Whats the cheapest route from Vista to 7/8/10?

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HavocXphere

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Got an oldish laptop my parents are using - some shtty Vista OEM version.

Are there any cheap upgrade paths available?
 
S

sajunky

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HavocXphere said:
Cute - but no - asking for a reason. Last time I needed an upgrade a forumite here helped me out with a good solution & saved me a pile of money.
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There is no saving money with Microsoft. You will paid with your airtime, privacy violation, patience (as second official release looks like a beta), lose of productivity, as when you restart Windows it will tell you "Do not power off, Windows is updating system files". So you wait one hour for Windows to finish. It happened to me with laptop on the road. I turned it on for quick Email checking and was stuck with this message, battery was completely depleted. This is how Microsoft takes customers seriously.

There is no official 'free' upgrade from Vista, but Microsoft wants you to join for 'telemetry'. For this reason they silently accept upgrade from XP/Vista and don't do checking SLIC in BIOS after upgrading from Windows 7. So if you want to go this route do the following:

1. Install a fresh installation of Windows 7 Ultimate SP1 without Internet connection. Skip serial number prompt. ISO can be downloaded from Microsoft. You can use a spare hard drive, disconnect old one, it will be easy to go back. ;) No joking.

2. Install DAZ loader, reboot.
3. Validate online (it is important).
4. In Windows 7 run setup from Windows 10 Pro ISO. Do not do online upgrade, it is buggy. Do not enter any key during installation.
5. Activate Windows 10 online, make Microsoft happy.

If you ever want a fresh installation of Windows 10, do not enter any key, it will be validated, as your motherboard is registered on Microsoft servers.
 
H

HavocXphere

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Messages
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sajunky said:
There is no saving money with Microsoft. You will paid with your airtime, privacy violation, patience (as second official release looks like a beta), lose of productivity, as when you restart Windows it will tell you "Do not power off, Windows is updating system files". So you wait one hour for Windows to finish. It happened to me with laptop on the road. I turned it on for quick Email checking and was stuck with this message, battery was completely depleted. This is how Microsoft takes customers seriously.

There is no official 'free' upgrade from Vista, but Microsoft wants you to join for 'telemetry'. For this reason they silently accept upgrade from XP/Vista and don't do checking SLIC in BIOS after upgrading from Windows 7. So if you want to go this route do the following:

1. Install a fresh installation of Windows 7 Ultimate SP1 without Internet connection. Skip serial number prompt. ISO can be downloaded from Microsoft. You can use a spare hard drive, disconnect old one, it will be easy to go back. ;) No joking.

2. Install DAZ loader, reboot.
3. Validate online (it is important).
4. In Windows 7 run setup from Windows 10 Pro ISO. Do not do online upgrade, it is buggy. Do not enter any key during installation.
5. Activate Windows 10 online, make Microsoft happy.

If you ever want a fresh installation of Windows 10, do not enter any key, it will be validated, as your motherboard is registered on Microsoft servers.
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Now that is interesting - thanks. Think I'll need to do this one in person next time in ZA side though.

As for privacy...yeah it is a concern to me (personally) but this is for my mom's laptop. MS can go wild with their spying/telemetry...she just writes mails & banks.

The Vista is a problem for me though because me (halfway around the world) get support queries like "how do I set up a network printer on Vista"...with a mix of static addresses/dynamic. I have good memory but there is no way I can guide them through that remotely from memory on freakin vista...

And yeah VNC is on the to-do list. Anyone know whether VNC or MS remote performs better for this?
 
DA-LION-619

DA-LION-619

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HavocXphere said:
Now that is interesting - thanks. Think I'll need to do this one in person next time in ZA side though.

As for privacy...yeah it is a concern to me (personally) but this is for my mom's laptop. MS can go wild with their spying/telemetry...she just writes mails & banks.

The Vista is a problem for me though because me (halfway around the world) get support queries like "how do I set up a network printer on Vista"...with a mix of static addresses/dynamic. I have good memory but there is no way I can guide them through that remotely from memory on freakin vista...

And yeah VNC is on the to-do list. Anyone know whether VNC or MS remote performs better for this?
Click to expand...

Teamviewer?
 
genetic

genetic

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sajunky said:
There is no saving money with Microsoft. You will paid with your airtime, privacy violation, patience (as second official release looks like a beta), lose of productivity, as when you restart Windows it will tell you "Do not power off, Windows is updating system files". So you wait one hour for Windows to finish. It happened to me with laptop on the road. I turned it on for quick Email checking and was stuck with this message, battery was completely depleted. This is how Microsoft takes customers seriously.
Click to expand...

You obviously don't connect to the internet often.
 
DA-LION-619

DA-LION-619

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HavocXphere said:
Thats what I'm asking...which will provide the best experience...vnc/win remote/teamviewer. Gut feeling says MS is probably best at compressing their own stuff so win remote desktop?


If he knows which combos don't check SLIC then I'll go with constant connected...
Click to expand...

I don't use remote desktop often, but maybe someone can confirm, that when you establish a connection the other party is kicked out?
I prefer Teamviewer for helping since the other user can show me the problem also there's a chat feature and other nifty things built into Teamviewer.
 
G

gfmalan

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I have a unused original Windows 7 Pro that you can have, then if your parents NB can be upgrade to Windows 10, then you can do that if you want the legal way.
win7.PNG
WRT the RDP, you can change a setting that when you RDP the client side stay unlocked and they can see what you do. Work well.
 
I

I O U

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Joined
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Messages
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TeamViewer ; Radmin.

HavocXphere said:
Thats what I'm asking...which will provide the best experience...vnc/win remote/teamviewer. Gut feeling says MS is probably best at compressing their own stuff so win remote desktop?
Click to expand...

From regular use, in terms of suffering from lag :

1. TeamViewer - the best / smoothest experience ;
2. Radmin - also good (when nobody else on the server I log into) ;
3. VNC - last used it a few years ago, because it was so terrible.

Have never used the MS option, so can't comment on it.

Therefore, TeamV or Radmin would be the ones to choose IMO, and in that order.

EDIT : nicest thing about TeamV is that you can copy/paste notes from your PC immediately into a sticky-note or TXT file on the other PC you're supporting, so no need for 2nd functions (like in Radmin) to get a message across (Radmin have arrow keys you first need to click on, to paste, and I can never remember which to use, depending on direction going in - from my PC to other / vice versa - "Set remote clipboard" / "Get remote clipboard"). TeamV. so much easier in this regard.
 
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S

sajunky

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genetic said:
You obviously don't connect to the internet often.
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Irrevelant comment, as it doesn't depend on how frequently you connect to the Internet, but rather when last time you did restart Windows (instead of putting to sleep/hibernating).

Idiotic comment too, as my point is about Windows disrespecting my productivity requirements as I must wait one hour to complete the update and also exposing to risk of losing everything when battery runs flat during lenghty operation which mustn't be interrupted.

Happy? You asked for it.
 
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gregmcc

gregmcc

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Also +1 for TeamViewer.

Used it for tons of remote support sessions to my parents PC in SA and have never had any issues.
 
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