Hi,
I believe kemical is trying to say in really polite terms, is that you got ripped off by whoever sold you a laptop with a Win8 installed over a Win7 Factory install!!!
Win8 not being activated means that someone repaired it or upgraded it, and was not a professional computer repair Tech or Engineer. On the other hand, there is also a possibility it was stolen from someone, and the person tried to install Win8 on it in order to hide that fact. It may have been intentional or unintentional, but from personal experience I urge you
NOT to report it to ebay or the seller or to any Law Enforcement agency
UNTIL you get any and all personal data backed up to external media. If any of those run the serial number of the license or the laptop and determine it was stolen, you will most likely never get it back once it's entered into a law enforcement evidence chain. And any data you had on there will be gone for you forever.
There are a lot of sketchy folks doing business on ebay and other sites as well, and this issue has been seen before many times. I had an ebay store for years, and have run into this game before. Hopefully, you understand where this is going. I don't know if this is a business or an individual, but did you check out the Seller's reputation prior to purchasing the laptop? What Feedback Percentage did they have? These are good indicators that someone is sketchy. You should only purchase from established ebay sellers with a
"Top Rated" rating star, or at least someone that's done over 1,000 transactions or more. If you have never purchased computers or electronics from an ebay seller with a lower rating you are taking a big risk.
Also, I rarely purchase from any ebay seller with less than a
98% feedback rating. If you're seller doesn't fall into both of these 2 categories, then you may have learned an expensive lesson!
The good news is that if you bought the laptop through your PayPal account you have up to $1,000 buyer protection, and even if the seller refuses to refund you, you can file a claim with PayPal and get your money back!
Not a lot of people are aware of this. It may take several weeks or months to process that Claim
*I have done a few*, so don't plan on getting your refund back tomorrow.
Sorry that happened to you by the way.
I am getting more and more Clients who bring me unlicensed, pirated, or stolen Windows versions on their computers recently, both Desktop PCs and Laptops.
Hopefully, this insight will prevent you from falling into this trap in the future.
Best of luck,
<<<BIGBEARJEDI>>>