Take a look at our
ThinkPads.com HOME PAGE
For those who might want to contribute to the blog, start here: Editors Alley Topic
Then contact Bill with a Private Message

Buying an ebay Thinkpad without HD but has COA: procedures?

Performance, hardware, software, general buying and gaming discussion..
Post Reply
Message
Author
GarageBoy
Posts: 25
Joined: Tue Aug 11, 2009 6:50 pm
Location: Brooklyn, NY

Buying an ebay Thinkpad without HD but has COA: procedures?

#1 Post by GarageBoy » Mon Dec 19, 2011 2:01 pm

Just making sure I can do this
If I pick up an ebay Thinkpad, sans OS and HD, but with COA sticker, I'll need to buy a HD/SSD, drop it in the caddy, drop the whole thing in, call up Lenovo, order recovery CDs and put that in and I'm done?
Thanks!

RealBlackStuff
Admin Emeritus
Admin Emeritus
Posts: 23809
Joined: Mon Sep 18, 2006 5:17 am
Location: Loch Garman, Éire

Re: Buying an ebay Thinkpad without HD but has COA: procedures?

#2 Post by RealBlackStuff » Mon Dec 19, 2011 2:16 pm

Depending on how old your 'new' Thinkpad will be, Lenovo might not sell any more Recovery CDs for your wanted model.
But put an ad in the Marketplace Forum (WTB = want to buy), specifying for what model and what OS.
Using official recovery CDs (or copies thereof) you don't need the COA of the laptop, those CDs have a built-in volume license.
Lovely day for a Guinness! (The Real Black Stuff)
Lenovo: X240, X250, T440p, T480, M900 Tiny.

PS: the old Boardroom website is still available on the Wayback Machine
.

Neil
Senior ThinkPadder
Senior ThinkPadder
Posts: 3074
Joined: Sun Aug 07, 2005 5:41 pm
Location: Paragould AR USA

Re: Buying an ebay Thinkpad without HD but has COA: procedures?

#3 Post by Neil » Mon Dec 19, 2011 6:42 pm

Or, if you can borrow an OEM (OEM only, not retail, VL, etc.) XP disc, you can install a plain vanilla OS using the license key on the bottom. But, you will have to activate the OEM with Microsoft, and you don't have to with Recovery discs.
Collection = T430 - T500 - R400 - X300 - T61 (14" WXGA+) - R61 (15" SXGA+) - T60 - X40 - T43p - T43 - T42p - A30P

GarageBoy
Posts: 25
Joined: Tue Aug 11, 2009 6:50 pm
Location: Brooklyn, NY

Re: Buying an ebay Thinkpad without HD but has COA: procedures?

#4 Post by GarageBoy » Wed Dec 21, 2011 7:36 am

Thanks
I'm considering an X61 of some sort

emtee3511
Senior Member
Senior Member
Posts: 846
Joined: Mon Jan 21, 2008 1:40 pm
Location: Rockwall, Texas

Re: Buying an ebay Thinkpad without HD but has COA: procedures?

#5 Post by emtee3511 » Wed Dec 21, 2011 10:01 am

Have you seen this? http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=94938

It's a pretty good deal considering the recent upgrades/new battery, etc. and seller's drop in original asking price
emtee3511
X201 3680-AL6 + X200 7459-BW3 (Glossy)
+ X1 Carbon-Gen 6 20KH-002JUS + X1 Carbon-Gen 3 20BS-S22-A00
+ X1 Carbon-Gen 3 20BS-S22-A00 + X1 Carbon-Gen 3 20BS-S0Y-500
+ X1 Carbon-Gen 2 20A8-SOU-U00
+ W520-4276-37U + P51s 20JY-000AUS

bill bolton
Admin Emeritus
Admin Emeritus
Posts: 3848
Joined: Thu Sep 01, 2005 10:09 am
Location: Sydney, Australia - Best Address on Earth!

Re: Buying an ebay Thinkpad without HD but has COA: procedures?

#6 Post by bill bolton » Wed Dec 21, 2011 5:05 pm

RealBlackStuff wrote:Using official recovery CDs (or copies thereof) you don't need the COA of the laptop, those CDs have a built-in volume license.
A Microsoft VLK licence requires that a genuine Microsoft COA with a unique key is attached to the device to be legal :idea:

jdrou
Senior Member
Senior Member
Posts: 670
Joined: Tue Feb 10, 2009 6:15 pm
Location: Madison Heights, MI

Re: Buying an ebay Thinkpad without HD but has COA: procedures?

