WinXP user bought first desktop Win7 - Win10 Pro

John & Jane Doe wrote:
Paul wrote in news
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

John & Jane Doe wrote:
Bill wrote in :

Rather than Magical Jelly Bean, I normally use Belarc Advisor, which
gives a lot of extra info about the hardware and software as well as
doing some security checks. One example is the detected Internet
Explorer key which will match the key that Windows 7 Home was running
under when it was updated.

Thanks for the advice to run Belarc Adviser.

It says the BIOS is from 2009:
https://s8.postimg.org/5b6whrped/belarc0_bios_date.jpg

The versions a
"Windows 10 Professional (x64) version 1511 build 10586.545)
Installed in 2016.
https://s23.postimg.org/5kbnjonsr/belarc1_win10date.jpg

And it does have "codes" for:
Microsoft - Internet Explorer
Microsoft - Office Professional 2007
Microsoft - Windows 10 Professional (x64)

Which are the all-important keys to write down & save?
https://s27.postimg.org/r2nw2u0dv/belarc2_swkeys.jpg

Office Professional 2007
Ulead Impact (which may be difficult to reinstall without source)

So if there is some software you want to re-install
after Clean Installing the OS, you'll need the installer
for it.

https://www.microsoft.com/en-ca/soft...ownload/office

The version of Office could be some trial version, but
I'm not an expert on Office and can't tell you all the
details on that.

Paul

On Fri, 05 May 2017 23:43:47 -0400, Paul
wrote:

John & Jane Doe wrote:
Paul wrote in news
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.

I have a Compaq laptop that has the OEM key in firmware
but would not allow me to do an upgrade to Windows 10.
I had to delete the Windows 7 partitions and do a full
install.

I also have an HP laptop which had Windows Vista Business
preinstalled but which shows as having a Windows 7 key in
firmware.

Paul

"John & Jane Doe" wrote in message news
Here is the sticker on the outside of the case which says it's for
"Windows 7 Home Prem OA" with a bunch of numbers on it.
https://s15.postimg.org/8k2gatca3/win7_sticker.jpg

Are any of those numbers supposed to be meaningful to me at this point?

Absolutely. Provided on the equipment by HP as the unique and valid product
key for the Windows 7 HP Home Premium device sold to the original purchaser
and now since hardware is now transferred to you, your valid product key for
Windows 7 HP Premium for the same device.

What you don't have is a Windows 7 Pro product key. Product keys (e.g. your
Home key) are edition unique
- i.e. The Home key can only activate 'Home'.

Nor do you know how Windows 7 Home as-shipped by HP to the prior owner
upgraded to Pro.
- ?? Upgraded with a Windows 7 Pro key
- ?? Upgraded to Windows 8 Pro from 7 Home at the time MSFT made that
option available and subsequently to Windows 10 Pro during the Win10 free
upgrade period.
- ?? Upgraded to Windows 10 Pro from Win10 Home(after upgrading 7 Home to 10
during the free 10 upgrade period) using a Windows 10 Pro key.

None of the unkown above maybe important at this stage, unless you plan on
attempting to use that Windows 7 Home key to activate a clean install of
Windows 10 instead of letting the digital license for Win10 on the server
activate a clean install. If you did that, a clean install of Windows 10 may
see that as a new activation and install Windows 10 Home. As noted
before, not a good idea - if you clean install, choose the Skip product key
option during the Windows 10 clean install setup process to ensure Windows
10 Pro.

--
...winston
msft mvp windows experience 2007-2016, insider mvp 2016-2017

Lucifer Morningstar wrote:
On Fri, 05 May 2017 23:43:47 -0400, Paul
wrote:

John & Jane Doe wrote:
Paul wrote in news
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.

I have a Compaq laptop that has the OEM key in firmware
but would not allow me to do an upgrade to Windows 10.
I had to delete the Windows 7 partitions and do a full
install.

I also have an HP laptop which had Windows Vista Business
preinstalled but which shows as having a Windows 7 key in
firmware.

The free upgrade is not offered for every SKU.
Only a few qualifying OS SKUs are supported.

It's not intended for Enterprise users, as they're
expected to pay full price.

