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

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

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

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.

In message , Paul
writes:
[]
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
Some of us used (and I still do, being mainly on XP, and even 2000 when
I was with my previous employer who had that built into test sets)
PrintScreen, but also Alt-PrintScreen, which it seems few people know
about. The latter just captures the currently-active window; saves a lot
of snipping.
--
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/1985 MB++G()AL-IS-Ch++(p)Ar@T+H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

Quantum particles: the dreams that stuff is made of - David Moser

Re printscreen,

I have been using Hardcopy , "http://www.gen.hardcopy.de/" for many
years, with XP and Win 7. It will capture and print the screen, or
sections of it, and also save the image to a file, etc.

I have been using the freeware version, but there is a paid version as
well. ( For my uses, I haven't found any limitations with the freeware
version.)


Mike Isaacs


In message , "J. P. Gilliver
(John)" writes
In message , Paul
writes:
[]
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
Some of us used (and I still do, being mainly on XP, and even 2000 when
I was with my previous employer who had that built into test sets)
PrintScreen, but also Alt-PrintScreen, which it seems few people know
about. The latter just captures the currently-active window; saves a
lot of snipping.

--
Mike Isaacs