#7 Post by jdrou » Wed Dec 21, 2011 5:43 pm

bill bolton wrote: A Microsoft VLK licence requires that a genuine Microsoft COA with a unique key is attached to the device to be legal :idea:
Yes but I think his point was that you don't need to enter the key with a recovery disk.
And technically it isn't a VLK but a pre-activated OEM key (still legally requires a CoA sticker).
Current Thinkpads:
X31, X40, X61T, X61, X201, X220 (i7 IPS), W520 (FHD), T440p (FHD),
T480 (QHD)
Dells: Latitude C840, Precision M70, Precision M4400, M6400 (WUXGA), M6600, M6700, 7730, XPS 13
Daily driver: MS Surface Pro 7 (i7)

bill bolton
Admin Emeritus
Admin Emeritus
Posts: 3848
Joined: Thu Sep 01, 2005 10:09 am
Location: Sydney, Australia - Best Address on Earth!

Re: Buying an ebay Thinkpad without HD but has COA: procedures?

#8 Post by bill bolton » Thu Dec 22, 2011 6:07 pm

jdrou wrote:And technically it isn't a VLK but a pre-activated OEM key (still legally requires a CoA sticker).
There is no such thing as a pre-activated OEM key. The factory image key used by Lenovo is a VLK associated with a SLIC (System Licensed Internal Code) in the BIOS...... all systems from the factory have the same key.

Cheers,

Bill

jdrou
Senior Member
Senior Member
Posts: 670
Joined: Tue Feb 10, 2009 6:15 pm
Location: Madison Heights, MI

Re: Buying an ebay Thinkpad without HD but has COA: procedures?

#9 Post by jdrou » Sat Dec 24, 2011 9:32 pm

Yes all systems from the same vendor use the same key but it is still an OEM key; if you extract the key from a pre-installed XP system (using keyfinder etc.) you can use that key to install from a generic OEM CD. Volume license keys do not work on OEM CDs or vice versa.
Current Thinkpads:
X31, X40, X61T, X61, X201, X220 (i7 IPS), W520 (FHD), T440p (FHD),
T480 (QHD)
Dells: Latitude C840, Precision M70, Precision M4400, M6400 (WUXGA), M6600, M6700, 7730, XPS 13
Daily driver: MS Surface Pro 7 (i7)

bill bolton
Admin Emeritus
Admin Emeritus
Posts: 3848
Joined: Thu Sep 01, 2005 10:09 am
Location: Sydney, Australia - Best Address on Earth!

Re: Buying an ebay Thinkpad without HD but has COA: procedures?

#10 Post by bill bolton » Sun Dec 25, 2011 3:14 am

jdrou wrote:pre-installed XP system
The target Thinkpad was nominated as an x61, which implies Vista. What you describe is simply wrong for Vista and Win 7.

Cheers,

Bill B.

jdrou
Senior Member
Senior Member
Posts: 670
Joined: Tue Feb 10, 2009 6:15 pm
Location: Madison Heights, MI

Re: Buying an ebay Thinkpad without HD but has COA: procedures?

#11 Post by jdrou » Mon Dec 26, 2011 7:07 pm

bill bolton wrote: The target Thinkpad was nominated as an x61, which implies Vista. What you describe is simply wrong for Vista and Win 7.
My X61 CTO came with XP but yes Vista/7 use a somewhat different system. I'm fairly certain that Vista/7 OEM SLP keys are still not volume license keys even though just like the XP OEM SLP keys they are used across all systems from the same vendor.
Current Thinkpads:
X31, X40, X61T, X61, X201, X220 (i7 IPS), W520 (FHD), T440p (FHD),
T480 (QHD)
Dells: Latitude C840, Precision M70, Precision M4400, M6400 (WUXGA), M6600, M6700, 7730, XPS 13
Daily driver: MS Surface Pro 7 (i7)

Post Reply
  • Similar Topics
    Replies
    Views
    Last post

Return to “Thinkpad - General HARDWARE/SOFTWARE questions”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 48 guests