Windows 7 Hate to say it but Windows 7 sucks in my experience

OEM licenses of Windows 7 are non-transferrable and tied to the motherboard that the system is activated on.

Retail licenses of Windows 7 can be transferred to a different computer: provided that the computer that was previously activated is decommissioned or no longer in service.

OEM versions typically cannot be used to directly upgrade from an older Windows operating system like their retail counterparts.

In cases of troubleshooting issues with activation or a disaster, you can contact Microsoft to activate by phone. In most cases, they will work with you in this regard. In matters of activation, there is some leeway given in the event of a breakdown or disaster recovery via phone support/activation. Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) has gone a long way in helping customers get a copy of Windows and activating it in a legitimate and safe way.

For support reasons, you can extend the activation period for unlicensed copies of Windows up to 120 days from 30. You can do this by going to Start -> Search -> cmd.exe and running:

slmgr -rearm

Running this from the Windows Command Prompt (cmd) at the end of the 30 day trial period can be performed a maximum of 3 times in the event of a support or activation problem that is currently in dispute. It is also useful when running test/evaluation/demonstration copies of Windows in a virtual machine environment. Typically, the licensing is available but the system is destined to be formatted over and over for lab purposes.

slmgr /dlv will give you a detailed run-through of your activation status, including the maximum number of re-arms available if your system becomes unlicensed. This information is useful if you are on the phone with Microsoft Support personnel for activation.

I hope that this helps you understand the difference. Remember: Microsoft still holds the copyright and trademark IP for the software itself, and unless you already own a license for Microsoft Windows, it is not legal to download it from a site like Digital River. However, for backups or recovery purposes, it is wise to maintain (or in many cases obtain) a copy of Windows on backup.

One tip for someone like Andrea is to consider running Link Removed or converting a Windows XP Mode system into a Link Removed copy. These licensed copies can be used in a virtual machine environment with almost no limitation. Those who prefer Windows XP or need it for a legacy program like Lotus 1-2-3 will find this method very useful and unobtrusive.

But I am pretty sure that even if you do find a legal Windows 7,Windows XP or Windows Vista ISO file,you still have to have a product key to activate Windows. Or else it goes into restricted mode after 30 days.

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True, but the product key is on the bottom of your netbooks on a so called COA sticker. Turn the netbooks around and have a look.

With that key you can activate an installation from any installation disc as long as it is the same system and edition level as the one you had. If e.g. you had a Windows7 Home Premium, you can use the key for any Home Premium, but NOT for e.g. an Ultimate edition. And, of course, it must be the same OS, e.g. Windows7 and not XP.

Jeez!! Page 37 and still going strong!!

Mike said:

One tip for someone like Andrea is to consider running Link Removed or converting a Windows XP Mode system into a Link Removed copy. These licensed copies can be used in a virtual machine environment with almost no limitation. Those who prefer Windows XP or need it for a legacy program like Lotus 1-2-3 will find this method very useful and unobtrusive.

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But I am very fortunate in that I have already got 2 Windows XP netbooks. So I have got the REAL Windows XP. The 2 netbooks came pre installed with Windows XP Home Edition when I bought the netbooks.So they are Windows XP computers.

Having Windows XP installed is better than running it in virtual machine.

I know that windows XP mode that you can download from the Microsoft website is a genuine copy of Windows XP. Is there any way to convert it into an ISO file,so that you can install it on your computer. To duel boot alongside Windows 7 like you can with Windows 8? Andrea Borman.

Hi Andrea,

XP-mode licensing?

Mike said:

Hi Andrea,

XP-mode licensing?

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I am confused. I thought that the Windows XP mode on the Microsoft website was the a copy of the Windows XP operating system.

So have I got it wrong again? Andrea Borman.

The copy is given away for free as a virtual machine image for compatibility reasons. The licensing has restrictions on its use. When you acquire Windows you receive a license to use it under the terms that are written down. So you are getting a license with XP Mode to use it a certain way. If you want to dual boot into Windows XP or use Windows XP outside of a virtual machine, you need a different license. An explanation for this is that when you buy most software or even a movie, you are receiving a license in how you use it. For instance, you cannot buy a movie and turn your house/apartment/loft into a giant movie theatre for a thousand people in your town. The same is true for most software and games. You have a license to use it under certain conditions. With XP Mode the OS is given away for free to use in a virtual environment as described in the link above.

Mike said:

The copy is given away for free as a virtual machine image for compatibility reasons. The licensing has restrictions on its use. When you acquire Windows you receive a license to use it under the terms that are written down. So you are getting a license with XP Mode to use it a certain way. If you want to dual boot into Windows XP or use Windows XP outside of a virtual machine, you need a different license. An explanation for this is that when you buy most software or even a movie, you are receiving a license in how you use it. For instance, you cannot buy a movie and turn your house/apartment/loft into a giant movie theatre for a thousand people in your town. The same is true for most software and games. You have a license to use it under certain conditions. With XP Mode the OS is given away for free to use in a virtual environment as described in the link above.

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Thank you,now I understand. So Windows XP mode is only for virtual machine.It cannot be installed as an operating system. Andrea Borman.

True, but there are utilities that could port back the VHD but lets not even go there in this thread ... or any thread on this subject.

Well,I don't know how to install operating systems anyway. So if I bought a Windows CD I would not know how to install any version of Windows on my computer. The only thing I know how to do when Windows goes wrong is to do a system recovery. That is a factory restore by pressing the F11 or F3 key. Andrea Borman.

Andrea Borman said:

I would not know how to install any version of Windows on my computer.

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Have to get you helping on the BSOD forum then, that'll be two of us.

Elmer said:

Have to get you helping on the BSOD forum then, that'll be two of us.

