Should I buy an Off-Lease Computer with an empty hard drive?

Some companies lease computers for a specific number of months instead of buying. At the end of the lease, typically a couple of years, the company returns the computers and other leased equipment to the leasing company. Off-lease computer hard drives are generally erased or removed completely from the computer to protect confidential data. When you see someone on the Internet or eBay selling a bunch of computers that are the same model and are a couple of years old, they're probably off-lease computers.

Before you buy, be sure you understand the terms of the sale. For example, what is the general condition of the off-lease computer that you want to buy? Will the seller allow you to return it if it is not in the condition advertised or if you can't get the computer to work? Does the seller have a good reputation or a high feedback rating if you're buying on eBay?

If the seller is including a system restore disk or an operating system disk and driver disk, that's great. You're in luck! You'll probably need only to start the computer with each of the included discs and follow instructions on the screen to restore the computer's hard drive to it's original factory condition.

If the sale includes no disks at all, which is typical for off-lease computer sales, then you'll need to do a little bit of digging to find the software drivers and the correct operating system for that particular computer. Off-lease computers are often sold with a Microsoft Certificate of Authenticity (COA) sticker intact somewhere on the computer's case. On laptop or notebook computers, the COA sticker is on the underside.

The Microsoft COA sticker describes the originally installed operating system, but even more importantly, the Microsoft COA sticker includes a valid unique Product Key that will allow you to legally install a new copy of Windows even if you've borrowed the Windows discs from someone else. You may want to confirm with the seller that the computer includes a Certificate of Authenticity or Sticker that includes a valid Windows product key.

You're not likely to get any of the original operating system or software driver discs by contacting the manufacturer, but you may have some success borrowing the original discs from someone else who owns that particular computer. My favorite method for getting specific software drivers is to perform an Internet search that includes the brand, model, and the word "drivers." For example, a typical search term might be: "Compaq TC4200 drivers":

Personally, I trust only manufacturer's websites for software drivers and I tend to avoid all the other questionable driver sites listed in the search results.

Buying a computer with an erased hard drive can be an excellent bargain if you have the patience to find the missing software and the time and skill to install the correct operating system and drivers.