Tech Corner

[MaloK]

Yes to my knowledge all W7 keys that have been upgraded for free to W10.

Are still good to install W11 on the same rig. as long as you grab them before deleting everything, loll.

If you have a machine like me with no tpm, rest assured that you will loose your activation without an installation key.

 

[jaylach]

Not if you replace your cpu and mb

Of course not as it is then not the same machine to which the license was issued. However, if you make a phone call to the MS activation support, and explain that the original system is no longer in use they will almost always activate for you.

 

[jaylach]

I should explain more on using a Windows 7/8 product key to activate later versions of Windows. Can you still do it? The answer is both yes and no.

If the Windows 7/8 product key has never been used then, yes, last I heard/read this will still work but it has to be a clean install as, if trying to do an upgrade, the code has been used so it will not work. Personally I consider this a null situation as why would you have bought a Windows license and not use?

Years ago Microsoft stopped the free upgrades using a Windows 7/8 code but gave fair chance to still do even after the stoppage. Even after announcing the end of this ability they did not change the activation servers until at least 6 months after the announced stop date so it still worked even after the stop date for a while.

People tend to hate Microsoft and currently I can't blame them. When Gates left and Ballmer took over things went down hill in my opinion. Gates was about putting out a product at a fair price while Ballmer was all about money. I'm not saying that Gates didn't care about money but he tended to give fair exchange. When I went to the the Microsoft Global Summit in 2008 I met and briefly spoke with Ballmer. He is a fantastic orator but, to be honest, he sucks at one to one conversations. My impression was a man that was egotistical and self centered and didn't care if the consumer was hurt as long as he got what he wanted. I'm not saying that this is really how he was/is; just my impression from a 5 minute conversation.

 

[MaloK]

My mom always told me that relying on a first impression... Has nearly always good foundation.

Funny how it rimes.

 

[seangee]

Should work if you had a retail licence. Won't work on an OEM licence. Not sure about volume licences - I deleted my keys years ago

 

[anewbie]

Should work if you had a retail licence. Won't work on an OEM licence. Not sure about volume licences - I deleted my keys years ago

bingo; i have a retail license which allows me to install on any machine at anytime as long as it is installed on only one machine at a time. I believed perhaps incorrectly the ultimate license you were given were the same as the retail license.

 

[seangee]

To find out what you have you can run "Slmgr /dli"
Mine just says (no version)

Probably came all the way through from Windows 7 and certainly not on this machine.

 

[MaloK]

After a good fight I finally won. The Uefi of the server is configured in HBA, PCIe pass-trough is available, boot drive is ZFS mirrored and next step is enabling ProxMox passtrough support.

Re-uploaded all the iso files for the VM's setup and everything goes smoothly, upgraded The Uefi / Perc / Idrac / Lifecycle / Nics / SSD's cmos.

I completely canibalized the second machine and upgraded the ram to 512 Gig moved the trongest processors, took the 2 SSDs and configured them on the back plane. Drives must be "industrially" dod wiped off before any use with these controllers, and it takes a looooong time. So I have a spare motherboard, one back plane, 2 server network adapters, 1 front panel board, 1 card reader, a vdisk controller and 2x750W power supply in reserve.

Not bad at all for a mere 1400$, considering the value of the parity ram and SSD's alone 4x1TB sandisk X400 + 16x32 gig error corection ram, that alone relaims a large part of the total price.

I also reconfigured and put on line the whole idrac and lifecycle infrastructure.

The setup is going to be awesome. It's going to be a Network file sharing with TrueNas, media server with Emby on linux, and my Personnal HAL 9000. All running on their own platform in the same server. A lot of fun for an old IT guy at home.

Finally I think the exciting part is close ahead. Never be too confident. They are sneaky machines.

But the light is visible... Going to start to get into the interesting part soon.

 

[jaylach]

Just so it is known I just shut down my computer help forums. I also removed the associated link from my siggy.

 

[MattW]

Sorry to hear about the forum.

computerhaven

 

[jaylach]

Sorry to hear about the forum.

computerhaven

Oh, it was past time to close the site. Closing makes me sad but it was time.

 

[seangee]

Just so it is known I just shut down my computer help forums. I also removed the associated link from my siggy.

Well just so you know I'm still holding you accountable for my current upgrade.
I'm currently relocating my data files from a 2TB SATA SSD to a Gen 4 M.2 WD Black (4TB)

 

[jaylach]

Well just so you know I'm still holding you accountable for my current upgrade.
I'm currently relocating my data files from a 2TB SATA SSD to a Gen 4 M.2 WD Black (4TB)

HUH? Did I give you bad advice or something.

 

[MattW]

Oh, it was past time to close the site. Closing makes me sad but it was time.

It is a shame that forums are on the decline . It looks like the likes of Reddit, YouTube, and even Google AI Overview are becoming more popular in the 'ask questions & find answers' section of the internet. Everything moves fast online.. I wonder when I retire if those companies and platforms will be obsolete? Presumably, another form of online communication will take their place.

 

[anewbie]

Just so it is known I just shut down my computer help forums. I also removed the associated link from my siggy.

Why ?