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posted by Fnord666 on Friday March 05 2021, @02:08PM   Printer-friendly
[2021-03-07 02:48:19 UTC; UPDATE 2: Windows 10 is finally installed! Well, that is sans product key ATM, but that is manageable. Thanks so very much to everyone who helped out here and on IRC! I still don't know why Windows did not recognize my Samsung 1 TB 860 EVO SATA SSD during the install, so I'm making do with a 750 MB 5400 RPM Western Digital hard disk. That'll have to wait. Next up is to install Turbo Tax and then complete my taxes. I shudder to think of how much longer it would have taken without all of your help! --martyb]

Background:
A couple years or so ago, I purchased three (used) Dell Latitude E6410 laptop computers for a song ($25 each). They came with no hard drive, but that was not a problem. I got 1 TB Samsung SSD drives for them and that seems to be fine.

No hard drive also meant no OS was installed. But, they each DID come with their own Microsoft sticker (with a hologram) stating:

Windows(R) 7 Pro for Refurb PCs CIT
for Refurbished PCs
[barcode]   XXX-NNNNN
do not tamper with or remove this label
[barcode]  XNN-NNNNN
NNNNN-NNN-NNN-NNN
"For use on Refurbished PC - No Commercial Value - For Authentication Only"

Where:
   X  represents a single letter
   N  represents a single decimal digit

(Also says, vertically, on the edges:)

Certificate of Authenticity
Microsoft

and
ww.microsoft.com/howtotell

Situation:
I'd previously downloaded an ISO (and verified the SHA1 and SHA256), but got stuck when trying to do an install; the format of the codes I have do not match the format of what Microsoft was expecting.

The location where I bought the laptops no longer offers computers for sale (it's a Goodwill store). Also, there are no tech-savvy workers at the location.

My primary problem is it is time to prepare my state and federal income taxes. I've used TurboTax for the past 5 years. (Yes, I could probably use their free on-line version today. But! I am not at all interested in having like 20-30 other domains active while I provide extremely personal and private information to fill out my taxes.) So, plan B is to get Windows up and running so I can fill out my taxes locally.

What now?
So, I have 3 never-been-used "codes" for installing Win 7 pro. There was a time when one had to fight to keep Microsoft from trying to upgrade to Windows 10, so I'd like to think there's some way for me to get to Win 10 from here.

So, I turn to my fellow Soylentils. How can I enter these codes? Is it still worthwhile to get 7 installed in hopes I can still upgrade to Windows 10?

Maybe some other approach? What can I do?

[2021-03-05 15:11:27 UTC; UPDATE 1: Currently downloading "Win10_20H2_v2_English_x64.iso" from https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10ISO -- looks like I have 2-2.5 hours left for the download to complete. (Currently at 920 MB of 5.8 GB completed)


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  • (Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 05 2021, @02:24PM (4 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 05 2021, @02:24PM (#1120344)

    Unused windows 7 licenses will activate windows 10. I've done it multiple times. I have a windows 10 iso I downloaded from microsoft a number of years ago. I don't know if it's still available or not. The licenses I was using were for windows 7 professional. Sometimes when activating, I was asked to do a phone activation, but that was easy using their automated system. The last couple of times, it didn't even ask me to use the automated system, but just activated windows 10.

    • (Score: 2) by martyb on Friday March 05 2021, @02:39PM (2 children)

      by martyb (76) Subscriber Badge on Friday March 05 2021, @02:39PM (#1120352) Journal

      Unused windows 7 licenses will activate windows 10.

      That's great to know, thanks!

      The licenses I was using were for windows 7 professional.

      Even better, as that's what I've got!

      Sometimes when activating, I was asked to do a phone activation, but that was easy using their automated system.

      Yeah, but I cannot even enter the "code"s I have -- different format and not long enough.

      Does anyone here know how/where I can get a phone number, just in case?

      The last couple of times, it didn't even ask me to use the automated system, but just activated windows 10.

      That helps, but again the code I have is very different from the expected 25-char "Product Key" :(

      Still, this is progress, thanks so much!

