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Windows 10, Yay or Nay?

I then decided to try WIN 10. Downloaded and installed and ran it :D Product key-no good. I wasn't thinking and wiped 7. It is eligible for the upgrade, don't know if there is a way. BTW, Windows 10 runs great, just unregistered.
 
Unbelievably a friend had an old scratched to hell Win7 CD. I said that'll never boot...it booted. Now it is asking for drivers. Do you all know what happens when you type the words windows and drivers in an internet search box! Makes me so angry that they take advantage of people in need.
 
as I type this on my Linux laptop, my big 1 TB Gateway Win7 Home Premium has just been restored to:

Box Stock factory released version from a Macrium Reflect image I made of it before it ever saw a strange new application loaded on it. and that was the fall of 2010....

It is now currently running Windows Updates....
When it finally says "Updates completed", I will make a 2nd Box Stock image of it and save that for posterity.

you just never know when something is going to crash your hard drive and you have to start all over.

Folks, there is only a couple of days left to get all of your Win7 stuff updated to the latest version....
you need to make an image of it, in case something slips and Win10 gets pushed on it and you don't want it.
 
7 Home Premium installed. Running like a top. I figure since this machine came with 7 that it would verify, and it did. Making an image. One more question. I think I can upgrade from here and be good. Should I do that and then make an image, then back to 7. That way I or whomever ends up with this beast can upgrade in the future no worries.
 
7 Home Premium installed. Running like a top. I figure since this machine came with 7 that it would verify, and it did. Making an image. One more question. I think I can upgrade from here and be good. Should I do that and then make an image, then back to 7. That way I or whomever ends up with this beast can upgrade in the future no worries.
Cool. I always image the Win7 installation prior to the upgrade to 10 with Macrium Reflect (or whatever you are comfortable with), so I can do a perfect "bare metal" restore. Once you have the image safely on external media go ahead and upgrade. Once it activates 10, you can do a clean boot from the 10 boot media, wipe the disk for a truly clean install and it automatically activates (10) again.

EDIT: Doing it this way eliminates the 30 day time limit to roll back to 7, should you desire. Just boot from your rescue media and restore the Win7 installation. Win10 uses your HWID for activation, but 7 uses either your retail key OR the info from the SLIC table of the OEM bios (combined with the OEM key).
 
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I suspect that was seven years worth of Patch Tuesday updates. :thumbsupdroid: Did you already have Win 7 Service Pack 1 when you installed?

No. 234 total. Glad I didn't go with the OEM version. For some reason the Nvidia update was optional not recommended. For being "Premium" it is surprisingly low on bloat.
 
Thought this trick was nifty. Paste this script on notepad. Save it as productkey.vbs. Run it and there's your Product Key.
Once again maybe old news, but everything is new for me!

Code:
Set WshShell = CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
MsgBox ConvertToKey(WshShell.RegRead("HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\DigitalProductId"))

Function ConvertToKey(Key)
Const KeyOffset = 52
i = 28
Chars = "BCDFGHJKMPQRTVWXY2346789"
Do
Cur = 0
x = 14
Do
Cur = Cur * 256
Cur = Key(x + KeyOffset) + Cur
Key(x + KeyOffset) = (Cur \ 24) And 255
Cur = Cur Mod 24
x = x -1
Loop While x >= 0
i = i -1
KeyOutput = Mid(Chars, Cur + 1, 1) & KeyOutput
If (((29 - i) Mod 6) = 0) And (i <> -1) Then
i = i -1
KeyOutput = "-" & KeyOutput
End If
Loop While i >= 0
ConvertToKey = KeyOutput
End Function
 
1038Mb of updates! Needed some drivers badly though.
Fastest means to update Win7 is the Simplix Pack found on MDL Forums. Use the /Reboot & /Silent switches for an unattended update. Takes about 3 reboots as it only applies ~ 80 patches at a time, but it's painless. Just start it and come back in an hour or so. Updated monthly as well and it does NOT install IE11 (unless you WANT it). You can apply this to your "live" Win7 or integrate it into your source, so it's up to date during installation. Very good read over there...
 
Back when I cared about Windows, I used to slipstream the updates into a custom installation CD. I'd include the key and the programs I would normally load onto the computer, essentially creating my own OEM installation disc for each machine in the household.

Can you still do that with Win 7? Or Win 10 for that matter?
 
Thanks for all the help. So I had Win10 running but there was a problem with the monitor (everything was over-sized). Now that 7 is in it's corrected so I thought it was a driver issue. Turns out the Graphics driver is incompatible with Win10. The Win10 updater refuses, although they would be happy to sell me a new computer:(.
How bad would it be to just run the iso version? It mentions excessive power usage but I'm not on battery power.
I am enjoying this Win7 though. This thing is stripped. Media Center, Note pad, a few small games, no OEM applications whatsoever. Oh and no anti-virus.......an good free ones?

Edit: The only reason I am putting this much effort into Windows is because unfortunately it makes it more marketable.
 
I'm thinking about it, or passing it on to my Son eventually. Everything would be profit, and I enjoy doing it, so my time is free.

People just bring me broken stuff all the time.

In a case like this, I would simply update to X and sell it. After all, it's all the 'rage' right now. I personally have a few nice desktops on the shelf that I got cheap. I think I can nearly double my investment in a few days. Geez the OS is $100 alone :eek:
 
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