Salvaged HD from Win Computer I wrecked needs some help

[buster]

In a moment of carelessness I spilled a glass of wine on my Win7 laptop. The computer is quite dead.

One year later, yesterday, I put the remembered hard drive in an older desktop in my basement - AMD triple core Phenom cpu, 6 gig ram, ATI Radeon HD 5570, 21.5 inch 1080p monitor. Looked like crap for a while, but finally sorted out a year's worth of updates and found the correct drivers and looks spectacular. But the system thinks it is not genuine, which is fine. Here's what I want to know.

What limitations will I face with this system as not genuine compared to genuine? So far there is nothing too annoying. Security Essentials is working, but I can always switch to Avira. Not sure the non-essential updates are important to me, as long as I get the security ones. The desktop reminder games it plays once in awhile seem not too intrusive, sort of like a card game with advertising.

I don't feeling I'm cheating and not paying, I did pay. But demon drink led me astray.

All the sites I go to check out the disadvantages of non genuine are at least 3 years old. And some silly.

So would I be able to run this system without too much hassle over a couple of years? It has things like old tax programs and photo software installed.

[Jason]

Is it Windows 7? I have an AIO (All-in-One) DVD and iso (in case I can't find the DVD) and we could reinstall Windows 7 on it. It usually never gives me a problem with not showing up as genuine as long as you don't go to the website and download that tool that checks. Do you have the old tax programs around or is it just data that you can move off the drive? Same with photo software.

I think if you bought it for that machine, you could call Microsoft and get a working key. It might even be on a sticker somewhere on the case. If the accessibility upgrade is still available for Windows 10, can even bump it up to that, if you wish.

Okay, that's enough Windows talk. I feel dirty now Seriously though, I'd be happy to come over and give you a hand if you need help. My only stipulation is that you're gonna have to give me a ride. I'm sure others can help, too.

[Jason]

This should work if you want to try re-installing it yourself using the key if you have one. If it doesn't, my AIO usually works but I can't guarantee it.

https://www.askvg.com/guide-download-windows-7-setup-iso-for-clean-installation/

[buster]

I didn't buy it for this machine. The hard drive was in an HP laptop that I destroyed last year. And all the data is backed up, but some of the software isn't.

I really don't want to reinstall it. I had used it for 4 or 5 years and liked it as it is.

What I'd like to know is how unpleasant does it get without a 'genuine' approval.

[Jason]

I didn't buy it for this machine. The hard drive was in an HP laptop that I destroyed last year. And all the data is backed up, but some of the software isn't.

Was it a retail copy though? If it's not on another machine, Microsoft support should give you a working key that will let you activate it over the phone. This is different than the key you use to install it.

What I'd like to know is how unpleasant does it get without a 'genuine' approval.

This has been my experience and seems to be confirmed below. You won't be able to change the background, it will go black after a while if it hasn't and won't let you change it. It will disable Aero which might affect whether you see the windows previews on the taskbar. It will nag you every time you startup.They will still let you have security updates for the biggest threats out there, but don't promise them all. Windows 7 SP1 support ends in January of 2020 which means there will be no further security updates after then, anyway.

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_7-windows_install/what-happens-to-windows-7-after-the-30-day/14c1b0de-8341-4f8b-a72e-a7603611d1f3

[Jason]

Btw, unless you have software on there that can't be reinstalled (missing discs, etc) or are just too lazy (I can understand that) a fresh install of Windows 7 (or any version of Windows ) can really bring back life to an old machine.

It removes all the cruft that builds up and never had a machine not feel faster when I did it. When we had 7, we'd do it every year on our home machines. And when you got it perfect, make a system image so you can refresh it faster.

[buster]

"Was it a retail copy though? "

I bought a laptop new many years ago and it had a legitimate copy of Win7 installed on it. The hard drive survived with the Win 7 OS intact. The rest of the laptop is in heaven, with the number on its back panel.

[Jason]

Ah, okay, the way licensing works, that was an OEM copy which is good only for that machine. The key might work on another machine but I haven't ever tried this. My feeling is that key would fail unless you put in a machine that had almost exactly the same hardware (CPU, motherboard, hard drive, usually). Do you think you can live with the limitations as stated above running a "counterfeit" version of Windows? The other option is to use a software patch that disables the validation. Hoping another member can help you with this. I've never tried it, personally.

[Jason]

All the sites I go to check out the disadvantages of non genuine are at least 3 years old. And some silly.

That's probably because it's old. Like many of us. The only people using Windows 7 might be in some corporate environments and their copies are all legit. Yeah, I know there are a few people still using Windows 7, like some of us hobbyists, but by and large, the world has moved on. I think it came out eight years ago now. Mainstream support ended three years ago.

[buster]

So far the limitations are almost zero. And I keep finding things I forgot all about in the file system which is cool. I'll see how it goes. Hoped someone knew if the problems multiply or increase in intensity.

It never got updated to the Win 10 system because some of the old hardware in the laptop wasn't compatible. I tried, though warned, and had to go back to 7. It works very well by the way with the good video card in this machine.

[Jason]

I think I had this issue once with Windows thinking it was a counterfeit copy, but only had it like that for a couple of weeks. I don't think anything got worse other than the nagging might have increased in frequency, but that might have just been me, too. I'd think not being able to put a nice background would be the deal breaker for you, though, Harry :-)

Btw, I don't know where everybody else is. Surprised on a lazy Sunday that we're the only ones posting.

[ssfc72]

The person that probably knows is Bob.  If you have his personal email address, I am sure Bob would be more than happy to let you know, if you can get around the Win7 authentication problem. :-)

[Jason]

You can message him through the forums, too. That will send him an email to let him know you're trying to reach him.

[cod3poet]

Depending on the edition of windows this can be a simple process. I have a giant cache of windows 7 keys of all shapes and legitimate sizes so I can probably get that drive up and running clean.