      --
      Wit is intellect, dancing. I'm too old to act my age. Life is too important to take myself seriously.
      • (Score: 2) by Reziac on Saturday March 06 2021, @02:14AM

        by Reziac (2489) on Saturday March 06 2021, @02:14AM (#1120640) Homepage

        Unless things have changed in the past year... You can install any random Win10 and it will run indefinitely without being activated; mainly you can't customize it...

        ....unless you do your customizing BEFORE it's ever connected to the net; then your settings will often stick, and Windows will behave as if activated, even if you never do it. I've found that works about half the time. (Identical hardware, same install, one works, one doesn't, WTF.) If all you're using it for is tax prep, more effort seems like overkill.

        There are a whole bunch of online tax prep outfits, some much better than others. TurboTax is, in my experience, once of the worst. Dunno about now, but when last I needed obscure forms, TaxAct was the one and only that had 'em all. Tho agreed, schlepping your personal data off to random domains via scripts of uncertain provenance is sub-optimal.

        --
        And there is no Alkibiades to come back and save us from ourselves.
      • (Score: 4, Interesting) by julian on Saturday March 06 2021, @06:11AM

        by julian (6003) Subscriber Badge on Saturday March 06 2021, @06:11AM (#1120711)

        I've actually never had a Windows 10 Pro install fail to activate using any Windows 7 code. I've tested it on business computers from Dell and Lenovo, and also my own home-built workstation. I have a hunch Microsoft doesn't really care anymore. They just want you using Windows 10.

    • (Score: 4, Funny) by driverless on Saturday March 06 2021, @03:21AM

      by driverless (4770) on Saturday March 06 2021, @03:21AM (#1120677)

      Currently downloading "Win10_20H2_v2_English_x64.iso" from https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10ISO [microsoft.com] -- looks like I have 2-2.5 hours left for the download to complete. (Currently at 920 MB of 5.8 GB completed)

      You are using wrong link. Download from http://www.virusbucket.ru/windows_guarantee_legit.iso [virusbucket.ru] and you will get faster download. Guarantee no malware!

  • (Score: 2, Informative) by bpz on Friday March 05 2021, @02:27PM (2 children)

    by bpz (13628) on Friday March 05 2021, @02:27PM (#1120346)

    Use the latest Windows 10 downloaded from Microsoft and enter the Windows 7 Pro key from the sticker when asked and you should end up with a fresh, activated, Windows 10 Pro install.

    • (Score: 2) by martyb on Friday March 05 2021, @02:41PM (1 child)

      by martyb (76) Subscriber Badge on Friday March 05 2021, @02:41PM (#1120353) Journal
      Thanks for the reply! As mentioned originally, the "key" I have does not match the format of the expected 25-char "Product Key". So, I cannot even get that far.
      --
      Wit is intellect, dancing. I'm too old to act my age. Life is too important to take myself seriously.
      • (Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 05 2021, @08:38PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 05 2021, @08:38PM (#1120519)

        then what you have is not a win7 key.

        win7 keys use the same 25 character format that microsoft has used since win98

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 05 2021, @02:28PM (3 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 05 2021, @02:28PM (#1120347)

    Windows 7 license keys should be in the format of xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx. If unused, these will activate windows 10. If your license key isn't in that format, as far as I'm aware, you are out of luck.

    • (Score: 2) by martyb on Friday March 05 2021, @02:46PM (2 children)

      by martyb (76) Subscriber Badge on Friday March 05 2021, @02:46PM (#1120354) Journal

      Windows 7 license keys should be in the format of xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx. If unused, these will activate windows 10. If your license key isn't in that format, as far as I'm aware, you are out of luck.

      Thanks for the reply!

      And that is the crux of the matter and what I ran into originally. The stickers look authentic, and I have no reason to imagine they are otherwise. The codes I have are NOT at all like that format. So, there much be some way to use the code I have! Right?

      I'm hoping someone here has been down this path and can help me get past this sticking point.

      --
      Wit is intellect, dancing. I'm too old to act my age. Life is too important to take myself seriously.
      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 05 2021, @03:54PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 05 2021, @03:54PM (#1120383)
        There’s several different formats depending on source, etc., and you can’t mix and match. This has been true since Win95.
      • (Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 05 2021, @04:46PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 05 2021, @04:46PM (#1120405)

        I am pretty sure you need the OEM install media, and I am not sure there would be a path to w10 available.

