadow703793]

^ That's exactly what I was going to suggest you look in to. Also try Fedora.

As for price $100 seems reasonable.

 

[huntsman]

sounds good haha and yup fedora was my last one to check out if i didint like the opensuse but so far opensuse is great. thanks for all the help guys

 

[huntsman]

well now i came across some problems, opensuse doesnt automatically mount cd/dvd drives you have to put the cd in and then restart and then it will see it, also it wont play music or movies i have to download some plug ins or some crap like that, and it doesnt see my wireless usb as well.

So think i might go back to linux mint as it does pretty much everything automatically.

or maybe ill sell it in parts then i wont have to deal with what os to use, think ill try that.

because i dont want to sell a pc that has problems doing basic things il feel bad for the person and i know i wouldnt be happy if i bought one that i needed to tweak in order to do simple tasks.

 

[huntsman]

actually im confused i dont know what i want to do anymore i want to get into a business in selling pc, parts and repairing them but i dont really think anyone needs old parts like this and i dont know how to go about starting a business, should i just sell hard drives at first and then when i get costumers start selling different things or what any help would be nice sorry for turning this into a business thread i just need some help.

 

[Shadow703793]

selling pc, parts and repairing them but i dont really think anyone needs old parts like this and i dont know how to go about starting a business,

I have done custom builds since I was 13 (Got A+ cert then btw) starting with family,etc and I have now moved on to more customers and some serious pro level hardware (ie 2P systems). I don't do repairs or deal with any individual hardware sales (ie. I don't sell single HDDs). I only sell systems. I only build it once I get the order and they have paid for the parts. I charge $60-100 for a basic build with OS install,AV install,etc. I charge extra for OCing and water cooling. I ONLY provide warranty for hardware failure. I do not offer any software help,etc unless it has something to do with the hardware (ie. upgrading firmware). A don't charge people for simple upgrades (ie RAM upgrades) for the life of the system. However, I do charge if they want an upgrade like water cooling,etc.

And I don't sell to stupid people. Seriously. I WILL NOT sell PCs to completely clueless people. The headache with dealing with this type of people are not worth my time and I don't want these people to call me 24/7. My customers are either Sys Admins, DBAs, engineers, photo/vid editors,etc; basically people who know PCs pretty well but don't have the time to mess with OCing, keeping track of the latest tech,etc.

I NEVER run cheap cr@p on my customers builds. Period. If they insist on some cr@ppy PSU,etc I do not consider them to be a customer and basically tell them to GTFO.Hence why I have over 100+ system builds done and I have yet to have a system fail due to hardware issue.

I do not advertise. I get customers by word of mouth (and many will tell you this is the best kind of advertising) and I do not ship systems out of state .

This is how I run my business. Since I do make a decent profit per year I do get taxed This is NOT meant as a primary money making way. I do this as a side job/business and I make a decent amount every year to pay for my PC upgrades,etc. But since I'm in college now I do have to start paying my loans (less interest that way). I can pay about 2/3 of the loans by what I make every year. Also realize that I live in a pretty well off area and isn't/wasn't really affected by the recession and there are a lot of IT jobs in this area. I did get hit a bit, but not much.

 

[Shadow703793]

selling pc, parts and repairing them but i dont really think anyone needs old parts like this and i dont know how to go about starting a business,

I have done custom builds since I was 13 (Got A+ cert then btw) starting with family,etc and I have now moved on to more customers and some serious pro level hardware (ie 2P systems). I don't do repairs or deal with any individual hardware sales (ie. I don't sell single HDDs for people to buy). I only sell systems. I only build it once I get the order and they have paid for the parts. I charge $100+ for a basic build with OS install,AV install,etc. I charge extra for OCing and water cooling. I ONLY provide warranty for hardware failure. I do not offer any software help,etc unless it has something to do with the hardware (ie. upgrading firmware). And don't charge people for simple upgrades (ie RAM upgrades) for the life of the system. However, I do charge if they want an upgrade from air to water cooling,etc.

And I don't sell to stupid people. Seriously. I WILL NOT sell PCs to completely clueless people. The headache with dealing with this type of people are not worth my time and I don't want these people to call me 24/7. My customers are either Sys Admins, DBAs, engineers, photo/vid editors,etc; basically people who know PCs pretty well but don't have the time to mess with OCing, keeping track of the latest tech,etc.

I NEVER run cheap cr@p on my customers builds. Period. If they insist on some cr@ppy PSU,etc I do not consider them to be a customer and basically tell them to GTFO.Hence why I have over 200+ system builds done and I have yet to have a system fail due to hardware issue.

I do not advertise. I get customers by word of mouth and I do not ship systems out of state (and many will tell you this is the best kind of advertising).

This is how I run my business. Since I do make a decent profit per year I do get taxed This is NOT meant as a primary money making way. I do this as a side job/business and I make a decent amount every year to pay for my PC upgrades,etc. But since I'm in college now I do have to start paying my loans (less interest that way). I can pay about 2/3 of the loans by what I make. Also realize that I live in a pretty well off area and isn't/wasn't really affected by the recession.

 

[Shadow703793]

[strike]^ i see what you did there. GTFO with your advertising. [/strike]
edit: This was directed at a spammer who's post was deleted.

 

[huntsman]

lol ok so from what i see its not worth selling parts unless their new same with the pc i guess theres no business in selling old parts and old computers, i see the only way would be how you said it to built specific rigs. The person can buy all the parts and ill put it together and install all the drivers. That and computer repairs could get me started.

 

[Shadow703793]

The person can buy all the parts and ill put it together and install all the drivers. That and computer repairs could get me started.

Sounds like a plan to me. Go for it. And good luck.

Word of caution: People will get to annoy you after a while. NEVER give out your personal number. Use a Google number. This way you can change the number if you get annoyed. I made this mistake and hence why I don't deal with the "average" consumer anymore.

 

[huntsman]

thanks for that tip