How to Buy a Used or Refurbished PC Safely

Easy15 min readHow To Guides

Last updated: February 14, 2025

Complete guide to safely buying refurbished laptops. Where to buy, what to check, arrival testing with HWiNFO and powercfg, red flags to return immediately, and first-time setup.

Overview

Save hundreds by buying refurbished — without getting scammed.

What this helps with

What to expect: Easy difficulty • usually about 15 min read.

Topics covered
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This is one of 45 How To Guides fixes in the WindowsHelper library. The full step-by-step fix for this is in the WindowsHelper app.

Coming soon in the app

The full step-by-step fix for this is in the WindowsHelper phone app — coming soon, no price announced yet. The free PC Companion (available now) is the piece that connects your phone to your PC.

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