Is it possible to sell the Windows activation key that was included with your computer for use on a different machine? Are you aware of how to retrieve it?
One important factor to take into account when buying a new laptop is whether or not it has an operating system. In many cases we will find Windows pre-installed, which of course directly affects its price. But what happens if we have purchased a computer with Windows pre-installed but we want that computer to install another operating system?
Whether it’s because we prefer to install an open-source operating system like Linux, we don’t really need this Windows. At this point, some of you may be wondering if it’s possible to sell a license for the system we don’t need. First of all, we should keep in mind that the Home edition of Windows 11, for example, currently costs around $150 and is the most popular.
From there, if the computer comes with the Pro version preinstalled, it costs over $200.
However, contrary to what we might initially think, selling these Windows keys or licenses is not that simple. We must bear in mind that in most cases we will find ourselves with an OEM-type license. This is already implemented in the computer itself when we buy it.
Basically, this means that this Windows operating system is already tied to the computers we just purchased. Therefore, it will not work on other computers, even if we provide its activation serial to the potential buyer.
We have the possibility to contact Microsoft itself to try to deactivate this license so that we can use it on another device or sell it, although we can assure you that the process is not worth the effort, and in most cases we will not be able to do so.
Basically, with all this, what we want to tell you is that if we are not going to use Windows when buying a new PC, it is better to make it clear to the store where we want to buy it. This way we save money in advance, since selling said license later will be practically possible.
To extract the Windows activation serial from your computer, read this article: Extract all the serials on your computer for programs and Windows with the click of a button