Paul[_32_]
May 6th 17, 04:43 AM
John & Jane Doe wrote:
> Paul wrote in >:
>
>> These are ones I don't mind posting. There are a hundred million
>> computers using these two. Generic placeholder keys.
>>
>> VK7JG-NPHTM-C97JM-9MPGT-3V66T (Windows 10 Professional) <--- my X79 homebrew
>> YTMG3-N6DKC-DKB77-7M9GH-8HVX7 (Windows 10 Home - multi language) <--- my Acer laptop upgrade
>>
>> Whereas the actual Win7 COA key on the sticker, I won't
>> be showing you that.
>>
>> The "8HVX7" one is generic, and appears after a person
>> does the free upgrade to Win10 Home, from a qualifying OS.
>> Those keys are backed up with the Digital Entitlement
>> on the server, which is the "real" and unique identifier.
>
> Here is what my ShowKeys run output:
> https://s24.postimg.org/ny4uzpwc5/showkeyplus.gif
>
> Product Name: Windows 10 Pro
> Prodict ID: xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx
> Installed Key: VK7JG-NPHTM-C97JM-9MPGT-3V66T
> Original Key: xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx
> Original Edition: Windows 7 Ultimate Retail
> OEM Key: Windows 7 OEM marker present in firmware
>
> What does that puzzle tell us?
> Which is the thing I should write down?
As I explained earlier.
1) The Win7 had a key. You would record the Win7 Ultimate
key for future usage of Windows 7. That would be the
"Original Key" field.
The OEM key marker present, in this case means the PC is
SLIC activated for the original version of Windows. The
OEM machines come with two keys - the bogus one that is
the same on all Dells, plus the key on the COA sticker. If
the COA sticker was removed, maybe the "Original Key" is
a copy of that COA key. However, I don't think it's too
common for PCs to come with Ultimate from the factory,
so an AnyTime Upgrade might have been done on the machine,
and the Ultimate key was applied separately. In any case,
the Original Key field has some value... for Win7 operation.
2) The 3V66T is useless.
The actual Win10 key is the Digital Entitlement, stored
on the Microsoft Server.
When Win10 is running, you can run slmgr /dlv to collect
identifying information which can be used when talking
to a Microsoft employee by phone. That's if you change
motherboards and are trying to get Win10 activated again.
Win10, as long as its the same trim level, should just
reinstall (clean) and activate on its own. Using the
serial number of the PC to query the Microsoft Server
for details. Since the qualifying OS, according to your
info was Win7 Ultimate, that means the version of
Win10 must be Win10 Pro. You could re-install
Win10 Pro 32-bit or 64-bit, using the Digital Entitlement
already stored on the Microsoft server. Your identity
isn't known, until you start interacting with the Microsoft
Store, fill out an MSA, use your credit card, and so on.
The Ultimate key may be traceable, as an Anytime Upgrade
may have a credit card paper trail. So the Digital
Entitlement may have enough info to determine which
human did the AnyTime Upgrade.
As for the screen shots you've been taking, you can
use "snippingtool" in Windows to take screenshots. I usually
run it, and when it is running, go to the Task Bar, right-click
it and select "Pin to Task Bar". Then, the screen shot tool
is sitting down there in the bar when you need it.
The only time I use a webcam to shoot pictures of the
screen, is during boot, when I need to photograph
some abnormal behavior. If the OS is running, I can usually
get the effect I want with SnippingTool. The image editor GIMP
also has screen capture, and I sometimes use the time
delayed capture, to interact with menus and get a
capture of an exposed menu item. SnippingTool also has
delay capability. Occasionally, an object on the
screen mis-behaves and doesn't capture properly, in
which case, using full screen capture and cropping
the image later, will achieve the desired capture.
In the old days, we used the PrintScreen key for
screen capture, but that's "so 1950's" :-) Nobody
does that any more. The SnippingTool takes some
of the work out of it, but you might still need to
crop your screen shots for best effect. On occasion,
I scale pictures up to make them fill a recipients
screen better. You can have all sorts of fun
Photo-chopping your captures.
https://s29.postimg.org/mo3sbweuv/scaling.gif
Paul
> Paul wrote in >:
>
>> These are ones I don't mind posting. There are a hundred million
>> computers using these two. Generic placeholder keys.