  • (Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 05 2021, @03:07PM (2 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 05 2021, @03:07PM (#1120362)

    perhaps the PC has an embedded license in the BIOS (SLIC); you might need to adapt the Windows image to use this license?
    The old-fashioned 25-character key was just one of many methods to activate Windows, SLIC is another one.

    • (Score: 2) by martyb on Friday March 05 2021, @03:26PM

      by martyb (76) Subscriber Badge on Friday March 05 2021, @03:26PM (#1120371) Journal

      perhaps the PC has an embedded license in the BIOS (SLIC); you might need to adapt the Windows image to use this license?

      I have no idea on that one. Though I go back to MS DOS 3.0, for the most part Windows has already been installed by the time I got to using a computer. Will keep that in mind, thanks!

      The old-fashioned 25-character key was just one of many methods to activate Windows, SLIC is another one.

      Now that you mention it, ISTR Microsoft rolling out different "keys." The 25-char "Product Key" is the only one I am personally familiar with.

      I'm downloading a Win 10 ISO right now... looks like I still have ~ 2 hours to go.

      --
      Wit is intellect, dancing. I'm too old to act my age. Life is too important to take myself seriously.
    • (Score: 2) by Reziac on Saturday March 06 2021, @02:18AM

      by Reziac (2489) on Saturday March 06 2021, @02:18AM (#1120642) Homepage

      I had that happen SURPRISE!! with a salvaged Lenovo motherboard. Durn thing would not play nice with XP64 (well, did finally get it installed, mostly by accident), didn't really like Win7 either, but LOVES Win10. And tho that board shipped with Win7, apparently somewhere along the line it had acquired an embedded license that Win10 is quite certain is authentic. However, it does NOT think that it has an embedded Win7 license. [scratching head]

      --
      And there is no Alkibiades to come back and save us from ourselves.
  • (Score: 4, Insightful) by caseih on Friday March 05 2021, @03:12PM (3 children)

    by caseih (2744) on Friday March 05 2021, @03:12PM (#1120366)

    Did you try installing Windows 10 without entering any product key at all (select "I don't have a product key")? Many computers that originally shipped with Windows 7 Pro will just automatically activate themselves with license information stored in UEFI. Since your sticker talks about Refurb, though, maybe it won't work that way.

    If all you want to do use Turbo Tax, you don't need to activate Windows 10. It will run fine indefinitely and update also without activation. As long as you can live with the nag watermark and without the ability to "personalize your desktop." I've been running a Windows 10 VM unactivated for years.

    • (Score: 2) by martyb on Friday March 05 2021, @03:37PM (1 child)

      by martyb (76) Subscriber Badge on Friday March 05 2021, @03:37PM (#1120375) Journal

      Did you try installing Windows 10 without entering any product key at all (select "I don't have a product key")? Many computers that originally shipped with Windows 7 Pro will just automatically activate themselves with license information stored in UEFI. Since your sticker talks about Refurb, though, maybe it won't work that way.

      Nope. For some reason I thought I needed to install Win 7 Pro, first, and then upgrade from there. Am downloading Win 10 right now and have about two hours to go before it completes.

      I get the feeling these laptops originally came from a school system. I have no idea what was originally installed before the hard disk was pulled.

      If all you want to do use Turbo Tax, you don't need to activate Windows 10. It will run fine indefinitely and update also without activation. As long as you can live with the nag watermark and without the ability to "personalize your desktop." I've been running a Windows 10 VM unactivated for years.

      [Eyes go big and wide.]

      I do not need a fancy desktop, so I *could* live with that. OTOH, I *do* have the stickers. If things ever go sideways, it would be nice to have one last variable to consider.

      This helps a lot -- thanks so much!

      (It's going to be quite a while before the Win 10 download completes... but I am much more optimistic at this point.)

      --
      Wit is intellect, dancing. I'm too old to act my age. Life is too important to take myself seriously.
      • (Score: 4, Interesting) by caseih on Friday March 05 2021, @03:44PM

        by caseih (2744) on Friday March 05 2021, @03:44PM (#1120378)

        I just installed Windows 10 on three Lenovo computers last week and in all cases selected "do not have product key" and after install they were magically activated. Maybe you'll be lucky. If not, you might try activating Windows 10 after the fact using your stickers. Might even be able to activate over the phone with an agent using the stickers.