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Really? Is that true Elmer that you are like me with computers and you don't know how to install operating systems?

Windows 7 make it easier to do a factory restore as you can access System Recovery direct from the Control Panel.

But on Windows XP and Windows Vista,you can only access it by pressing F11,F10,the key varies, according to the make of your computer. Andrea Borman.

Andrea Borman said:

Really? Is that true Elmer that you are like me with computers and you don't know how to install operating systems?

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I'll be honest, I haven't a jack of a clue. I just suggest things in the blue screen forum. If they don't answer within 2 days, I think, well that didn't work, so I'll not try it.

LMAO, you two must be best firends. Installing an OS is not hard. I could teach you the basics in a few hours. That will also include some Linux distrobutions. Don't get me wrong, you wont be able to shoot a fully customized install of Slackware or even Gentoo. Though you will be able to install RedHat/Fedora, Mandrake/Mandriva, Ubuntu as well as Windows from 98 to 7. If you can get the basics down and take a few notes, then you can start doing it yourself and the more you do it the easyer it gets. This is a service I am willing to provide...for a modist $1,024.64 an hour. Just kidding, but the offer is true. I can and will help if people want to learn how to install an OS.

I wonder, I have not seen this on the site, but I have not looked. What if I did a how to section for newbies. I could go through and run an install of Linux and Windows in a VM. Take screen shots and with the screen shots tell what is going on. I could even get into some easy ways to deul boot Windows and Linux. I would even go as far as to include Mac OS as well. I wonder if we would get in trouble for using a Hackintosh for that? Though this is just an idea, I wont do any of it till I get Mike's okay first.

Naiya
Have you tried using the virtual hard drive in Windows 7 yet? I don't mean a virtual machine Ultimate and Pro let you create a folder and use it to dual boot just like another partition. I tried it for the developer preview and it worked pretty good.
Joe

Joe, how does this process work? I haven't heard of this before, although I have seen in Services something referring to a virtual disk. I'm very interested in learning about this.

Cat

NaiyaShamiso said:

LMAO, you two must be best firends. Installing an OS is not hard. I could teach you the basics in a few hours. That will also include some Linux distrobutions. Don't get me wrong, you wont be able to shoot a fully customized install of Slackware or even Gentoo. Though you will be able to install RedHat/Fedora, Mandrake/Mandriva, Ubuntu as well as Windows from 98 to 7. If you can get the basics down and take a few notes, then you can start doing it yourself and the more you do it the easyer it gets. This is a service I am willing to provide...for a modist $1,024.64 an hour. Just kidding, but the offer is true. I can and will help if people want to learn how to install an OS.

I wonder, I have not seen this on the site, but I have not looked. What if I did a how to section for newbies. I could go through and run an install of Linux and Windows in a VM. Take screen shots and with the screen shots tell what is going on. I could even get into some easy ways to deul boot Windows and Linux. I would even go as far as to include Mac OS as well. I wonder if we would get in trouble for using a Hackintosh for that? Though this is just an idea, I wont do any of it till I get Mike's okay first.

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Would be worth writing a tutorial about it.

Since Windows XP was released, we've had a great way to recover from those occasional 'Ooooops!' that seem inevitable, the more you mess around with your OS.
The feature is known as "System Restore" and it's turned ON by default when Windows installs. And unless some #^$% turns it off, for whatever sick reason, it's right there to help you when something either you or a Windows Update had done to mess up your OS.
The 'System Restore' app is found in 'Programs>Accessories>System Tools -- System Restore'.
I use it often enough that I just keep a shortcut to it on my desktop.

As careful as I am, at least once a week, some @#%^ thing messes up my PC and I have to use System Restore to set things right again. NO data is affected, although a few electrons are inconvenienced in the process.

My System Restore points are so VERY valuable to me that I force a new Restore Point to be created every time I turn on the PC, using a little .reg script in my Startup folder.

Since some things can disable System Restore or even delete the Restore Points, I use "Erunt AutoBackup" also running in the Startup folder to make a backup of my Registry, every time I boot up my computer. I may get a lot of backups that I'll never need, but it's a lot better than having NO backup when I do need one.

Likewise, to take care of the "AWshitz" that go way beyond an "Ooooops", I do a weekly Ghost backup of my entire C: drive.
That backup can be to another internal drive, an external drive or even a DVD (x3). That's my disaster recovery.
There is NO Recovery partition on my PC, since I built the PC myself and installed the OS myself.

I think I've used Factory Restore twice in the past ten years. Once on a Toshiba Laptop where the owner started the setup, got confused and turned the PC off. When I got there to do the setup, after I'd already told him to not even turn it on till I got there, the little PC was in a constant boot loop. That was one of those "Awshitz" that I mentioned earlier.

I had to use the Factory Restore DVD that came with the PC to get back to where I needed to be, to finish the install.
Dang! I wish people would just do what I tell them! Life would be so much simpler. Eh?
* That factory restore DVD from Toshiba, was actually a Ghost backup of the factory setup for that Laptop.

The second time I used it was just recently, when I inherited an HP Slimline PC with a blown power supply.
After I replaced the power supply, Windows Vista did not want to boot. Since I really needed to wipe out all the previous owner's STUFF anyway, I just did a Factory Restore from the Recovery partition, on the hard drive, and it was like a brand new PC again.

In conclusion, using Factory Restore is only for Technicians or Geeks who need to make a PC like new again, or where Windows has gotten corrupted beyond repair, or for total novices who don't know how to do anything else. It can be almost like using dynamite to crack a walnut.

Windows 7 does have some built in "Repair" function, but it's not always sufficient. Ergo, the need for making frequent backups.

But once Win-7 is properly set up and maintained, a full recovery should not be required. But then, 'Schmitz' happens. Eh?

Cheers Mates!