Anyone still running Windows 7?

Where can I actually find a legitimate, dirt-cheap license key for Windows 7?

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_fro...7+key&_sacat=0

It really all depends on which version of Windows 7 you're actually looking for—but honestly, most of them usually hover somewhere between $2 and maybe $3 or $4.

I had a Dell laptop that came pre-installed with Windows 7 Home, complete with the sticker featuring the product key underneath. I accidentally smacked the screen with my headphones, leaving a smudge that just kept spreading over time. I finally got fed up and bought a new one—another Dell. A friend suggested I get one without an OS so we could just install it ourselves using my old product key. Well, he ended up installing Windows 7 Ultimate, and predictably, the old key didn't work. We had to be constantly careful that his updates wouldn't trigger a check to see if the copy was genuine. It was incredibly frustrating because I'm used to letting updates run automatically. Today, I stumbled upon this link from Larry Ortiz5 and found a 1.99 USD Genuine License Key Product Code for my version on eBay. As soon as I clicked buy, it said "sold"—gone. I thought it might be a scam, but for $20, what's the harm? He sent the key almost immediately. I watched a video on how to swap the key via the command prompt and managed to pull it off. During activation, it confirmed it was successful and stated it was a genuine key. Now I’m wondering: is this actually legit? Can I finally set updates to automatic without worrying? Everything under the system settings looks the same, except there's now a "Change product key" option next to the Product ID, which wasn't there before. My main concern is just how cheap it was. Most other listings seem to start at $10 or more. Do you think this is okay?

Nicole Gomez78 said:I had this Dell laptop with Windows 7 Home pre-installed, and there was a sticker with the product key right on the bottom. Well, I accidentally hit the screen pretty hard with my headphones and ended up making this smudge that just kept spreading over time. Eventually, I got tired of dealing with it and bought a new one—another Dell. A friend suggested I just get one without Windows and then we could install it ourselves using my old product key. But when he finally installed Windows 7 Ultimate, of course, the old key wouldn't work. He had to be super careful not to let any updates run that might check if the copy was genuine. It was honestly so annoying because I'm used to everything just updating automatically. Then today, I saw this link from Larry Ortiz5 and found a 1.99 USD Genuine License Key Product Code for my version on eBay. As soon as I clicked, it said "sold"—it was gone! I thought maybe it was a scam, but hey, for about twenty bucks, what's the harm? He sent the key almost immediately. I watched a video on how to change the key using the command prompt and managed to pull it off. When I went to activate it, it actually said it worked and that the key was genuine. Now I'm wondering—is this legit? Can I just set updates to automatic now and stop worrying? Under the system settings, everything looks the same, except there's this new "Change product key" option next to the Product ID that wasn't there before. My biggest worry is just how cheap it was... most of them I see are at least $10 or more. Do you guys think it's okay?

Don't sweat it—what you grabbed on eBay is a good deal. It’s an original license, even if it sounds crazy that it only costs $2 or $3. I've actually picked up a few keys for friends and for myself for Office 2016, and they still work perfectly fine (they're still activated). Honestly, I've never tried doing it through the command prompt like you did; I usually just wipe the hard drive, install a fresh version of Windows, and then punch in the product key. But hey, if it activated for you, you're golden. Just enjoy it!

Larry Ortiz5, thanks so much. I checked the seller's feedback and since they have a 100% rating, I went ahead and installed all the updates. I'm using Windows 10 at work, but honestly, I can't stand it compared to 7. I'm just glad I finally got my 7 setup genuine so I can keep using it for as long as possible. 🙂

Just a quick follow-up on that eBay purchase. I got an email from eBay this morning saying the account I bought the key from was actually compromised by a third party for fraudulent activity. They’ve already stepped in to restore the account to its rightful owner. As soon as I fired up my laptop, I noticed the Windows notification in the corner saying it wasn't genuine. I'm honestly baffled how it managed to activate as legitimate and stay that way for a couple of days. Anyway, I made sure to pick a seller with a 100% rating, so clearly, that didn't protect me. It isn't a huge deal since it's just $6.75, and I can get my money back once I call my bank on Monday, but I can't wrap my head around that 100% rating. By this morning, it had vanished—all the reviews were gone. Most likely, the hacker faked the entire reputation. I've searched for a new key and settled on this one: https://www.ebay.com/itm/122425554137 Looking at the feedback, they've been active for a few months and have sold quite a few copies, so fingers crossed this one works out.