        For more details on running unactivated: https://www.howtogeek.com/244678/you-dont-need-a-product-key-to-install-and-use-windows-10/ [howtogeek.com]

    • (Score: 2) by Reziac on Saturday March 06 2021, @02:21AM

      by Reziac (2489) on Saturday March 06 2021, @02:21AM (#1120643) Homepage

      If you do your desktop customizing *before* you ever connect Win10 to the net, about half the time it will behave as if it is activated, and usually that will stick. (No rhyme or reason to whether this works or not. Same hardware, same ISO, different results. I conclude that Win10 is insane.)

      --
      And there is no Alkibiades to come back and save us from ourselves.
  • (Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 05 2021, @03:27PM (5 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 05 2021, @03:27PM (#1120372)

    Modern versions of Windows use hardware based activation, so the key (win7/8/10) should be tattooed into the bios. You can use this utility to fetch it. OemKey [neosmart.net]. It's not a Microsoft tool, so they won't make any assertions about its safety or accuracy, but I have used it.

    Once you have the key, you should be able to activate as the others have described. There are a couple of ways forward. You could run that from a windows PE disk or Windows recovery environment and get the key you need. Then install from the .iso you got from Microsoft. That's probably what I'd do since I wouldn't have to trust that OemKey doesn't have a rootkit in it.

    The other option would be to use Microsoft's published keys that are designed to be activated post-install e.g. for KMS scenarios. Those keys are documented here. [microsoft.com] You could use one of those to get windows on the box, OemKey to get the correct product key, and then the activation wizard to change the product key to the correct one.

    (I work for Microsoft, therefore my opinion is invalid. This is obviously not an official Microsoft support answer.)

    Opinion: The registered refurbisher program was an absolute dog's breakfast. I'm sorry you're having trouble with it.

    • (Score: 2) by martyb on Friday March 05 2021, @04:35PM (3 children)

      by martyb (76) Subscriber Badge on Friday March 05 2021, @04:35PM (#1120399) Journal

      Thanks so much for that! Maybe I did not make it clear, but at the moment I do not have a machine that runs Windows. The one I am using right now is running Linux: Ubuntu Mate: Release 20.04.2 LTS (Focal Fossa) 64-bit.

      An earlier reply suggested I could run Win 10 without activation, albeit with some kind of "nag" on the screen.

      I'm downloading a Win 10 ISO image (Win10_20H2_v2_English_x64.iso) from https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10ISO [microsoft.com] right now and still have quite a ways to go.

      Thanks again for all the great tips!

      --
      Wit is intellect, dancing. I'm too old to act my age. Life is too important to take myself seriously.
      • (Score: 4, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 05 2021, @04:45PM (1 child)

        by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 05 2021, @04:45PM (#1120404)

        With linux and not to old hardware key could be in:
        /sys/firmware/acpi/tables/MSDM

        Moreover most dell have a service tag (use dmidecode or it's in the bios if there's no sticker )
        On dell site you could get the original config with this tag an double check if it .was sold with a license.

        • (Score: 1) by sensei_moreh on Friday March 05 2021, @10:28PM

          by sensei_moreh (4698) on Friday March 05 2021, @10:28PM (#1120565)

          Thanks for the info. FWIW, I appear to have been able to use the code in my /sys/firmware/acpi/tables/MSDM file to activate a W10 VM running on my HP EliteDesk 800 G2 DM

          --
          Geology - It's not rocket science; it's rock science
      • (Score: 3, Informative) by ElizabethGreene on Friday March 05 2021, @06:42PM

        by ElizabethGreene (6748) Subscriber Badge on Friday March 05 2021, @06:42PM (#1120466) Journal

        I'm the grandparent poster, IDK why I checked the post anonymously button. :(

        Glad to help. There are a couple of ways to make a bootable usb from the .iso. The easiest way is with the woeusb utility. If that doesn't work for you the manual process is well described here https://thornelabs.net/posts/create-a-bootable-windows-7-or-10-usb-drive-in-linux.html. [thornelabs.net] The only caveat I'd add is that most distros now have the ntfs driver out of the box now; I'd be surprised if you have to install it. That should create a stick that will work with UEFI or Legacy bios systems.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday March 07 2021, @11:48PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Sunday March 07 2021, @11:48PM (#1121203)

      Much appreciate your input. I didn't know those KMS keys existed!

