Hello,

Please I want to ask you if I am allowed to install Linux OS in an old computer that I bought with windows7 pre-installed. and affixed on it windows7 sticker and serial number.


And do Microsoft prevents users from installing a different operating system than windows ?

Thanks in advance.

Welcome to LQ and the concept of Freedom and Free Software!

Ask yourself, "Do I own the computer, or does M$?".

If you own it then NEVER ask anyone else what the allowed use is. Use it as best meets your needs, consistent with respect for how that use may affect others in any real way.

Never ask permission to do that which is possible and helpful to yourself or to others. Install Linux on it if it is possible.

If it works then enjoy the exercise of Freedom to use it for your own benefit. If it doesn't work, ask here for help to make it work!

A good place to start is to post here the make and model of the computer, and basic parameters such as CPU, amount of memory and size of hard drive. Be sure to mention whether it actually works or not with the version of that other stuff installed.

Good luck, and as Neo said, "Free your mind"!

3 members found this post helpful.

You would need to disable secure boot if your chosen Linux distribuiton does not support it. Otherwise, no barrier.

I kinda suspect that you need to tell us more about the computer. It will usually be easy to do once we find out more.

Moved: This thread is more suitable in <Linux - General> and has been moved accordingly to help your thread/question get the exposure it deserves.

Just to point out, Microsoft have never stopped users from installing a different operating system. There is no such thing as "a windows computer".

IIRC, windows 7 was pre-uefi anyhow. It's evidently an old box; but the question is a valid noob question as people who are windows indoctrinated will try to indoctrinate others.

I currently have two computers running, and a coupe more in storage. They all run Linux. They all came with Windows.
If I had one now, I would swap out the hard drive to preserve the Windows install (just in case) and install Linux on the new drive. If you have no reason to preserve the version of Windows, then that may be overkill.

Have fun, and welcome to the jungle! ;-)

Thank you all for your answers.

What I would like to know is if my computer use would be legal if I use Linux instead of windows. And I want to respect the rights of others.

Yes.

You haven't provided your location, but afaik there are no laws anywhere against using Linux-based OSes.


If it is your computer, you can use/install whatever software you like on it. (Either in addition to or instead of what is currently there.)

Doing so might invalidate warranty of the place you bought it from, but that doesn't make it illegal, it merely affects where you might get support from.

(If it is not your computer, you would need to obtain permission from the owner, and it is theoretically possible to perform illegal acts with any OS/computer, as is the case for any tool, but that doesn't make using an OS illegal.)


If this (and the above posts) haven't clarified things, you should give more context about what/why you're asking.

The point is that Windows belongs to Microsoft. It is their property and remains so even after you have "bought" it. What you actually buy when you have Windows on your computer is simply the right to use it in accordance with Microsoft's End User Licensing Agreement (EULA). So, for example, you are not allowed to copy Windows and pass the copies around. However your computer as a physical object does not belong to Microsoft. It belongs to you alone because you bought it. You are therefore completely free to run Linux (or BSD for that matter) on it alongside Windows or instead of Windows.

Linux does not belong to a company. It is issued under the GNU Public Licence (GPL) which you can find here. As you can see, you are allowed to do more or less what you like with GPL software including copying it and passing the copies along to others. The only thing you are not allowed to do is to reduce the rights of anyone downstream from you. So if you give Linux to anyone, they have exactly the same rights as you. And you have exactly the same rights as the owners of whatever site you copied Linux from.

2 members found this post helpful.

Microsoft has never manufactured and/or sold computers but they have written software to be used as an operating system. Just because windows is or has been pre-installed on it doesn't make it a windows or microsoft compter. Most often, this comes from the fact that many if not most manufacturers of computers (HP, Dell, Toshiba, Lenovo, etc.) only warrant the system preinstalled which is almost always windows. This is generally a one year warranty so it's not related to microsoft/windows but to the manufacturer. Since the only problem is the masnufacturer warranty and you have windows 7, your warranty has long expired.

You can read the EULA referred to above by opening a command prompt on windows or powershell if you have that, and type in license.rtf.

@yancek

I think you'll find they make the Microsoft Surface range.

Just saying...

Play Bonny!

1 members found this post helpful.

They used to make a lot of mice too.

None of which were Windows specific.