>>
>> VK7JG-NPHTM-C97JM-9MPGT-3V66T (Windows 10 Professional) <--- my X79 homebrew
>> YTMG3-N6DKC-DKB77-7M9GH-8HVX7 (Windows 10 Home - multi language) <--- my Acer laptop upgrade
>>
>> Whereas the actual Win7 COA key on the sticker, I won't
>> be showing you that.
>>
>> The "8HVX7" one is generic, and appears after a person
>> does the free upgrade to Win10 Home, from a qualifying OS.
>> Those keys are backed up with the Digital Entitlement
>> on the server, which is the "real" and unique identifier.
>
> Here is what my ShowKeys run output:
> https://s24.postimg.org/ny4uzpwc5/showkeyplus.gif
>
> Product Name: Windows 10 Pro
> Prodict ID: xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx
> Installed Key: VK7JG-NPHTM-C97JM-9MPGT-3V66T
> Original Key: xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx
> Original Edition: Windows 7 Ultimate Retail
> OEM Key: Windows 7 OEM marker present in firmware
>
> What does that puzzle tell us?
> Which is the thing I should write down?
As I explained earlier.
1) The Win7 had a key. You would record the Win7 Ultimate
key for future usage of Windows 7. That would be the
"Original Key" field.
The OEM key marker present, in this case means the PC is
SLIC activated for the original version of Windows. The
OEM machines come with two keys - the bogus one that is
the same on all Dells, plus the key on the COA sticker. If
the COA sticker was removed, maybe the "Original Key" is
a copy of that COA key. However, I don't think it's too
common for PCs to come with Ultimate from the factory,
so an AnyTime Upgrade might have been done on the machine,
and the Ultimate key was applied separately. In any case,
the Original Key field has some value... for Win7 operation.
2) The 3V66T is useless.
The actual Win10 key is the Digital Entitlement, stored
on the Microsoft Server.
When Win10 is running, you can run slmgr /dlv to collect
identifying information which can be used when talking
to a Microsoft employee by phone. That's if you change
motherboards and are trying to get Win10 activated again.
Win10, as long as its the same trim level, should just
reinstall (clean) and activate on its own. Using the
serial number of the PC to query the Microsoft Server
for details. Since the qualifying OS, according to your
info was Win7 Ultimate, that means the version of
Win10 must be Win10 Pro. You could re-install
Win10 Pro 32-bit or 64-bit, using the Digital Entitlement
already stored on the Microsoft server. Your identity
isn't known, until you start interacting with the Microsoft
Store, fill out an MSA, use your credit card, and so on.
The Ultimate key may be traceable, as an Anytime Upgrade
may have a credit card paper trail. So the Digital
Entitlement may have enough info to determine which
human did the AnyTime Upgrade.
As for the screen shots you've been taking, you can
use "snippingtool" in Windows to take screenshots. I usually
run it, and when it is running, go to the Task Bar, right-click
it and select "Pin to Task Bar". Then, the screen shot tool
is sitting down there in the bar when you need it.
The only time I use a webcam to shoot pictures of the
screen, is during boot, when I need to photograph
some abnormal behavior. If the OS is running, I can usually
get the effect I want with SnippingTool. The image editor GIMP
also has screen capture, and I sometimes use the time
delayed capture, to interact with menus and get a
capture of an exposed menu item. SnippingTool also has
delay capability. Occasionally, an object on the
screen mis-behaves and doesn't capture properly, in
which case, using full screen capture and cropping
the image later, will achieve the desired capture.
In the old days, we used the PrintScreen key for
screen capture, but that's "so 1950's" :-) Nobody
does that any more. The SnippingTool takes some
of the work out of it, but you might still need to
crop your screen shots for best effect. On occasion,
I scale pictures up to make them fill a recipients
screen better. You can have all sorts of fun
Photo-chopping your captures.
https://s29.postimg.org/mo3sbweuv/scaling.gif
Paul