  • (Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 05 2021, @03:47PM (10 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 05 2021, @03:47PM (#1120380)

    Just click the "I don't have a code" when the installer requests a key. It will install and just about everything works without being activated. The only things I've noticed is that there are some limits on changing the appearance of the screen (default background, etc.), and Visual Studio adds a "Not Activated" watermark. But every program I've run on it works just fine.

    • (Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 05 2021, @03:54PM (9 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 05 2021, @03:54PM (#1120382)

      Addendum: I download the current version of the Win10 .ISO file from Microsoft, use a utility program (either Microsoft's or 3rd-party) to make a bootable USB thumb drive from this, and then boot from the thumb drive. Pick the option to "Install a fresh copy" (or something like that), and follow the directions. This should create a freshly installed Windows 10 system. As mentioned above, select the "I don't have a key" option when it prompts for the key.

      I've never had a problem due to the system not being activated.

      • (Score: 2) by martyb on Friday March 05 2021, @04:14PM (8 children)

        by martyb (76) Subscriber Badge on Friday March 05 2021, @04:14PM (#1120391) Journal

        That's so helpful!

        use a utility program (either Microsoft's or 3rd-party) to make a bootable USB thumb drive from this,

        That's the next challenge. I have no Windows machine atm. Am currently running Linux (Ubuntu Mate, Release: 20.04.2 LTS (Focal Fossa) 64-bit).

        I'd made a bootable USB stick from an ISO once before. But it's been so long, I'm not certain how to do it again. Something about listing hardware, mounting the USB stick, making a mount point, and using DD to copy the .ISO file to the USB stick? Anybody have handy a link to a step-by-step guide?

        --
        Wit is intellect, dancing. I'm too old to act my age. Life is too important to take myself seriously.
        • (Score: 2) by Freeman on Friday March 05 2021, @04:34PM

          by Freeman (732) on Friday March 05 2021, @04:34PM (#1120398) Journal

          There's this, but I'm not sure how compatible it would be with a Windows ISO: https://www.balena.io/etcher/ [balena.io]

          I used that the last time I needed to create a boot disk, because my previous go-to tools weren't working. I don't know there's any real reason why it shouldn't work with a Windows ISO.

          --
          Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
        • (Score: 2) by cmdrklarg on Friday March 05 2021, @05:23PM (1 child)

          by cmdrklarg (5048) Subscriber Badge on Friday March 05 2021, @05:23PM (#1120425)

          If you know someone with a Windows PC you can use MS's Windows 10 Media Creation Tool to make a bootable setup USB stick.

          --
          The world is full of kings and queens who blind your eyes and steal your dreams.
          • (Score: 2) by martyb on Sunday March 07 2021, @03:57AM

            by martyb (76) Subscriber Badge on Sunday March 07 2021, @03:57AM (#1120951) Journal

            If you know someone with a Windows PC you can use MS's Windows 10 Media Creation Tool to make a bootable setup USB stick.

            If I did, that would have saved a 5+ GB download!

            Unfortunately, I don't know anyone who has a Win 10 system I could work from. Annnd, I do have a downloaded ISO, now.

            The next step, as I see it, it to get the .ISO onto a USB stick. Then I'd insert the stick on the target PC, boot from the USB stick, and then (I'm guessing) follow the prompts to install Win 10 on the target PC's boot disk (a 1 TB Samsung SSD in this case).

            It looks like WoeUSB-ng will do the trick for making a bootable USB stick.

            --
            Wit is intellect, dancing. I'm too old to act my age. Life is too important to take myself seriously.
        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 05 2021, @09:06PM (1 child)

          by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 05 2021, @09:06PM (#1120537)

          Another option is to install Windows in a VM (if your CPU supports it). Setup isn't quite one click but it's close as most distributions include virt-manager now. You can then pass the iso file you downloaded as a virtual DVD drive, no special media creation required.

          Or just, like, download the tax forms as PDFs and fill them out yourself.

