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#31
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(OT) "Windows 7 enters its final year of free support"
J. P. Gilliver (John) wrote:
In message , Paul writes: J. P. Gilliver (John) wrote: In message , Paul writes: J. P. Gilliver (John) wrote: [] 1. It asked me to choose - all options were 7 SP1, but Home Premium etc., and plain or OEM (which it called COEM). Since the 7 HP I have came with the machine, I chose the latter - was that right? The sticker (which I took the opportunity to copy - it's not inside the battery compartment or anything, so was in danger of rubbing off) has five groups of five characters, rather than one group being "OEM", but I think they stopped doing that a while ago - is that right? (I. e. are even OEM keys from stickers now 5 groups of 5 characters?) If not, should I download the non-OEM .iso instead - how would I tell? (Although the Windows came with the machine, the machine came from a reseller, not new.) [] The COEM could be "System Builder OEM". That's a non-retail SKU that doesn't allow moving between PCs. I don't know if the license key would activate that or not. [] Do you think I should download the other one, or is mine likely to be the (C)OEM one I've downloaded? (I guess the other one is "Retail"?) The Heidoc tool isn't likely to stop you. No, I didn't think it would; I just meant I have no great desire to download both, so which one should I get for my Toshiba laptop - the (C)OEM one I've got, or the other one? I'm _unlikely_ to use either, as I image from time to time, and can't really see me ever using other than the image; there was just a slight "get it while it's still available" feel that made me get it at all. [] These might be the ones I got for the laptop. X17-24209__64-bit Windows 7 Home Premium x64 SP1 (bootable).iso 3.3GB X17-24208__32-bit Windows 7 Home Premium x86 SP1 (bootable).iso 2.5GB The Test Machine got a System Builder x64 Pro disc, and the nearest ISOs I see on disk are these. I'm using Pro for the memory license enhanced limit (later OSes, the limits are high enough this is less of an issue). Win7_Pro_SP1_English_COEM_x32.iso 2.5GB GSP1RMCPRXFREO_EN_DVD_X17-58517.ISO 3.3GB The problem with comparing the size, is there exist more than one copy of the SP1 version. As something got fixed in the installer or something and the ISO was re-issued. So comparing that lot with byte-precision won't guarantee an answer on how identical they are. I don't have a very fast connection, but I've got plenty of "cap" and if there's a remote possibility I'll need it, it gets downloaded. Some of my content comes from the DigitalRiver era, where no license key need be entered, and we didn't need Heidoc either. You have to use these opportunities when they arise. If you're short of storage, then I'd understand. Back when I had the 5Mbit/sec ADSL I used to *hate* downloading stuff like that, because it took forever. But I got a slightly faster connection since then, and downloading those is annoying but not traumatic. Paul |
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#32
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(OT) "Windows 7 enters its final year of free support"
In message , Paul
writes: J. P. Gilliver (John) wrote: In message , Paul writes: J. P. Gilliver (John) wrote: In message , Paul writes: J. P. Gilliver (John) wrote: [] 1. It asked me to choose - all options were 7 SP1, but Home Premium etc., and plain or OEM (which it called COEM). Since the 7 HP I have came with the machine, I chose the latter - was that right? The sticker (which I took the opportunity to copy - it's not inside the battery compartment or anything, so was in danger of rubbing off) has five groups of five characters, rather than one group being "OEM", but I think they stopped doing that a while ago - is that right? (I. e. are even OEM keys from stickers now 5 groups of 5 characters?) If not, should I download the non-OEM .iso instead - how would I tell? (Although the Windows came with the machine, the machine came from a reseller, not new.) [] The COEM could be "System Builder OEM". That's a non-retail SKU that doesn't allow moving between PCs. I don't know if the license key would activate that or not. [] Do you think I should download the other one, or is mine likely to be the (C)OEM one I've downloaded? (I guess the other one is "Retail"?) The Heidoc tool isn't likely to stop you. No, I didn't think it would; I just meant I have no great desire to download both, so which one should I get for my Toshiba laptop - the (C)OEM one I've got, or the other one? I'm _unlikely_ to use either, as