Buy a MacBook with Pre-Loaded Software on eBay

I am thinking of buying a MacBook on eBay. There are alot of deals that say that they come with software preloaded and it just comes with a Leopard disk. My question is, if I buy a used MacBook with Pre-loaded software, is there a way to get the software back when I want to restore? If I made the guy restore it himself and install all the programs and send it to me. Could a make a backup or restore disk of everything including programs?

Thanks
Brian

There shouldn't be any problem if you back the software up (either to an External Drive or DVD).

Time Machine can help if you have an External Drive.

And I wouldn't need serial keys even for programs like office 2008 or Adobe CS3?
Just a backup DVD I made?

bsheehan09 said:

And I wouldn't need serial keys even for programs like office 2008 or Adobe CS3?
Just a backup DVD I made?

Click to expand...

Is the seller not sending them to you?

I think he is. But he won't send me the disks because he needs them. So should I worry?

I'd be a little worried if he's not sending discs. He could've just gotten the software from bittorrent, or bought one license and installed it on a bunch of different computers. That happens more often than I'd like to think on eBay, but it's a reality. If he can't send the discs, be careful that you're not paying for pirated software.

If the seller is installing the software and not sending the discs, then technically, that's a violation of the software EULAs where it explicitly states that you may only install the software on a single machine.

I would suggest asking the guy to simply do a restore and not install anything else as you run the risk of software piracy, which is a serious offense.

I would never buy a Mac without its restore disks. They contain hardware diagnostic tools, they also include the bundled software that comes with each new Mac.

What happens if you have to reinstall the iLife suite? Or if you have to see if a FireWire port is fried?

Without the restore disks, you can't and what you have to do then is contact Apple and buy from them a restore disk kit replacement. So in the end you end up paying again for something that should rightfully be yours.

And there is the legal issue Kash raised in his post.

You should support a seller that is honest and straightforward about what he sells.

Ok thanks guys