Nine Dell diskies hanging on a wall...

June 4, 2006 10:04 AM

What to do with eight free, unused, uneeded and perfectly legal discs of Windows ME?

You may remember I was the gal with the Dell fiasco and the lack of backing up of 10 years of data... Anyway, I was waiting for Dell to send me a copy of Windows for a reinstall, and lo, didn't NINE identical packages arrive in the post. Naturally I'll be using one for the reinstall, but now I'm at a loss as what to do with the others.

The devil on one shoulder says for me to sell them on ebay [prolly gettin arrested in the process], and/or otherwise profit and get back at The Man. The angel on the other shoulder announces I verrily have eight new coasters - either that or I should bin them or return them to Dell. The stubborn side of me really doesn't want to do the last option - it ain't my fault the PC broke in the first place. My orifices complain they don't want to be raped if I go to jail for... however they'd term the crime, if I profited.

So, what would YOU do? And what's the going rate of these discs?

posted by Chorus to computers & internet (33 comments total)

It's Windows ME. I'm afraid their market value is going to be approximately that of a free AOL disk.
posted by majick at 10:08 AM on June 4, 2006

Windows ME? save the world some trouble - trash them all and consider it your good deed for the day.
posted by ab3 at 10:09 AM on June 4, 2006

Their value is zero.
If you did sell them on Ebay, nothing would happen to you.
posted by atrazine at 10:11 AM on June 4, 2006

Make a very pretty mobile for the kiddies.
posted by goo at 10:12 AM on June 4, 2006

Wait. I just checked your previous question in which you said that the PC is only a few months old.
Are you sure that the disks are Windows ME and not Windows XP?
posted by atrazine at 10:15 AM on June 4, 2006

The devil on one shoulder says for me to sell them on ebay

The devil in me suggests that you give them to someone you hate who needs an OS.
posted by Tuwa at 10:15 AM on June 4, 2006

There's a reason it's called Mistake Edition, and they actually shipped it for about a week and a half. Which was over several years ago.
If they really are ME, I don't think you have a moral dilemma here, I don't think anyone wants them.
posted by unrepentanthippie at 10:20 AM on June 4, 2006

Donate to a charity such as the Salvation Army or Goodwill. They can always resell them in their stores or get them to someone who needs them (skills training for the homeless and unemployed). That way, a charity can help others with it, and you can even take the tax deduction for the value of the donated software.
posted by galimatias at 10:21 AM on June 4, 2006

Ha ha - wow I feel stupid.

Windows XP Media Center Edition, not ME.

Ah ha ha... heh [hangs head]
posted by Chorus at 10:22 AM on June 4, 2006

They go for a surprisingly large amount of money on eBay (as does Windows ME, strangely enough) -- try a completed items search to see. If you do sell them, though, make sure you state they're OEM, otherwise you might get some annoyed buyers.
posted by reklaw at 10:28 AM on June 4, 2006

Media Center, Ill take a copy. :)
posted by psyward at 10:36 AM on June 4, 2006

sorry, i didnt read the whole post.

I would just send them back to dell C.O.D.
posted by psyward at 10:37 AM on June 4, 2006

Did Dell actually ship you licenses for all the disks?
posted by D_I at 10:41 AM on June 4, 2006

Dell probably paid pennies for licenses to each of those. Their shipping error, your gain.
posted by geoff. at 11:03 AM on June 4, 2006

Are you sure these are full licensed copies? The ones Dell sends tend to be OEM copies, and the OEM license specifically ties it to the specific piece of hardware which it was originally installed on. Or put differently, do each of these CDs have a unique CDkey with them? Because selling someone a Windows disk without a valid CDkey (that's not in use already by someone else) is worthless and probably illegal.
posted by Rhomboid at 11:14 AM on June 4, 2006

I'll gladly take one off your hands to lessen the burden of carrying them all the way over to ebayshire.
posted by paxton at 11:54 AM on June 4, 2006

What the hell, I'll take one off your hands too. LOL
posted by bim at 12:06 PM on June 4, 2006

Hey, I've got a dead-broke friend--not me; I'm a Mac person--who needs a working Windows-flavor OS to get her computer back into shape. It's at the point where I'd tell her to nuke and pave it and start afresh, but it's a castoff from her father, who has previously "gifted" her with a Dodge Omni that he had done engine work on...with twigs and duct tape. (I think this was the one that launched a spark plug through the hood shortly thereafter.) So of course it has no system discs to speak of.