I image from time to time, and can't really see me ever using other than the image; there was just a slight "get it while it's still available" feel that made me get it at all. [] These might be the ones I got for the laptop. X17-24209__64-bit Windows 7 Home Premium x64 SP1 (bootable).iso 3.3GB X17-24208__32-bit Windows 7 Home Premium x86 SP1 (bootable).iso 2.5GB The Test Machine got a System Builder x64 Pro disc, and the nearest ISOs I see on disk are these. I'm using Pro for the memory license enhanced limit (later OSes, the limits are high enough this is less of an issue). Win7_Pro_SP1_English_COEM_x32.iso 2.5GB GSP1RMCPRXFREO_EN_DVD_X17-58517.ISO 3.3GB The problem with comparing the size, is there exist more than one copy of the SP1 version. As something got fixed in the installer or something and the ISO was re-issued. So comparing that lot with byte-precision won't guarantee an answer on how identical they are. I don't have a very fast connection, but I've got plenty of "cap" and if there's a remote possibility I'll need it, it gets downloaded. Some of my content comes from the DigitalRiver era, where no license key need be entered, and we didn't need Heidoc either. You have to use these opportunities when they arise. That's just it: one of them there's *NO* possibility - not a remote possibility - I'll need it; I'm just not sure which one. When I run the HeiDoc tool and select W7, it gives me: Select edition Windows 7 SP1 Windows 7 Home Basic SP1 Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 Windows 7 Professional SP1 Windows 7 Professional SP1 Upgrade Windows 7 Ultimate SP1 Windows 7 SP1 OEM Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 COEM Windows 7 Professional SP1 COEM Windows 7 Ultimate SP1 COEM Obviously I go for one of the Home Premium ones, as that's what I've got. I _assumed_ it's the (C)OEM one, but I'm not entirely sure, as my sticker doesn't contain "OEM" in place of one of the five-letter groups. (The one I got - "Win7_HomePrem_SP1_English_COEM_x32.iso" - is 2,564,476,928 bytes [MD5 EC49E3869291F2DC0AAE53C21F3AC51A].) If you're short of storage, then I'd understand. Not short - 3.5G would not make a large dent in my 630G free [though if I downloaded everything I might ever need (e. g. all 8 of the above), I could soon fill it with downloads I'm never going to use]. But it's more the principle of the thing. If my question (do I need the non-[C]OEM one or the [C]OEM one) is less simple than it seems to me - which, given the amount of apparently ancillary information you're giving me, is perhaps the case - then I apologise. Back when I had the 5Mbit/sec ADSL I used to *hate* downloading stuff like that, because it took forever. But I got a slightly faster connection since then, and downloading those is annoying but not traumatic. Paul -- J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/1985 MB++G()AL-IS-Ch++(p)Ar@T+H+Sh0!:`)DNAf "Grammar is there to help, not hinder." -- Mark Wallace, APIHNA, 2nd December 2000 (quoted by John Flynn 2000-12-6) |
#33
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(OT) "Windows 7 enters its final year of free support"
On 17/01/2019 14:32, J. P. Gilliver (John) wrote:
I don't have a very fast connection, but I've got plenty of "cap" and if there's a remote possibility I'll need it, it gets downloaded. Some of my content comes from the DigitalRiver era, where no license key need be entered, and we didn't need Heidoc either. You have to use these opportunities when they arise. That's just it: one of them there's*NO* possibility - not a remote possibility - I'll need it; I'm just not sure which one. When I run the HeiDoc tool and select W7, it gives me: Select edition Windows 7 SP1 Windows 7 Home Basic SP1 Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 Windows 7 Professional SP1 Windows 7 Professional SP1 Upgrade Windows 7 Ultimate SP1 Windows 7 SP1 OEM Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 COEM Windows 7 Professional SP1 COEM Windows 7 Ultimate SP1 COEM Obviously I go for one of the Home Premium ones, as that's what I've got. I_assumed_ it's the (C)OEM one, but I'm not entirely sure, as my sticker doesn't contain "OEM" in place of one of the five-letter groups. (The one I got - "Win7_HomePrem_SP1_English_COEM_x32.iso" - is 2,564,476,928 bytes [MD5 EC49E3869291F2DC0AAE53C21F3AC51A].) If you're short of storage, then I'd understand. Not short - 3.5G would not make a large dent in my 630G free [though if I downloaded everything I might ever need (e. g. all 8 of the above), I could soon fill it with downloads I'm never going to use]. But it's more the principle of the thing. If my question (do I need the non-[C]OEM one or the [C]OEM one) is less simple than it seems to me - which, given the amount of apparently ancillary information you're giving me, is perhaps the case - then I apologise. If your COA (5*5) isn't accepted by Microsoft here; https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/soft...nload/windows7 Then your COA must be an (C)OEM. I personally downloaded the 'Retail' version as well but never needed it. If when you go to install the W7 then when entering the COA then it will iether be accepted or will tell you that the COA is not for that Version. |