What's in the BIOS:

SLIC table - Win7 or older. Not a key. Just "authorization".
The SLIC authorizes the Royalty Branded OEM OS used.
The SLIC says "I'm a Dell", allowing Dell Win7 to work.
The SLIC authorizes multiple OSes, so a single SLIC
may allow Dell Win7, Dell Vista, Dell WinXP.

MSDN table - Win8/8.1/10. An actual key, intended to activate
only the OS in question. May be used for the
free upgrade.

I don't think a BIOS is supposed to have both, unless
there are downgrade rights on some Pro version. Yes,
lots of machines will have a SLIC, but things like
retail motherboards, it's 10KB of "garbage". So they
do allow noise-filled SLICs to be loaded in the BIOS.
I could not get an explanation why they bother with this.

There is a whole industry of "SLIC-faking" going on out
there, but those people are very quiet and circumspect.
They don't blab about it, or "invite" others into their
activities. This would allow, say, Dell Win7, to be used
on a home-brew computer built from parts.

Paul

"John & Jane Doe" wrote in message news
Which are the all-important keys to write down & save?
https://s27.postimg.org/r2nw2u0dv/belarc2_swkeys.jpg


The Internet Explorer Key (it should be the same as your Windows 7 edition
key(Home, Pro, or Ultimate - whichever was the last installed '7'
edition)prior to upgrading to 10 Pro.
- important, because if for some reason digital entitlement fails a Windows
7 key can be used to activate Windows 10 on the same device that was
upgraded from 7 to 10.


The Office 2007 key - if valid, can be used to reinstall Office 2007 with
Office 2007 media
-use that key in the Office link I provided earlier, enter it, and if
accepted it will allow you to download Office 2007. (Note: If not accepted,
the key is not valid or it may be rejected because its an OEM only key and
the download site requires entry of a retail product key, not one issued by
the OEM).

--
...winston
msft mvp windows experience 2007-2016, insider mvp 2016


p.s. Imo, you have a right to be cautious before wiping this device,
especially not fully understanding everything or knowing the full history.
You've also not mentioned whether or not you have Windows 7 drivers(would be
HP provided and may still be available on their web site if not on disk
supplied by the prior owner).

Paul wrote in news
1) The Win7 had a key.

As you note, the original Windows on the sticker is "Windows 7 Home Prem
OA" but the (different) Window 7 key ShowKeyPlus reports is "Windows 7
Ultimate retail".

As noted, the Belarc "Internet Explorer" key was the same as the
ShowKeyPlus "Windows 7 Ultimate retail" key.

2) The 3V66T is useless.

Thanks.

All three suggested programs (Magical Jellybean Keyfinder, ShowKeyPlus, and
Belarc Advisor) reported that bogus "Microsoft Windows 10 Professional
(x64)" key.

The actual Win10 key is the Digital Entitlement, stored
on the Microsoft Server.
Win10, as long as its the same trim level, should just
reinstall (clean) and activate on its own.

I understand, and am therefore not worried about the Windows 10 key.

My plan will be as follows:

1. Learn the Windows 10 interface on the current setup
2. Download & burn a Windows 10 Pro x64 ISO dvd
3. Download & burn an Office Professional 2007 dvd

From there I will do a clean installation of both.
And then set it up to be organized like an adult rest room should be.

Thanks.

In summary, for future users, the Magical Jellybean Keyfinder turns out to
be useless in that it doesn't report anything that ShowKeyPlus or Belarc
Advisor didn't report, while the latter two reported things that the
Magical Jellybean Keyfinder did not report.

Comparing the output of ShowKeyPlus with Belarc, Belarc reported the same
as ShowKeyPlus, plus it reported more.

To give back to the net, of the three suggested tools, here is my
assessment:
A. Belarc Advisor was the best of the three suggested tools
B. ShowKeyPlus is just ok (but not as good as Belarc Advisor)
C. Magical Jellybean Keyfinder is basically useless in comparison

PS: I will write up my first impressions of XP-Win10 separately.

David B. wrote in news
I repeat: *Who taught YOU that word*?!!!

The CIA, DIA, FBI, NSA, TSA, etc.

Lucifer Morningstar wrote in
:

Don't talk rubbish. Nothing works as effective as clean installation of
Windows. Go back and start sucking people's blood in the company of
"Count Dracula".

You're mean! But you are right.
A fresh install means reinstalling programs and changing settings etc.
I did find something that is very useful when doing a fresh install.
Save the profile folder of your browser then restore after reinstall.
That way you get back your start page, stored passwords, history,
and even addons.

