[HB: skip to paragraph near end starting "Back to HB", other than for
interest.]

In message , Paul
writes:
J. P. Gilliver (John) wrote:
In message , Patrick
writes:
On 25/03/2018 06:18, J. P. Gilliver (John) wrote:
In message , HB writes:
[]
How many times does MS allow us to use the "once only" copy of the OS?
As many times as you like/need - as long as they're always on the
_same computer_. The "once only" is what Microsoft says about
_making_ those discs: It says something like "you will only have
one chance to make these discs". (_Why_ it does that limit, I
don't know, since they can only be used on that PC.)

Oops, I,ve just told HB that said would be a restriction (if at all)
of the OEM rather than MS. Still not to relevant at the moment.
What I've said above is just _my_ understanding of the situation -
though I'm fairly sure the "once only" _does_ apply to the number of
times a new computer offers to _make_ the discs. It was always my
_understanding_ that those discs were in some way tied to the computer
they were made on (presumably involving a hash of various hardware
parameters, and allowing for a _certain amount_ of change to enable
upgrade and/or repair), but I can't cite a source for that impression.
Does anyone know whether a system restored from such disc(s)
requires activation? Just curious; it's not going to be relevant to
HB's situation, as even if he could get the system running from the
old disc, the opportunity to make a rescue disc is probably long
gone. In the unlikely event he could get the system running from the
old disc, I'd say the first thing to do would be make an image onto
his Seagate external drive (which I would do with Macrium, but any
means including W7's built-in one would do).

OEM OSes auto-activate.

On Windows 7, an OEM copy of Windows 7 checks the information in the
SLIC table the BIOS passes to it.

On Win8 or Win10 OEM machines, an actual unique key is stored in the
BIOS as the ACPI MSDM table, and the OS sees this during startup or
something.

*******

Where actual work is required, is if a user grabs a Win7 Retail DVD
and installs on an OEM (Dell,Acer,HP) laptop. Then, the phone prompt
appears on thescreen, and you participate in an activation process.

I've done one of these on my laptop, using xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx
off the COA sticker. You send a 56 digit number to Microsoft over your
touch tone phone, and Microsoft reads back a 56 digit code that you type
into the laptop. Is the method annoying ? Oh, yeah.

Paul

Not relevant to HB, but I was wondering about the discs that a new OEM
(pre-installed) machine prompts you to make the first few times you
start Windows after getting the machine home and turning it on. Are
these purely an OEM install disc (in which case they'd be one disc if a
DVD), or are they something different to everything else we've discussed
(Retail install, OEM install, "Rescue")? I'd assumed they were specific
to the machine they were made on, or at least the make and model, and
would restore it to its original condition (probably including the
junkware the manufacturer installs).

Back to HB: the above is useful to know - that if he gets hold of a
retail disc he'll still be able to install and activate it using the
code from his sticker, but will have to go through 'phone activation. If
he gets the one Patrick's post of 2018-3-25 10*:43:0 is providing, will
he be able to use that _without_ having to go through activation? (If he
does, and all goes well, will it then nag him to make disc[s]?)

If he installs from either of these (Retail or OEM-from-Patrick), I
presume the Toshiba special recovery (hold down 0 [zero] while powering)
won't work, though that's no great loss as it relies on the drive not
being dead and we're going to encourage him to image, aren't we.

(*hour may vary with timezone)
--
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/1985 MB++G()AL-IS-Ch++(p)Ar@T+H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

Never be led astray onto the path of virtue.