Windows 7

[tonysmith1929]

Hi friends. Do you think this works/is legal etc..Seems a cheap way to get 7 if it works. Thanks

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Windows-7-Home-Premium-32-64-Bit-Authentic-Retail-Key_W0QQitemZ250548744923QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Computing_Software_Software_SR?hash=item3a55de72db

[MilesAhead]

How will you know if the seller only sells it to you? It's just a license string. If he sells it 500 times, then you install and activate... well.. you won't know until you try it and activate it. For $30 more you can get an OEM. Or you could enroll in university and get a student edition.

Or download a legal copy of Windows and evaluate it for 90 days. See how it works on your machine. Then if you like it buy it, or maybe by then W7 will come with SP1 integrated(that's what I'm waiting for... no more trying to put a service pack on myself. Too much hassle.)

[tonysmith1929]

Windows 7

Thanks Miles. Didnt know a download evaluation copy existed !! Will try that route, thanks again.....

[MilesAhead]

Yup. It's perfectly legal to evaluate Windows for 90 days. Just install and when it asks for a license don't put anything in. The evaluation is probably the best version you can get. Just like with compilers, the evaluation copy is always the most expensive version with all the bells, whistles, client-server, enterprise, and database stuff included.

I'm riding my W7 beta until it dies. I hope by then(March 2010) the W7 will be out with SP1 integrated so I don't have to mess around with it. Either than or buy a new PC(if I should hit a lottery or something) with the SP1 already on.

[tonysmith1929]

Windows 7

Thanks Miles. Have looked around MS site, but not seen a download for it yet. Should I find it, and try it out, what will have happened to my existing XP version ??, restorable or not ?? Maybe keep 7 on another HD ?? Thanks for info...

[MilesAhead]

All I can say is try to find an .iso image you can download. It's my understanding if you install without entering a license key, it will give you either 90 or 120 days usage before it will start shutting down every 2 hours to keep you from evaluating forever.

You will probably have more luck with Torrent than a download server. But make sure it's an authorized .iso image, not some hack. If you google you should be able to find MD5Sum values for the image. If the MD5Sum calculates correctly then you know it's a valid copy. It's not illegal to install Windows. It's only illegal to fake that you have a license or crack it or whatever.

If they didn't want you to try it, they wouldn't put the time lag in there before shutting down.

edit: you can probably get more authoritative info on these sites:

http://www.winsupersite.com/Default.asp

http://www.sevenforums.com/general-discussion/47126-wanting-try-windows-7-a.html

[admin]

The trial mode can be extended to 120 days as well, according to this article:

http://windowssecrets.com/2009/08/20/01-Use-any-version-of-Windows-7-free-for-120-days

Might be easier to see if a friend has a Windows 7 disc you can borrow, then install without the key for the trial. It's not illegal, as you're basically installing the "try before you buy" version, a feature which Microsoft added for a reason.

[dazuk1972]

I know there's too many pirates at EBay selling copies and the only way to know if a copy is real is if it has a genuine Microsoft sticker on the disc. This is why Microsoft want us to activate Windows, so that if they get a reference number twice under two names and addresses, they know straight away somebody has a pirate copy. I only buy any discs from EBay that say the item is sealed and I have a record of the AD encase the seller has lied and I can report the seller to EBay and PayPal saying that seller advertised a sealed item that wasn't and was a pirate copy. So far, every EBay seller that advertises any discs as sealed has kept their word. I chose to go for items advertised as sealed since somebody tried ripping me off with CD's that were all pirate copies and I got my money back through PayPal.

[tonysmith1929]

windows 7

Thanks to all for advice and suggestions,and happy xmas & new year. My final question for 2009. As have decided to save up for win 7, should I go for 32 or 64 bit, and why.
Will all my old drivers,progams etc work with it, and any other pitfalls likely to appear. Its going to take quite a time to fit new HD, clean install and put all the bits back I want.....probably be 2011 by the time I reappear here !!!!
Cheers to all.

[MilesAhead]

If you buy a machine with the OS installed you can usually assume the hw that comes stock will at least have a driver installed. IOW, when I bought my quad core it came with Vista64 SP1 installed. I didn't worry too much about drivers. But if you are putting it on yourself you need to make sure you can find drivers for all the stuff you are likely to use.

It stands to reason 32 bit will be easier to find than 64 bit. But if your machine can take advantage of 64 bit(as in has 6 or 8 GB ram and the hardware supports 64 bit OS) then it may be worth the extra trouble. The short answer is, you won't know until you get there what problems you will find. That's why so many people like to just buy the PC with the OS with service pack on.

You might try some of the Windows Seven forums and ask around if somebody has a machine very similar. They might be able to give you some clues how they got around problems or found drivers or apps that were compatible etc.

The hardware varies too much to generalize and say "oh sure, no problem" without knowing a lot more about what you are running.

[tonysmith1929]

Windows 7.

Thanks Miles.....Everything is worse than I hoped. I downloaded and ran the MS win 7 compatability thingy yesterday. Virtually nothing I have will work. My scanner, two Epson printers (one only a month old !) although there MAY be a driver for this. None of my photo programs, PSP etc. In fact even some MS bits wont work, so will give up the idea and stick to XP, at least it all works with that.
In any case I only have 2 Gb ram, max 4, but DDR1 is expensive here. (UK) Situation not really better if I buy a newer PC, still be without all my important bits.

So thanks to all for advice and help, have a good holiday.....

[MilesAhead]

Sorry you got bad news. The way I've been getting around adopting a new OS while still using my old apps and peripherals is by having 2 machines networked and a KVMA switch. The switch is only necessary because the most convenient set-up for the machines is under a small table. I don't have room for 2 keyboards and 2 mice on the table I'm using and really don't have room to stick a big wooden desk or workbench in that space.

You do have to get used to hitting a hotkey to jump between machines. But on the plus side I only need 1 monitor 1 mouse and 1 keyboard. When I buy a new PC I just get the box with the tower/keyboard/mouse. The other downside is I don't play a lot of music on the PC since when I jump to the other PC the speakers will switch over along with everything else. I don't want to forget and jump back to sudden blaring music.

As example, my Epson stylus C88+ printer does not have any driver downloads for any OS later than XP. But because one of my machines is Vista I can connect it to that and the built-in Vista driver will work over the network. If I put it on the Windows Seven machine, it won't serve over the network properly.

In the past I tried insane things like putting Windows 2000 Server on a PC that was way under-powered for it(of course it more than met the "minimum specs" but that's meaningless esp. when you try to set up a domain... as I was just for learning purposes.)

Now I just try to get the OS with at least SP1 preinstalled. A lot fewer headaches. But see when I buy the new tower with the new OS I can still lob files over the network if I have to process them on the old machine. It works out pretty well. By the time I'm ready to buy another PC the applications, drivers etc.. have caught up to the "new" machine and I can move it over as the "old" PC and it keeps going along those lines.
That's why I'm resisting going LCD because right now I can still get by with VGA connections that I need for the KVMA switch. Eventually I'll have to bite the bullet and get new video, but I'm riding this CRT monitor as long as I can.