RE: Win_7 / Cubase - Sale & Uninstall (help)

Steinberg Lounge
1

Hi folks,

I am starting a fresh new thread (here) as my previous (related) one has since moved sideways. Not quite sure how this thread might pan out(!), but I do need some advice on pointing myself in the right direction please.

I am thinking about selling privately my Win_7 PC. The reason being is that after 3 x years of many issues arising (and much wasted time and money!), it has become apparent that a DESKTOP PC would be overall more stable and suited towards my wants and needs. I have a Win_8.1 PC which is fine and I will keep this.

The Win_7’s current SPEC is:

Dell Inspiron N5040, Windows 7 Home Premium, 8GB RAM, 2.13gHz, 64-bit, Intel Pentium, Service Pack 1.

I am running film software CAMTASIA 8, and music softwares CUBASE ARTIST 8 and SIBELIUS 7 on it at present.

Therefore, I would like to ask please: obviously, for security reasons, and also because the potential buyer will not want my softwares, I will need to REFORMAT the for sale Win_7. But then, do I sell it without a copy of WINDOWS on? And will this make any difference to the price I can sell it for? And would eBay be the best option for marketplace?

Secondly, regarding CUBASE ARTIST 8, do I have to UNREGISTER it from the PC? As I say, it is already on the Win_8.1 but I know that you are allowed 2 x licenses. I have never done this before so I really do not know how it works (as I have just had CUBASE installed on the Win_7 and Win_8.1 and kept it that way for the past 5 x years or so).

Anyway, I just wanted to get this thread started for now and hope someone is able to advise accordingly (please).

Many thanks in advance . . .

Paul David Seaman

2

As far as Cubase Artist goes, you have one license, not two, and that license is on your dongle, keep your dongle.

Open up the elicenser program and look at the Soft-eLicenser. If there is no license there you are good to go.

You have the right, strictly speaking, to install Cubase on two machines, but in reality you could install it on a thousand machines, and you still could only use one machine at a time, since you have one license on one dongle.

As far as selling your machine, if it has a sticker on it with a Windows 7 Product Key, it goes with the machine.

If it were me I would reformat the machine, reinstall the Windows OS it came with, update it, and be done.

3

Hello Steve,

Thanks very much indeed.

I am still a little confused I am afraid? Does having 1 x LICENSE mean that you can only INSTALL (Cubase Artist 8) on 1 x PC? Or that you can INSTALL it on 2 x PC’s (as I have done over the past half decade), and have it OPEN (running) on BOTH PC’s simultaneously (though I don’t think that is possible because, as you say, I only have 1 x DONGLE)?

And do you mean for me to plug my dongle into the (soon to be sold) Win_7 PC and see if there is a LICENSE on it? Will there be a separate LICENSE (stated on the dongle) for the Win_8.1?

I want to be sure of the process as I am obviously concerned about doing something wrong! :astonished:

Cheers,

Paul

4

But Paul, you are asking me simply to repeat what i posted. Just take it at its literal, face value:

You have one license. It’s irrelevant how many times you install the software.

Go read about the USB elicenser at steinberg.net it’'s all explained there. :slight_smile:

5

Steve,

Ok, cheers. Will do . . .

Paul

6

Hi,

There is no physical sticker on the Win_7 PC. It may have had one on 3 x years ago and since fallen off though! I can’t quite remember.

I was thinking though, what if I skipped on the REFORMAT and just DELETED and UNINSTALLED everything on here? I don’t have a CD with the OS on, and I don’t think you can download Win_7 anymore (only Win_8 upwards)? At least not for FREE.

Thanks,

Paul

7

Why don’t you contact Dell support and ask how to reconfigure your computer to the (new) state it was in when you bought it.
I think it is possible to do that, some machine have a hidden partition from which the system can be recovered.

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Thanks a lot Mauri,

I just phoned DELL thanks. But they want 60GBP to place it back into DEFAULT state.

Cheers,

Paul

9

Hey Paul,

Look here for the procedure with WIN 7.

You can reinstall WIN 7 very easily from microsoft. The only thing you will need is the product key.

http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-recovery

If you ain’t got the product key anymore, then you have no windows 7 anymore. You could try and contact microsoft to send you a copy of the product key, but I’ll guess it is not a good moment for doing this. (release of windows 10 :wink: ) You’ll probably won’t get any kind of answer quickly.

A reformatted PC contains nothing. There is nothing left on the harddrives, so do not worry. No licenses are being left behind. Your licens for cubase is on that little dongle you have, and that is the only place where it is being stored.

The value of the machine is just what it is. It is empty and has no licenses. it is an older machine and a computer looses it’s value completely after 5 years.
An example: i got my machine recently refurbished and it was covered by the insurance company. I lost 60 % of the original value since the machine was 3 years old. So if yours is 5 years old, try to get something out of it, but do not expect too much. It’s a machine that is usefull for someone who is on a very low budget. Let him or her decide what to do with it, and also, don’t give any guarantee on an old machine.

kind regards,
R.

10

That’s great Roel,

Yes, Win_10 is out today!

Thanks a lot for confirming about the eLicensor.

No, I do NOT have the PRODUCT KEY I am afraid. Both times I had to get it REFORMATTED I was charged 50GBP! More money down the drain . . .

I was also thinking of KEEPING Win_7 on, UNINSTALLING all my softwares, and then performing a DISK WIPE (just to be safe/sure) with one of the TOOL’s I have (CC CLEANER / TUNE UP UTILITIES).

It’s a lovely machine and performs beautifully for what it is. However, it just ain’t got the power and boot for what I require! And I accept that it is in my error of judgement that I made this initial purchase in the first instance; I should have opted for DESKTOP when I very first purchased CUBASE ARTIST 6.

I would like to get it up on eBay or Gumtree within the nest week if poss.

Best,

Paul

11

Hi again Mauri,

I phoned DELL again tonight but spoke to a Manager this time:

DELL are sending me a WINDOWS 7 REFORMAT CD this week which should arrive in 7 x working days. It restores it back to FACTORY SETTINGS. So I may used this. Apparently, it is worth 50GBP?!

Would you INCLUDE the CD in the sale of the Win_7 PC? I mean, could it bump up the price a little?

DELL VALUED my Win_7 PC at around 260BGP.

Thanks,

Paul

12

Roel,

I took a couple of screengrabs just out of interest on my WIn_7 and Win_8 PC’s:

win7.jpg
win7.jpg1366×768 194 KB

win8.png
win8.png1600×900 127 KB

Cheers,

Paul

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the screenshots show what is there, but it is sofware shown what is there on your screen
the actual thing is on your dongle

kind regards,
R.

14

Roel,

Cheers man!

Paul