Man, you really didn't have much luck there—I guess all the effort in the world doesn't matter when it ultimately comes down to $6.75.

It seems like I can't get any updates for Adobe Flash Player anymore, no matter what I try???

Hey everyone,

I know this topic comes up all the time, but I’m stuck and could really use some help. I just finished reinstalling Windows 7, and as soon as I tried installing my drivers from the original disc, it immediately flagged that the Ethernet Controller isn't installed. This has never happened to me before.

I even went ahead and downloaded brand-new drivers, but no luck. When I check the Device Manager, Windows says it can't find the right driver for the device.

I'm definitely not an expert at this kind of stuff, so if anyone is willing to lend a hand, I'd really appreciate it. I'm currently tethered to my phone, so there's a chance someone might be able to help me out via TeamViewer.

Thanks in advance!

I’m not really sure which motherboard we’re dealing with here—like, what’s the manufacturer, the specific model, or even the revision number?
If you still have the original driver CD lying around, you shouldn't just be running the chipset setup; you need to grab the drivers for the network/Ethernet controller too... honestly, you should probably run the installers for pretty much all the other hardware on that board.
Is it possible those old drivers on the disc were actually meant for Windows XP or Vista instead of Windows 7?
Your best bet is to hop on a different computer, head over to the motherboard manufacturer's website, find your exact model (check the revision too!), and look under "support/downloads" for the specific Windows 7 drivers. Once you find them, try installing those on your machine.

ps: Just a heads up, stay away from third-party sites or those sketchy "driver updater" programs. They usually just end up clogging your system with junk...

I just wiped all the drivers using a CD and did a clean reinstall. Everything went smoothly, and I even got that little notification in the bottom right corner saying it was ready to go. But nope, still nothing. It was working perfectly fine this morning, too. Honestly, I'm just hoping it’s a faulty cable. Is there any chance I messed something up in the BIOS?

Running on an ASRock H55M-LE

I have just finished reinstalling Windows 7 64-bit Ultimate in English.

Is there any way to configure Windows 7 Ultimate so that the title bar on my windows appears thin and solid black? Because I struggle with visual impairments, the Aero glass effect is quite bothersome to me. I have already disabled transparency, but that simply does not solve my problem. I have attempted to adjust the settings through both the Accessibility options and the Personalization menu, yet I cannot seem to find a way to achieve this specific look.

My laptop keeps crashing, and I'm getting this error: File: \Windows\system32\config\system
Status: 0x0000225
It’s telling me it can't load because a system registry file is either missing or completely corrupted, and it suggests inserting an installation disc to fix the issue.
The thing is, I don't have that specific disc on hand; I only have a repair disc, and when I pop that in, absolutely nothing happens. I'm running the Ultimate version. However, I do happen to have an original installation disc for the Home version sitting around. Do you think I could actually use that to get things running again? If not, what would be the best way to go about installing Home instead of Ultimate? Honestly, I don't have anything precious stored on there, so I really wouldn't mind if everything gets wiped out in the process.

Susan Mitchell38 said:My laptop keeps crashing and throwing this error: File: \Windows\system32\config\system
Status: 0×0000225
It says it can't load because the system registry file is missing or corrupted, and suggests I insert an installation disk to fix it.
I don't have that specific disk, just a repair disk, and nothing happens when I try using it. I'm running the Ultimate version. However, I do have an original installation disk for the Home version. Would that actually work? If not, how would I go about installing Home instead of Ultimate? I don't have anything precious stored on there, so I really don't mind if everything gets wiped out.

