SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
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
Microsoftand
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)
(Score: 2) by martyb on Friday March 05 2021, @04:35PM (3 children)
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.
(Score: 4, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 05 2021, @04:45PM (1 child)
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
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
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.