I am a long time Windows XP user so I am completely aware that the only
clean install is a clean install.

The horror I'm feeling right now is that even a clean install is horridly
complex (in term of end result) for Windows 10. It's not hard to do. It's
horrid what results because it's not clean.

For example, there are a billion little sliders of annoyances that have to
be turned off. I don't want my Windows to *ever* phone home for *anything*.

Have pity on me because it won't be easy to set up Windows 10 properly.

Paul wrote in news
Which are the all-important keys to write down & save?
https://s27.postimg.org/r2nw2u0dv/belarc2_swkeys.jpg

Office Professional 2007

Thanks for that answer.
Someone had mentioned that the "IE" key was very important.
I don't see why. I'm never going to use IE or Edge.

Ulead Impact (which may be difficult to reinstall without source)
I looked up what that is.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ulead_PhotoImpact

It seems to be a photo editing software.
I don't think I need a photo editing software.

Irfanview does the basics and it's fast - and that's all I need.

So if there is some software you want to re-install
after Clean Installing the OS, you'll need the installer
for it.
https://www.microsoft.com/en-ca/soft...ownload/office

It seems that the only software on the desktop that I'd want to keep the
license for is the MS Office, where I am aware that the exact version name
is critical.

Microsoft - Office Professional 2007

John & Jane Doe wrote in news
Someone had mentioned that the "IE" key was very important.

It turns out that the IE key in Belarc is really what ShowKeyPlus reported
as the "Windows 7 Ultimate retail" key.

So that's why the IE key is important.
It's actually the previous Windows OS key!

Thanks!

....winston wrote in news
Which are the all-important keys to write down & save?
https://s27.postimg.org/r2nw2u0dv/belarc2_swkeys.jpg
The Internet Explorer Key

Thank you Winston, as I belatedly realized that the IE key reported by
Belarc Adviser is the same as the "Windows 7 Ultimate Retail" key reported
by ShowKeyPlus.

Overall, here's how I found the keyfinders:
a. Belarc Advisor (reported everything you need, but you have to know to
save the IE key because that's really the previous Windows key!)
b. ShowKeyPlus (didn't report anything Belarc didn't report)
c. Magical Jellybean Keyfinder (turns out to be the least useful).

The Office 2007 key - if valid, can be used to reinstall Office 2007 with
Office 2007 media

Thank you for the information on the Office 2007.
I actually have an office 2010 home and student in the box that I never
used, because office 2007 works just fine for me on WinXP so I'm very happy
to use Office 2007 on the "new" Windows 10 Pro computer!

You've also not mentioned whether or not you have Windows 7 drivers(would be
HP provided and may still be available on their web site if not on disk
supplied by the prior owner).

Having been a long time XP user (Win 95 and 2K before that), I'm fully
familiar with the process of installing drivers (as long as they haven't
changed the process in Windows 10).

It already has been disappointing to get the printer drivers working with
Windows 10 since my wired printer is an older HP laserjet printer that
Office 10 doesn't even seem to know about but I will tackle that later when
I put the win10 machine on the net as they can't make that impossible.

Suffice to say I'm not worried in the least about drivers, unless they
changed the time-honored process out from under us.

p.s. Imo, you have a right to be cautious before wiping this device,
especially not fully understanding everything or knowing the full history.

Thank you for understanding that not everyone accepts things as they are.

My goal will be simple:
1. Learn the basics of Windows 10 with the system as is (not connected!)
2. Then do a clean install
3. Then set up Windows 10 the way I want it (clean & simple)

Wish me luck because it seems to be harder to set up Windows 10 to never
phone home and to have none of that useless clutter than it was to set up
Windows XP to be clean and nice.

In message , John & Jane Doe
writes
John & Jane Doe wrote in news
Someone had mentioned that the "IE" key was very important.

It turns out that the IE key in Belarc is really what ShowKeyPlus reported
as the "Windows 7 Ultimate retail" key.

So that's why the IE key is important.
It's actually the previous Windows OS key!

Thanks!

This is why I queried how the machine with a Windows 7 Home key on its
Microsoft COA came to be upgraded foc to Windows 10 Pro.

An upgrade from W7 Ultimate would explain that. The question then
becomes " Was the W7 Ultimate some dodgy hacked version?".

