backwoodsman
Well-Known Member
- Reaction score
- 576
- Location
- USA
Many of which work great with Linux, many years after they've become useless with Windoze. Not really a great solution for most customers, but perfect for my own machines.
Laptop Battery Refurbishing?
- Thread starter ThatPlace928
- Start date
Many of which work great with Linux, many years after they've become useless with Windoze. Not really a great solution for most customers, but perfect for my own machines.
ThatPlace928
Well-Known Member
- Reaction score
- 2,382
- Location
- Bullhead City, AZ
Are you saying the older machines work great with Linux? I'm not quite understanding what you said. Sorry, maybe it's just morning brain for me.... lol
britechguy
Well-Known Member
- Reaction score
- 4,788
- Location
- Staunton, VA
@ThatPlace928
I'm not @backwoodsman, but that's how I read what he's saying. It's well known that many Linux distros, and particularly the small ones like Puppy Linux, DSL (Damn Small Linux), and their relatives work incredibly well on absolutely ancient hardware. Even some of the "medium-sized" and more full-featured ones run very slickly on older hardware.
I'm not @backwoodsman, but that's how I read what he's saying. It's well known that many Linux distros, and particularly the small ones like Puppy Linux, DSL (Damn Small Linux), and their relatives work incredibly well on absolutely ancient hardware. Even some of the "medium-sized" and more full-featured ones run very slickly on older hardware.
ThatPlace928
Well-Known Member
- Reaction score
- 2,382
- Location
- Bullhead City, AZ
That's nice to know. I'm not a Linux person and will do a fresh install of Windows 10 over any hard drive that has Linux on it. Maybe down the road.....
britechguy
Well-Known Member
- Reaction score
- 4,788
- Location
- Staunton, VA
The only problem with that is it only works (at least legally) if the hardware either originally came with Windows 10 or was legally upgraded to it from Windows 7, 8, or 8.1.
Linux will run on hardware that predates the Windows 7 era, and I have no idea, these days, what would even happen were you to try a N&P with Win10 on something that old.
With both Windows 10 and 11, you really do need historical information about the hardware before you can be certain that an N&P is appropriate on it and will work on it.
Linux finally dropping floppy drive support
28 years after Linux came out, computers are very different. Linux is staying with the times by dropping support for floppy drives.
techreport.com
Blues
Well-Known Member
- Reaction score
- 527
- Location
- Tennessee, US
Interesting I'm curious what this means for existing USB Floppy drives as the little article is a bit vague on to what degree support is ending. It sounds like the driver will exist but further development is ending and it suggest USB floppy drives may be a different matter entirely. I am not currently a heavy Linux user and only recently have begun to explore it with real interest in using it. I do have and rarely but occasionally use a USB Floppy and wish to maintain its usability until it dies. The need for it is so greatly reduced though it has collected dust for at least 4+ years now and its most common use was on old hardware with dead Floppy drives.Linux finally dropping floppy drive support
28 years after Linux came out, computers are very different. Linux is staying with the times by dropping support for floppy drives.
ThatPlace928
Well-Known Member
- Reaction score
- 2,382
- Location
- Bullhead City, AZ
I haven't had any issues, so far. But I haven't brought in too many laptops with Linux either.
Blues
Well-Known Member
- Reaction score
- 527
- Location
- Tennessee, US
If you mean what would happen if you N&P on a Machine where you upgraded from 7, 8, or 8.1 to 10 with a straight N&P back to 10? Those work fine as Win 10 registers something somewhere to recognize the hardware and if a key/license is required you must use your original Win 7 key. I have done this a couple of times even as recently as within the last year or 2. I did find some issues with some of the software and drivers that I had as they were from the original setup under Windows 7. If it is older than Win 7 as long as the hardware means Win10 minimum specs and you had already licensed or have a new license to install Win10 onto the hardware you should only be concerned with if you can find good drivers compatible with Win 10 for all the hardware.
britechguy
Well-Known Member
- Reaction score
- 4,788
- Location
- Staunton, VA
No, I meant if you had, say, a machine that was a Win7 machine (or even earlier) that had never had an in-place upgrade and for which no digital license already exists on MS servers.