#34
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(OT) "Windows 7 enters its final year of free support"
In message , Patrick
writes: On 17/01/2019 14:32, J. P. Gilliver (John) wrote: [] That's just it: one of them there's*NO* possibility - not a remote possibility - I'll need it; I'm just not sure which one. When I run the HeiDoc tool and select W7, it gives me: Select edition Windows 7 SP1 Windows 7 Home Basic SP1 Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 [] Windows 7 SP1 OEM Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 COEM [] Obviously I go for one of the Home Premium ones, as that's what I've [] If my question (do I need the non-[C]OEM one or the [C]OEM one) is less simple than it seems to me - which, given the amount of apparently ancillary information you're giving me, is perhaps the case - then I apologise. If your COA (5*5) isn't accepted by Microsoft here; https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/soft...nload/windows7 Then your COA must be an (C)OEM. Thanks. I entered my sticker code there, and got "Error The product key you've entered appears to be for software which was pre-installed by the device manufacturer. Please contact the device manufacturer for software recovery options." So that sounds like my decision to take the OEM one was the right one. I personally downloaded the 'Retail' version as well but never needed it. If when you go to install the W7 then when entering the COA then it will iether be accepted or will tell you that the COA is not for that Version. I don't expect ever to use even my OEM one; I can't think of how it would ever not be easier to use one of my images, or of a circumstance where I couldn't. But good to have it (-: -- J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/1985 MB++G()AL-IS-Ch++(p)Ar@T+H+Sh0!:`)DNAf he was eventually struck off by the BMA in 1968 for not knowing his gluteus maximus from his humerus. |
#35
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(OT) "Windows 7 enters its final year of free support"
J. P. Gilliver (John) wrote:
In message , Patrick writes: On 17/01/2019 14:32, J. P. Gilliver (John) wrote: [] That's just it: one of them there's*NO* possibility - not a remote possibility - I'll need it; I'm just not sure which one. When I run the HeiDoc tool and select W7, it gives me: Select edition Windows 7 SP1 Windows 7 Home Basic SP1 Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 [] Windows 7 SP1 OEM Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 COEM [] Obviously I go for one of the Home Premium ones, as that's what I've [] If my question (do I need the non-[C]OEM one or the [C]OEM one) is less simple than it seems to me - which, given the amount of apparently ancillary information you're giving me, is perhaps the case - then I apologise. If your COA (5*5) isn't accepted by Microsoft here; https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/soft...nload/windows7 Then your COA must be an (C)OEM. Thanks. I entered my sticker code there, and got "Error The product key you've entered appears to be for software which was pre-installed by the device manufacturer. Please contact the device manufacturer for software recovery options." So that sounds like my decision to take the OEM one was the right one. I personally downloaded the 'Retail' version as well but never needed it. If when you go to install the W7 then when entering the COA then it will iether be accepted or will tell you that the COA is not for that Version. I don't expect ever to use even my OEM one; I can't think of how it would ever not be easier to use one of my images, or of a circumstance where I couldn't. But good to have it (-: I downloaded two for comparison. Win7_HomePrem_SP1_English_COEM_x32.iso 2,564,476,928 bytes Win7_HomePrem_SP1_English_x32.iso 2,564,476,928 bytes I ran Hashdeep on the files, modified the drive letter in the output text file, then "diffed" them. The only files that disagree on checksum is \sources\ei.cfg on each. [EditionID] HomePremium [Channel] OEM [VL] 0 [EditionID] HomePremium [Channel] Retail [VL] 0 If you were to remove ei.cfg from a disc, then all the overlaid images on the disk should magically appear. There is at least one dedicated tool for removing ei.cfg... And there are other ways to do it (because at some point in the past, I did that). You're not missing much. If you open \sources\install.wim with 7ZIP, you'll see five folders numbered 1 through 5, plus an XML file with the details of what is in each folder. This tells me, if ei.cfg was removed, the install menu would have at least five options for installation (... Home Premium, Pro, Ultimate...) . By checksumming the install.wim from the outside, that removed the need to examine thousands of files inside. The WIM images are the same. When MSDN subscription DVDs are released, those are more likely to be missing ei.cfg out of the box. A subscription user then sees the five menu items during installation and can pick one. Paul |
#36
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(OT) "Windows 7 enters its final year of free support"
On 15/01/2019 23:05, Java Jive wrote:
Just now I'm trying to downgrade a W7 build from Ultimate to Home Premium without wasting the two months of installation, configuration, customisation, and testing that it took to make the original Ultimate build.Â* If Windows was truly modular and Object-Orientated, it would be a simple thing to do, but Windows is such a steaming monolithic pile of sphagettified **** that it's almost impossible to do this. Astonishingly, I seem to have managed it. Here's how - note that the below assumes that the intended target system has already been successfully booted using the Ultimate build, but, most probably, the latter has not been activated, as it was copied from another activated PC: 0) Optionally, but advisedly, you will probably want to backup the target Ultimate system disk/partition - which as above is assumed to be working, except for activation, on the intended target PC - using an imaging program of your choice. FWIW, I use Ghost. 1) On a spare HD in the intended target PC, create a vanilla Home Premium build with all devices recognised and all updates installed (the latter assumes that the original Ultimate build was fully updated, which it was). 2) Mount both the target Ultimate disk (U) and the new Home Premium (H) disk as extra disks in another working windows system, which for preference should NOT be the intended target system. To help avoid confusion, you could give them drive letters U: and H: respectively. 3) If you haven't already on the individual builds when creating them, you will probably need to select each in turn and give 'Administrators' ownership throughout each of the two Windows directory heirarchies: H:\Windows U:\Windows 4) Temporarily rename H:\Windows\System32\config to, say, 'configHP'. 5) Copy HP over U by running a command prompt as administrator and giving the command ... xcopy /c /y /b /h /r /e /x H:\Windows\*.* U:\Windows\*.* 6) Rename H:\Windows\System32\configHP back to 'config'. 7) On the computer acting as host for these steps, run Regedit, and select 'HKLM'. 8) Still in Regedit, choose File, Load hive, and load ... U:\Windows\System32\configHP\SOFTWARE (note 'configHP', *not* 'config') .... giving a suitable key name for the hive, say, 'U2HP'. 9) Navigate to both ... HKLM\U2HP\Software\Microsoft\Windows HKLM\U2HP\Software\Microsoft\WindowsNT .... and export each key, giving them suitable filenames, say Windows.reg and WindowsNT.reg, saving them most conveniently in U:\Windows\System32\configHP 10) Select on HKLM\U2HP and choose File, Unload hive. 11) Repeat step 8 to load the corresponding Ultimate hive from: U:\Windows\System32\config\SOFTWARE (it really is 'config' this time) .... being sure to give *exactly* the same key name as above, 'U2HP' 10) Import the two registry files saved above in step 7. 11) Repeat step 8 to unload the hive. 12) Delete or rename the file: U:\Windows\Ultimate.xml 13) Eject the two disks from the temporary host system. and load the Ultimate disk back in its intended target PC. 14) Boot the target PC, which may take longer than usual, as Windows tries to work out what happened :-) Quite likely it will prompt you for authentication as soon as you log on, so authenticate using your Home Premium disk key, and then restart. The Control Panel system page still says 'Ultimate' - I don't know whether it might turn out to be important to change that, and I haven't discovered how anyway - but the same page also shows the build as being authenticated, so :-), at least for now! |
#37
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(OT) "Windows 7 enters its final year of free support"