The question then migrates to whether Microsoft might in the future
detect something in this installation that makes the W10 activation
invalid.

I have no idea whether this is my paranoia, but someone else may have an
opinion.

If it were me, I'd make a list of all the registration keys and keep
them safe just in case.

As you have found, the IE key is the same as the Windows 7 key in use at
the time when the machine was upgraded to Windows 10.

At the moment, I have 3 laptops running, One XP, one Windows 7 that I'm
typing on and one Windows 10.

There are three main reasons that I dislike Windows 10.

1. A lot of Microsoft programs feature scroll bars that disappear from
beneath the cursor if I stop to think.
2. The whole W10 installation is forcibly replaced every few months when
new editions appear.
3. Updates, including those in 2., forcibly replace drivers. Some of my
machines require specially selected drivers to operate correctly.

These, and other W10 foibles, might, I suspect, cause the OP to wish to
revert to a more XP-like OS. Hence the reason for keeping lists of all
the codes he or she can find.

--
Bill

Bill wrote:
In message , John & Jane Doe
writes
John & Jane Doe wrote in news
Someone had mentioned that the "IE" key was very important.

It turns out that the IE key in Belarc is really what ShowKeyPlus
reported
as the "Windows 7 Ultimate retail" key.

So that's why the IE key is important.
It's actually the previous Windows OS key!

Thanks!

This is why I queried how the machine with a Windows 7 Home key on its
Microsoft COA came to be upgraded foc to Windows 10 Pro.

An upgrade from W7 Ultimate would explain that. The question then
becomes " Was the W7 Ultimate some dodgy hacked version?".

The question then migrates to whether Microsoft might in the future
detect something in this installation that makes the W10 activation
invalid.

I have no idea whether this is my paranoia, but someone else may have an
opinion.

If it were me, I'd make a list of all the registration keys and keep
them safe just in case.

As you have found, the IE key is the same as the Windows 7 key in use at
the time when the machine was upgraded to Windows 10.

At the moment, I have 3 laptops running, One XP, one Windows 7 that I'm
typing on and one Windows 10.

There are three main reasons that I dislike Windows 10.

1. A lot of Microsoft programs feature scroll bars that disappear from
beneath the cursor if I stop to think.
2. The whole W10 installation is forcibly replaced every few months when
new editions appear.
3. Updates, including those in 2., forcibly replace drivers. Some of my
machines require specially selected drivers to operate correctly.

These, and other W10 foibles, might, I suspect, cause the OP to wish to
revert to a more XP-like OS. Hence the reason for keeping lists of all
the codes he or she can find.

I would say

"Write down the keys, make notes about the proposed upgrade sequence
the original owner might have used.

Make a backup of the drive with Macrium Reflect Free. The
resulting MRIMG supports mounting of the image, as if it
was a disk drive, and you can make random access to it and
copy individual files. After a couple months, if no new scavenging
projects come to mind, the MRIMG can be turfed.
"

That would be my plan before the clean install attempt. Macrium has
a lightweight compressor, which will reduce the size of the
MRIMG a little bit.

*******

It seems pretty strange to "jack" a copy of Ultimate,
when there is Home Premium already present. It's more likely
to be a wealthy owner who thinks there are a great
many "boutique" apps with the Ultimate version, for
it to matter. Microsoft didn't "care" about the Ultimate
version, for that long.

Especially if the machine still has the 14GB or so,
recovery partition. The version change could not be
explained by loss of the hard drive, requiring an
unprepared owner to have to reinstall (jacking a copy
of Ultimate in the process). If you see the OEM
recovery partition, then that could have been used
to put the original OS back.

Ultimate also allows more system memory to be installed,
but usually Pro is enough. My Test Machine, I had to buy
Win7 Pro, just for the "memory license" :-( On more
modern OSes, the memory license on 64-bit is now large
enough, to no longer have to worry as much. For example,
Win10 Home allows 128GB, which covers reasonable sized
desktops (a 2011V3 with max sized DIMMs).

(Memory limits of Windows OSes)
https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/lib...(v=vs.85).aspx

(Desktop processor that supports 128GB)
http://ark.intel.com/products/94196/...70-GHz?q=6900k

Paul

On Fri, 5 May 2017 18:53:23 +0100, Good Guy wrote:

Just get on with the job.

That's what I said!