Win7 Repair

YMMV, but apparently, you were at least able to get a new "key," or did you have to pay for it? Depending on certain details you may or may not have to call to activate a replacement install, but you shouldn't have had to pay extra...
Things (sorta) improved with Win 10, IF (and it's a BIG "IF,") you have a M$ account.

 

That's always been the case for most (all?) of the consumer licenses. Especially if you do it over a relatively short period of time. But it has also always been a fairly painless process too. The implication is that they are doing a pretty good job of balancing piracy prevention with the "PITA" factor.

 

That in a nut shell is the problem with windows based machines!.
every sith ware os that comes out is designed to shun the older equipment and couple the fact that support for the older os ends way too soon you are being herded into buying all new shiny gear.
think about it! those of you who still run windows have to deal with this issue all the time.

in the mean time Im running a LINUX os that just came out two years ago (Peppermint 10) and im running it on a 15 year old computer.
It runs circles around my wifes win10 machine and my sons new system with win11
you can even get ham radio apps from its synaptic package manager FREE
and Peppermint 10 is FREE

anyhow run what you want with os's but remember they have their ups and downs.

 

exactly! I never buy mine complete, I always build them to suit my needs.

 

As fast as I need to surf the web & watch Netflix at 1080 HD.
Outside of a faster WIFI card & an SSD, both are stock.

 

I've only bought two (out of 9 personal) computers. But the first, an AMD486-50 (real 50 MHz '486, not doubled or anything) and it used all "industry standard parts," so I was able to upgrade and add as I saw fit. (And I DID! I added a sound card, extra memory, a PCMCIA card, and enhanced EIDE.) unfortunately, the D*** is a complete disappointment. It crashed with one of their "updates," and it took a total of two weeks and five sessions (and $100) to get it back to some semblance of operation; the "backup" (hidden) partition was blown away by one of their Techs in the process, and the USB 3.1 Port no longer works. If I live long enough, you can BET my next computer won't be a "store-bought" or pre-made box!

 

I bought two HP Core2 Quad machines from my employer at a used equipment sale. Paid $10 for them. Not each, $10 for both. That was 5 years ago. I installed Linux Mint. The one is on 24/7 and handles all my web surfing, ham radio apps, you name it... never misses a beat. I can dual boot Windows 7 Pro if I want. I really never seem to want to.

My daughter gave me her old Lenovo laptop when she bought a new one. Wiped the Win 7 home off that and downloaded Windows 10 Pro free from Microsoft. I've had it for several years now and have NEVER activated it. It works fine just the way it is. Even installs the security updates. I don't use it very often but it always works. Every time I boot it up it asks me to activate it. I just never do. I'd have to pay $.

Guess I am a cheapskate with computers. Gives me more money for radio.

 

Not sure about the "$" part; you COULD have upgraded Win 7 to Win 10 for free... Did you have a reason for needing Win 10Pro?

 

For me Pro is a must.

The full function RDP it is worth the upgrade.

One computer in the server room and I can log in from anywhere, Just like setting in front of the computer.

 

I did not want to do an upgrade. I wanted to start over with a clean system. I chose Win 10 Pro mainly because it offered greater control over updates.

 

if you want the ultimate control of your software and updates, build a Gentoo Linux system ( But i highly recommend it be built by a linux pro).
although any Linux system will give you more control than you can ever get with windows period.
oh this may appeal to all hams out there.
Linux is ****** FREE****** as does not cost anything but the time you spend to learn it.
I use Debian Ham Linux! and it comes with most of the software you would need and id you can download more amateur radio apps from their repository ***Also FREE****

that being said with any upgrade and update in windows a file is kept with the change-log in it, you have the option of deleting the older updates but risk a chance of bricking your system.