From what I understand, you can't install Home over an Ultimate installation. Since you aren't worried about losing any data on the laptop, the best move is simply to format the drive and install the Home version from scratch. Besides, if that Home disk is legitimate, you're entitled to use it on one computer or one laptop.

Thanks so much! It was actually the original Home version that came pre-installed on my old laptop, which unfortunately kicked the bucket in the meantime. I honestly had no idea you could use an original license on two different computers—that is such a fantastic piece of news! If we had known that back then, we definitely would have transferred that Home license over to the new laptop right away.

Susan Mitchell38 said:Thanks so much. I was looking for the original Home version that came pre-installed on my old laptop—which unfortunately died on me recently. I actually had no idea you could use an original license on two different machines; that's great news! If we’d known that back then, we would have moved that Home license over to the new laptop right away.

Actually, you can't just use one product key on two computers. Once Microsoft catches on, they'll flag your key, and you'll find yourself in a spot where you have to wipe the hard drive on the old machine before you can successfully install or activate Windows on the new laptop.

Well, they finally decided to pull the plug on Windows 7. They ended up deciding to install Win 10 home instead, and honestly, they just grabbed a cheap activation key off eBay for about five bucks, and everything seems to be running perfectly fine now.

Susan Mitchell38 said:They eventually gave up on Windows 7. They just installed Windows 10 Home using some cheap key they grabbed off eBay for five bucks, and it works fine.

😉 A chunk of the cash is going to Trump, and since Bill is a billionaire philanthropist, he’s heading over to the White House to visit him.
btw: what kind of badge is Gates wearing?

- I wiped my boot partitions of all those freebies and the older versions ages ago. Every single update just broke my cracked version of Windows 7. After too many forced restarts, my old, battered motherboard started acting up with the controllers. If you're running Windows, you really ought to have a Live Linux USB drive ready just in case things go south. At least then you'll still have a functional computer.

Well, I find myself facing another little dilemma regarding Windows 7, though this one isn't happening at my house. This morning at the office, I powered up my workstation and noticed something quite peculiar; the startup process was dragging on forever, eventually stalling on a screen that said "preparing your desktop." After several minutes of waiting, the desktop finally loaded, but it was all wrong—it had logged me into a temporary profile. A message popped up saying my usual account couldn't be loaded properly, so the system had provided this temporary one instead. I did a bit of digging online to figure out what was going on and discovered that the user profile itself had become corrupted. Apparently, there's a way to fix this by migrating files over to a new account, though you have to be careful not to just grab everything blindly, as some things might get lost in the shuffle. I tried following the suggested steps to resolve the issue, but for some reason, it just wouldn't let me move the files from the corrupted account. It would allow me to select and copy them, but when I went to paste, absolutely nothing happened. I even tried moving them to a USB drive, but the process would start and then just freeze mid-way. The computer in question isn't exactly a high-stakes machine—we don't store anything super sensitive on it—but it is vital because of the emails stored in Outlook. My colleague uses this station for most of her work, and she’s very keen on getting all those old emails back. I attempted to copy the specific file containing all that data, but as I mentioned, it simply wouldn't cooperate. In the end, I managed a workaround: I pointed the Outlook personal file and archive folder locations directly to the files sitting inside the corrupted account, and miraculously, everything is showing up in Outlook again! My only lingering concern is whether it's actually wise to keep an account in this state on the computer. I can't exactly delete it without losing access to those emails, so I'm stuck in a bit of a bind. Should I be worried about keeping it this way, or is there a better way to handle this without deleting the profile? I would truly appreciate any advice you might have.

Maybe try booting into Safe Mode? Just tap F8 when you start up the PC, then you should be able to grab that Outlook.pst file—where all your emails are stored—and move it somewhere safe.