          • (Score: 2) by martyb on Friday March 05 2021, @10:54PM

            by martyb (76) Subscriber Badge on Friday March 05 2021, @10:54PM (#1120574) Journal
            I only have 4 GB of RAM, and have twice already run out of memory and the system crash on me. Trying to install Win 10 in a VM would overtax (ha!) my system.
            --
            Wit is intellect, dancing. I'm too old to act my age. Life is too important to take myself seriously.
        • (Score: 1) by sensei_moreh on Friday March 05 2021, @09:55PM (2 children)

          by sensei_moreh (4698) on Friday March 05 2021, @09:55PM (#1120557)
          --
          Geology - It's not rocket science; it's rock science
          • (Score: 2) by martyb on Friday March 05 2021, @11:31PM (1 child)

            by martyb (76) Subscriber Badge on Friday March 05 2021, @11:31PM (#1120595) Journal

            Many thanks to halibut on IRC, this is the command I am using right this very moment:

            martyb@E6410-001:~/Downloads$ sudo dd if=Win10_20H2_v2_English_x64.iso of=/dev/sdb bs=4M conv=fdatasync status=progress
            6220152832 bytes (6.2 GB, 5.8 GiB) copied, 313 s, 19.9 MB/s
            1483+1 records in
            1483+1 records out
            6221846528 bytes (6.2 GB, 5.8 GiB) copied, 320.287 s, 19.4 MB/s

            --
            Wit is intellect, dancing. I'm too old to act my age. Life is too important to take myself seriously.
            • (Score: 2) by martyb on Sunday March 07 2021, @04:07AM

              by martyb (76) Subscriber Badge on Sunday March 07 2021, @04:07AM (#1120953) Journal

              Got the copy made using dd, but the USP stick would not boot.

              Ended up using https://github.com/WoeUSB/WoeUSB-ng [github.com] which worked wonderfully on the first attempt!

              --
              Wit is intellect, dancing. I'm too old to act my age. Life is too important to take myself seriously.
  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 05 2021, @06:14PM (4 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 05 2021, @06:14PM (#1120454)

    I realize you are aiming at a Win 10 installation. Should this fail and you are instead able to get Win 7 Pro running (as these laptops ran originally?), my thought would be to leave well enough alone. I'm still running 7 Pro on a ThinkPad and it works just fine...and lets me turn off any number of nanny/phone-home features.

    • (Score: 2) by Freeman on Friday March 05 2021, @07:08PM (3 children)

      by Freeman (732) on Friday March 05 2021, @07:08PM (#1120473) Journal

      Windows 7 Support ended: 01/14/2020. I.E. no security updates, except by contract with Volume Licensing (corporations/schools) and even that ends 01/10/2023.

      Don't use Windows 7, if you're connected to the internet. In the event you don't want to use Windows 10, switch OSes. Either jump ship to Apple or bite the bullet and learn Linux. You might be pleasantly surprised at how user-friendly some of the Linux Distributions are.

      https://distrowatch.com/ [distrowatch.com] has a good listing of Linus OSes and some Non-Linux OSes, like ReactOS and FreeBSD.

      I would highly suggest MXLinux as a good start point. The last couple of times I've used it, the experience has been rather pleasant. I also setup an MXLinux install for my Dad. He had an old computer with Vista on it. Now, he has a somewhat less old computer with MXLinux on it. I had to tinker with the Civilization IV install in Wine a little bit, but I was able to get it stable after doing a little research. PlayOnLinux was very useful in making the Civilization IV install process a breeze. Got Civilization II installed on it as well and that sucker is stupidly annoying to get working on Windows 10. There was still a bit of finicky stuff I had to work out, but it works about as well as I remember. Got the wonder videos, counsel, and music all running like it was 1996. The kicker was that I needed some 32-bit architecture installed for things to work at all. Once I figured that out, everything else was a breeze.

      --
      Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
      • (Score: 2) by Fnord666 on Friday March 05 2021, @07:38PM

        by Fnord666 (652) on Friday March 05 2021, @07:38PM (#1120483) Homepage

        I guess the question would be whether TurboTax will run under Wine or not.