But ebay's not a bad idea either. Just so long as you stick it to the man! Stick it, I say!
posted by Vervain at 12:29 PM on June 4, 2006

If they have licenses, don't they inherently have the value of.. Full XP cost - XP upgrade cost - Inconvenience factor? I wonder if Vista Upgrade will allow upgrades from ME.. if so, they're worth a lot more.
posted by wackybrit at 12:37 PM on June 4, 2006

Like D_I and Rhomboid mentioned....did they actually send you a valid product key w/ each cd? I know for my Dell laptop, the XP key is actaully on a sticker on the bottom of it. And quite frankly, when it comes to Windows, the Product Key is the key to a valid install (pun intended). As long as the version (pro, corp, me) matches, I can go download a XP ISO and use my key to install it.

I'm guessing these aren't worth anything...
posted by blind.wombat at 12:40 PM on June 4, 2006

Sell them to Ask.Mefi members of course! With a generous discount :)
posted by jackofsaxons at 12:55 PM on June 4, 2006

They almost surely aren't licensed. The license is with the computer...so I second the shinny mobile for the kiddies.
posted by jduckles at 12:56 PM on June 4, 2006

Software companies tend to contend that the disk itself is meaningless, and you are bound by the EULA they wrote up when you try to use the software (which, of course, usually involves giving them your first born and left leg.) How much courts agree with this depends on where you are in the U.S.

Some random links:
[earlier mefi thread.] [wikipedia]
[Story about a guy who got entangled with MS in a lawsuit after trying to eBay legitimately purchased MS software, and won]

However, to me, It doesn't stand up, to even superficial ethical reasoning, that you are entitled to sell these copies, since you didn't 'buy' them. They're probably not even properly boxed.
posted by blenderfish at 1:28 PM on June 4, 2006

They're probably Dell OEM CDs. They'll probably install on any Dell box. I've used Dell XP Pro SP2 CDs that came with a random Dell laptop to build up a new desktop box. (yes, we have licenses. This was all perfectly legit - even Dell told me it was.)

They're going to be useless to anyone that doesn't have a Dell box with XP Media Center Edition. You might try to find a school or something that could use them. Put an ad on Craigslist. Or just toss them.

Trying to sell them is a silly idea. You won't profit, and "The Man" won't even notice.
posted by drstein at 1:50 PM on June 4, 2006

Hmm, on closer inspection it seems that one DOES need the product code thingy from the PC to get these to work - what a pity.

So - a game of frisbee anyone?
posted by Chorus at 1:51 PM on June 4, 2006

And I am kidding with "The Man" nonsense...
posted by Chorus at 1:53 PM on June 4, 2006

From a licensing standpoint it's not how many disks you have, it's how many licenses. Do each of the disks have their own serial number? Are they recovery disks that will only work on DELL computers?

Windows ME is the bastard child of the windows line anyway, windows 98 CDs would actually be more usefull, and so I can't imagine they'd be worth the trouble.

On the other hand, unlike XP you can install the same serial numbered CD on multiple machines.

I don't think you would get arrested for doing this at all, but eBay might pull your auction.
posted by delmoi at 1:58 PM on June 4, 2006

Oops, I should have read the whole thread. Unlike ME, XP needs to be 'activated', which means you can only use the CDs on one (or maybe two) computers.

If they all have license keys, its possible DELL shipped you 9 equally valid licensed CDs. If so, sell them.
posted by delmoi at 2:00 PM on June 4, 2006

Why punish a company for their shipping error? Call Dell and tell them what happened and see what they suggest.
posted by richardhay at 5:51 PM on June 4, 2006

I'll take them! I use CDs for all sorts of big projects! My email's in my profile--matt at the dot net of fandango.
posted by fandango_matt at 8:30 PM on June 4, 2006

Burn them.
posted by cellphone at 12:41 AM on June 5, 2006

Have you ever seen what a CD does when you microwave it?

Do it label side up. Spectacular. But make sure your kitchen windows are open, and your doors are shut.
posted by flabdablet at 4:18 AM on June 5, 2006

Hate to sound like everyone else, but if you're absolutely going to get rid of them, I'd gladly take one. I'll pay for shipping, too!
posted by ThFullEffect at 2:37 PM on June 5, 2006