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I thought the Windows license was burned into the BIOS, so a reinstall would pick it up automatically?
by shaunpud 1y ago
I thought the Windows license was burned into the BIOS, so a reinstall would pick it up automatically?
- aquova 1y agoThat might be even worse then, you'd be reselling a machine which was licensed under the previous owner's Windows key
- art0rz 1y agoHow is that worse when the key is bound to the hardware and non-transferable anyway?
- master-lincoln 1y agowhy would it be non-transferable?
- tremon 1y agoIn case of OEM, the license is never directly owned by the owner of the machine; the license is tied to the hardware, and you're selling it on with its license key attached. If you activate Windows using a bought license, that license does not get copied into the hardware.
- ergsef 1y agoI worked selling refurb computers and this wasn't the case from Windows 95 - XP. The rise of TPMs and EFI is after that time so it's possible some newer system provides a way of tying licenses to computers, but it's not BIOS.
- jve 1y agoWell, it's been 2 decades so things do have changed. https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/activate-windows-c39005d4-95ee-b91e-b399-2820fda32227 https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/activate-windows... https://superuser.com/questions/1575650/how-does-a-windows-digital-licence-work https://superuser.com/questions/1575650/how-does-a-windows-d...
- mr_toad 1y agohttps://superuser.com/questions/1108151/windows-license-stored-in-uefi-bios#1326147 https://superuser.com/questions/1108151/windows-license-stor...
- izacus 1y agoWindows XP has been launched 23 years ago. Things may have changed inbetween.
- zozbot234 1y agoThe biggest issue right now is really the upcoming EOL of Windows 10. Most of these machines will be old enough (pre Intel 8th gen or Zen 2) that they won't be officially supported by Windows 11.
- theandrewbailey 1y agoI make a note of both in listings where that is applicable.
- layer8 1y agoIt’s not burned into the BIOS, instead Microsoft maintains a database mapping licenses to hardware identifiers. But transferable licenses still exist, and enterprise volume licenses are yet a different beast, so it all depends on what Windows license the PC was originally sold with, if any.
- FirmwareBurner 1y ago>It’s not burned into the BIOS, instead Microsoft maintains a database mapping licenses to hardware identifiers. Wrong. IT IS 100% stored in the UEFI firmware, specifically ACPI tables, MSDM field. Only if that exists, it is then verified on-line for activation to make sure the license is genuine and matches the device ID you're referring to for witch the license was sold(typically for OEM) or if it's portable.[1] On linux you should be retrieve the license via something like: sudo strings /sys/firmware/acpi/tables/MSDM OR sudo acpidump | grep MSDM [1] https://www.cyberciti.biz/faq/linux-find-windows-10-oem-product-key-command/ https://www.cyberciti.biz/faq/linux-find-windows-10-oem-prod...
- mr_toad 1y agoIt’s in the ACPI tables, in ACPI Non-Volatile RAM (NVRAM), not the BIOS. An home user might be able to active it, but the repair shop probably can’t legally.
- tremon 1y agoIf it's tied to the hardware, there is no valid reason why the repair shop wouldn't be able to activate it -- a repair shop will use the same public license servers as consumers will. Btw ACPI is a specification, not a separate piece of hardware. ACPI tables are stored in BIOS nvram, there is no other place for it to go.
- theandrewbailey 1y agoOn most machines we sell that's probably the case. I don't know of anything that stops me from linking people to the official Windows installation media on Microsoft's site, so I do that even on the listing.