      • (Score: 3, Interesting) by martyb on Friday March 05 2021, @08:51PM

        by martyb (76) Subscriber Badge on Friday March 05 2021, @08:51PM (#1120527) Journal

        When I installed and ran TurboTax *last* year, it issued a warning. Win 7 would be out of support the next year. Annnd, that if I wanted to continue to use TurboTax, I needed to upgrade to Win 10.

        TurboTax only installs/runs on Windows.

        I have now downloaded Win 10, and once installed, I should be good for a number of years.

        I have NO first-hand experience with Wine, and when doing my income taxes, I'd like to keep the opportunities for mistakes to a minimum.

        Glad to hear you had good luck with MXLinux... I'll keep it in mind.

        --
        Wit is intellect, dancing. I'm too old to act my age. Life is too important to take myself seriously.
      • (Score: 2) by Reziac on Saturday March 06 2021, @02:40AM

        by Reziac (2489) on Saturday March 06 2021, @02:40AM (#1120654) Homepage

        My Win7 box, Dell OEM, still gets security updates. But it doesn't matter as much as generally believed. Know how the bad guys find the holes? mostly by reverse-engineering the patches, which tell them exactly where to look. No new patches = no new clues.

        But get updates is about all my lonely Win7 box does, because most of the time I use either XP or PCLinuxOS. (Compared to which, all other linux installers are painful, and not so fun to use either.)

        --
        And there is no Alkibiades to come back and save us from ourselves.
  • (Score: 2) by RamiK on Friday March 05 2021, @07:03PM (8 children)

    by RamiK (1813) on Friday March 05 2021, @07:03PM (#1120471)
    --
    compiling...
    • (Score: 2) by Freeman on Friday March 05 2021, @07:12PM (6 children)

      by Freeman (732) on Friday March 05 2021, @07:12PM (#1120474) Journal

      Are those legit? Considering a place like Newegg is selling new licenses for $120+, I'm going with those are either Scams or Stolen licenses.

      --
      Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 05 2021, @10:47PM (1 child)

        by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 05 2021, @10:47PM (#1120573)

        why does someone always have to enter the conversation and say "don't keep running the OS! Internets are bad without the newest more secure release of yet!"

        then you knocked the cheap license keys. you sound like you're paid to contribute to what would otherwise have been meaningful OS conversations by making people feel bad for not upgrading to the latest Microsoft offering in the manner your employer intends them to.

        i mean no one even asked about the security. the OP talked about using win 10 to do his taxes because of restrictions that prevent him from using the software on the OS you came out of no where and said not to use. it's hard to take your commentary seriously when you act like the guy that has to tell everyone he doesn't watch tv when no one asked him if he watches tv.

        • (Score: 3, Touché) by Tork on Saturday March 06 2021, @12:06AM

          by Tork (3914) Subscriber Badge on Saturday March 06 2021, @12:06AM (#1120610)

          why does someone always have to enter the conversation and say "don't keep running the OS! Internets are bad... then you knocked the cheap license keys.

          That isn't the big incongruity you think it is.

          --
          🏳️‍🌈 Proud Ally 🏳️‍🌈
      • (Score: 4, Interesting) by RamiK on Saturday March 06 2021, @12:44AM (2 children)

        by RamiK (1813) on Saturday March 06 2021, @12:44AM (#1120624)

        Are those legit?

        It's a gray area but it's no secret that they work: https://www.majorgeeks.com/content/page/do_cheap_windows_10_keys_really_work.html [majorgeeks.com]

        There's some more stable and reputable sources that advertise over at technical blogs like cnxsoft and such selling for around $15 where if the license goes bad you contact the seller and they provide you with a replacement.

        Personally I've bought from both random ebay sources selling for the cheapest available and the better known places and didn't have a problem.

        Btw, to my knowledge, the windows 10 evaluation period is 30-90days depending on edition and rearming leaving you plenty of time to get your taxes in order or buy a new key (official or otherwise) if the current one stops working and you can't contact the seller.

        Either way, I've bought MMO cosmetics back when I was a kid for over $5 so I figured it's worth the risk. It helps when I only use windows once in a blue moon to flash firmwares and such...

        --
        compiling...
        • (Score: 4, Interesting) by caseih on Saturday March 06 2021, @01:30AM (1 child)

          by caseih (2744) on Saturday March 06 2021, @01:30AM (#1120634)

          Yes there is an evaluation time frame if you so choose, but but if you leave Windows 10 unactivated it will run indefinitely in that state.

