Windows 7 on E-Bay

$25 to $35 for Home Premium.

HERE is Windows 7 Pro for $40.

Home Premium would be more than adequate to run media servers.

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You didn't have this in OP...

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No I didn't because I'm not interested in opinions about the applications I'm going to run. I'm asking whether the deal on e-bay is a scam.

You're interested in putting a hard drive you bought on Ebay into your home network...

Why go past this point

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You're interested in putting a hard drive you bought on Ebay into your home network...

Why go past this point

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I'm done.

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I know there was a win 8 hate-train for a good reason, most of those reasons were fixed with 8.1,

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One of the things I want to run is Windows Media Center which is an extra-cost option in Win 8.

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My understanding... Someone correct me if I am wrong...

Legally, for an OEM copy to be legit, it has to be sold with new hardware, and can only ever be used with that hardware. Example... You buy a computer from Dell with Windows and that Windows license is only good for that machine.

Nothing can stop you from putting it on different hardware though.

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You can buy OEM licenses without buying hardware, but you can't resell them without hardware because they are meant for system builders only, to be sold to end users that aren't yourself. But the rules are the same in terms of only being allowed to use the OEM license in one "computer."

What is fuzzy is how Microsoft determines what constitutes a different computer. For example, if I decided to move from my socket 1150/4770K to Socket 2011-3/5820K, it's the equivalent of replacing an entire nervous system, but it's still my computer. Apparently, Microsoft uses some sort of algorithm, that's not widely known, to determine whether replacing a component deems your PC as new. Re-activation alerts can be triggered if you replace one or more of a few different components, with the motherboard/CPU combo being the most likely to make Windows Activation Technology (WAT) go "hmm, are you installing this OEM license on multiple PCs?"

When I sold PCs as a side business, I used OEM copies of Windows 7 (and XP prior to that), and I only encountered an issue one time. I had to replace a customer's motherboard under warranty. For the sake of time, I generally ordered an identical replacement and dealt with the RMA on my own time, but this time I had to order an entirely different brand because the ASUS was on backorder. At the same time, the customer asked me to go ahead and upgrade him to an SSD. Not sure if the act of doing one or the other, or both, triggered WAT, but all I had to do was reactivate over the internet.

I've read that there is a window of a few days to reactivate before you have to call Microsoft and do it "manually." I imagine this only involves explaining to them that you had to replace a part or upgrade a machine for a customer.

As for buying it on eBay, sellers can get in a lot of trouble for breaking Microsoft's rules about selling Windows licenses, so perhaps you're sort of protected under the blanket of eBay/Paypal's overzealous buyer protection, the power of credit card chargebacks, and the fear of God that Microsoft instills in its OEM sellers.

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sell the software bundled with used hard drives

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Future OP

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Help ! Someone hacked my home PC

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Or you can just use the loader by daz.

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Fine for me, but I had to do it the legal way with customers.