On 20/01/2019 17:52, Java Jive wrote:
The Control Panel system page still says 'Ultimate'Â* -Â* I don't know whether it might turn out to be important to change that, and I haven't discovered how anywayÂ* -Â* but the same page also shows the build as being authenticated, so :-), at least for now! I've discovered the cause of the above. It seems that the directory ... H:\Windows\Branding .... did not copy to ... U:\Windows\Branding .... successfully, probably because either ... :-( The permissions on either the source or destination directory were too tight .... or ... :-( The files were copied, but the originals were automatically restored when the target PC was next booted and took a long time to do so. I copied the directory into the target PC and was allowed to do so even though Windows was then running on it, so that suggests to me that permissions were not a problem, and the second possible explanation is more likely to be the correct one. Since re-copying the files, the logon screen and the Control Panel System page now correctly show Home Premium. Also, the instructions given above were based on memory, and since posting them I've checked some of them and found some slight errors, so, in case it should benefit others, I append corrected instructions below. 0) Optionally, but advisedly, you will probably want to backup the target Ultimate system disk/partition - which is assumed to be working, except for activation, on the intended target PC - using an imaging program of your choice. FWIW, I use Ghost. 1) On a spare HD in the intended target PC, create a vanilla Home Premium build with all devices recognised and all updates installed (the latter assumes that the original Ultimate build was fully updated, which it was). 2) Mount both the target Ultimate disk (U) and the new Home Premium (H) disk as extra disks in another working windows system, which for preference should NOT be the intended target system. To help avoid confusion, you could give them drive letters U: and H: respectively. 3) If you haven't already on the individual builds when creating them, you will probably need to select each in turn and give 'Administrators' ownership throughout each of the two Windows directory heirarchies ... H:\Windows U:\Windows .... which you can do from Explorer by rt-clicking each in turn, and choosing Properties, Security, Advanced, Owner, Edit. Probably also you will have to grant Administrators Full access throughout both heirarchies by running a command prompt as administrator and giving the commands ... icacls H:\Windows\*.* /C /Q /L /T /grant Administrators:F icacls U:\Windows\*.* /C /Q /L /T /grant Administrators:F 4) Temporarily rename H:\Windows\System32\config to, say, 'configHP'. 5) Going back to the administrator command prompt, copy HP over U by giving the command ... xcopy /c /y /b /h /r /e /x H:\Windows\*.* U:\Windows\*.* 6) Rename H:\Windows\System32\configHP back to 'config'. 7) On the computer acting as host for these steps, run Regedit. 8) Still in Regedit, select 'HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE', choose File, Load hive, and load ... U:\Windows\System32\configHP\SOFTWARE (note 'configHP', *not* 'config') .... giving a suitable key name for the hive, say, 'U2HP'. 9) Navigate to both ... HKLM\U2HP\Microsoft\Windows HKLM\U2HP\Microsoft\WindowsNT .... and export each key, giving them suitable filenames, say Windows.reg and WindowsNT.reg, saving them most conveniently in U:\Windows\System32\configHP 10) Select HKLM\U2HP and choose File, Unload hive. 11) Repeat step 8 to load the corresponding Ultimate hive from: U:\Windows\System32\config\SOFTWARE (it really is 'config' this time) .... being sure to give *exactly* the same key name as above, 'U2HP' 10) Import the two registry files saved above in step 7. 11) Repeat step 10 to unload the hive. 12) Delete or rename the file: U:\Windows\Ultimate.xml 13) Delete or rename the directory: U:\Windows\System32\spp\tokens\skus\Security-SPP-Component-SKU-Ultimate 14) If you are confident of having done everything coreectly, now, or else at some time in the future, delete the directory: U:\Windows\System32\configHP 15) Eject the two disks from the temporary host system. and load the Ultimate disk back in its intended target PC. 16) Boot the target PC, which may take longer than usual, as Windows tries to work out what happened. Quite likely it will restrict usability and prompt you for authentication as soon as you log on, so authenticate using your Home Premium disk key, and then restart to regain full functionality. |
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