          • (Score: 2) by RamiK on Saturday March 06 2021, @11:02AM

            by RamiK (1813) on Saturday March 06 2021, @11:02AM (#1120741)

            but if you leave Windows 10 unactivated it will run indefinitely in that state.

            Seeing how just a couple of weeks ago I had to boot windows [soylentnews.org] where a VM instance would have sufficed, that's very welcomed information I'd be sure to put into action next time the need arises.

            Thanks !

            --
            compiling...
      • (Score: 4, Interesting) by Reziac on Saturday March 06 2021, @02:44AM

        by Reziac (2489) on Saturday March 06 2021, @02:44AM (#1120657) Homepage

        They appear to be scams. Probably just email you the KMS code you can get off MSFT's site for free. One of 'em, eBay has already nuked.

        Once in a while a legit sale comes along via a regular vendor (while back I got Office 2016 for the whopping sum of $8.99, legal and everything, and BTW it was still overpriced) but these ain't it.

        --
        And there is no Alkibiades to come back and save us from ourselves.
    • (Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 05 2021, @07:44PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 05 2021, @07:44PM (#1120485)

      Funny how none of those sellers have any feedback. Almost like the accounts were just created yesterday. I'm sure it's ok though. </sarcasm>

  • (Score: 3, Insightful) by Gaaark on Saturday March 06 2021, @02:35AM

    by Gaaark (41) on Saturday March 06 2021, @02:35AM (#1120649) Journal

    Then write the TurboTax people and blast them for supporting a crap O/S but not linux.

    --
    --- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---
  • (Score: 2, Informative) by Cyrix6x86 on Saturday March 06 2021, @02:37AM (1 child)

    by Cyrix6x86 (13569) on Saturday March 06 2021, @02:37AM (#1120651)

    Find a genuine Windows 7 product key. It is 25 characters. The one on the label that you have from Goodwill will not work, as that version was intended for the refurbisher to provide installation media. I doubt at this point that you can get in contact with the entity who refurbished it, or that they will be able to provide installation media. If you can, great, just install Win 7 and then extract the 25 char product key once it activates. Otherwise, start looking for trash computers from the Win7 era.

    Once you have a 25 char Win7 product key, it will activate Windows 10 without a problem.

    If you have to call the Microsoft Product Activation hotline, the correct answer to their question is "1."

    Ding! Verified.

    Good luck.

    • (Score: 2) by Reziac on Saturday March 06 2021, @02:46AM

      by Reziac (2489) on Saturday March 06 2021, @02:46AM (#1120660) Homepage

      Ha, yes... if you answer anything but "1" you will be there forever to no result.

      --
      And there is no Alkibiades to come back and save us from ourselves.
  • (Score: 1) by shrewdsheep on Saturday March 06 2021, @01:25PM

    by shrewdsheep (5215) on Saturday March 06 2021, @01:25PM (#1120766)

    If all you need is running some legacy software that's not supported by wine, I recommend going to archive.org. You can find images for Win98/XP/win7 there. I'm not sure how virus infested they are, however, I had the need last year running an application for a couple of days and the win7 image run just fine. Turn on the network only when needed.

  • (Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Sunday March 07 2021, @07:49AM

    by Azuma Hazuki (5086) on Sunday March 07 2021, @07:49AM (#1120999) Journal

    I've run Windows inside Virtualbox on Linux on older hardware than this (my old T400, which had a Core 2 Duo) and it ran okay. Yours should be capable of running 7 Pro inside a VM and maaaaybe 10 if you're careful, though I'd really suggest maxing out the RAM and running a light-ish distro and window manager/desktop environment.

    This approach gives you some more control over what happens to your Windows install, keeps it off the bare metal, and lets you share files between the two OSes with a shared directory.

    --
    I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday March 07 2021, @03:43PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday March 07 2021, @03:43PM (#1121060)

    In bios, try messing with the "raid vs achi" choices to get the newer hard drive to work

    Additional Windows 10 ideas:
    https://www.pcworld.com/article/3400840/how-to-get-windows-10-cheap-or-even-for-free.html [pcworld.com]

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