I realize that one can buy Win10 licenses, but that's a different matter entirely. This is more of a thought exercise than anything else, as I've never had a Linux box of any type dropped in my lap by a client. I've set up some of my own, but never had a client present one.
NviGate Systems
Well-Known Member
- Reaction score
- 1,165
- Location
- Vancouver
Then you don't get activated. You have to enter the key from the sticker or firmware (if it exists) or do a fresh install of 7 using the OEM Certs then upgrade. Waste of time for an old clanker.
britechguy
Well-Known Member
- Reaction score
- 4,788
- Location
- Staunton, VA
Absolutely agreed.
ThatPlace928
Well-Known Member
- Reaction score
- 2,382
- Location
- Bullhead City, AZ
This thread has certainly taken a different turn..... lol I'm not complaining, though. I love reading the different back and forth comments, even when the subject matter goes off track.
britechguy
Well-Known Member
- Reaction score
- 4,788
- Location
- Staunton, VA
Commonly known as "thread drift" or "topic drift" since I first started frequenting Usenet (if you have to ask, then wikipedia) and emailing lists.
So long as it doesn't occur prior to the original query being answered (which, when it does, is topic hijacking - a definite "never done") it's not a big problem. Conversations in real life flow naturally, and topics can, too. It's just critical that the original be addressed prior to the meandering starting.
ThatPlace928
Well-Known Member
- Reaction score
- 2,382
- Location
- Bullhead City, AZ
I'm totally good with the drift. My questions and concerns were answered. This is much better than 50 more "don't do its"..... lol
Blues
Well-Known Member
- Reaction score
- 527
- Location
- Tennessee, US
I have not tested but heard you can activate a fresh Win10 with Win7 keys even if that Win7 key was never properly upgraded via the free upgrade service. I also heard this back during the time when you still had many free upgrade options so it might not work anymore now.
ThatPlace928
Well-Known Member
- Reaction score
- 2,382
- Location
- Bullhead City, AZ
Yes, you can. The easiest way to upgrade Windows 7 to Windows 10 is by using the Media Creation Tool. You can choose to keep files and apps or start fresh by not keeping anything. That choice is near the end of the installation, not the beginning like a disk or USB install.
Blues
Well-Known Member
- Reaction score
- 527
- Location
- Tennessee, US
@ThatPlace928 I mean when doing a fresh install to a blank drive not on top of an existing install.
britechguy
Well-Known Member
- Reaction score
- 4,788
- Location
- Staunton, VA
@Blues
So far as I know, it remains possible to activate a fresh Win10 install with a Win7, 8, or 8.1 product key (whether from a previously existing instance of any one of those three versions of Windows, or a fresh, unused license key for any of them that you might "have stashed in a drawer somewhere.")
But, just like it is when you do an in-place upgrade, that license key then becomes valid only for Windows 10. You can't have another machine running Windows 7 with that same license key (well, in reality you can, but it's not permitted by the EULA). I don't know why Microsoft has license servers that don't seem to actually do much of anything with regard to enforcing actual license terms. It's gotten so that it is, for all practical intents and purposes, "the honor system" when it comes to Windows itself.
So far as I know, it remains possible to activate a fresh Win10 install with a Win7, 8, or 8.1 product key (whether from a previously existing instance of any one of those three versions of Windows, or a fresh, unused license key for any of them that you might "have stashed in a drawer somewhere.")
But, just like it is when you do an in-place upgrade, that license key then becomes valid only for Windows 10. You can't have another machine running Windows 7 with that same license key (well, in reality you can, but it's not permitted by the EULA). I don't know why Microsoft has license servers that don't seem to actually do much of anything with regard to enforcing actual license terms. It's gotten so that it is, for all practical intents and purposes, "the honor system" when it comes to Windows itself.
ThatPlace928
Well-Known Member
- Reaction score
- 2,382
- Location
- Bullhead City, AZ
If you're doing a fresh install to a blank drive, wouldn't you already have a key for the install, whether it came with the install disk or you bought one? Maybe I'm not understanding your initial question?
Or are you asking if a Windows 7 key that's never been used or registered can be used on a fresh install of Windows 10? If that's the question, I've never tried it so I don't really know if it would work or not.
Similar threads
