I would see if it runs, but make sure you use gas treatment in your fuel, and then run it every other month.

Most smaller Gen's require running once a month to keep the Magneto "excited", if it dies off, you will have to take it to a dealer to get it boosted.
ALL small engines are shipped without oil in the crank case, and will need to be filled before use.
As noted, It may not function as is, and will need work before use, and your likely out of warrenty by now.

I agree with waggler. I would run it periodically.

Good answer. The generator itself needs to be ran and also hooked to a load while running.

I can run it thru the paces over the next few months and let ya know how it did.....send it ovah.

Haha, thanks Marty.

This!

I'd leave it in the box. There's no telling if it'll work when you need it even if it's the day after you tested it.

I'm leaving mine in the box. Goin' on year 3 now. Bad gas is the nemesis of any small engine that is not used frequently. Trying to remember to run a generator every month is near impossible. I spent over 10 years on a volunteer fire dept that had a schedule to run all small engines, including backup generators, once a month. We all met twice a month for meetings and drills, but the generator never ran but once every 6 months and that was after it went to the shop because it didn't run when we tried to test it or when it was needed.