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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: 4, Interesting) by RamiK on Saturday March 06 2021, @12:44AM (2 children)
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...
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(Score: 4, Interesting) by caseih on Saturday March 06 2021, @01:30AM (1 child)
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
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 !
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