Anyone still running Windows 7?

Keith Bennett38 said:If you have even a basic grasp of English—which I assume they'll be using—you can handle it yourself. They might ask you to set up the keyboard layout (US), pick a time zone (Washington, D.C.), and create a username and an optional password that you'll have to type in every single time you boot up Windows.

There’s no deep philosophy to it. 🙂

I’ve managed to get some things done.
1. I'm running Windows 7 Home Premium. Honestly, it’s probably overkill for my needs. The installation went fine, so that's a win. You did throw me for a loop, though, mentioning a 60-day trial when they're already prompting me to buy it (wasn't this included when I bought the laptop?). I also set a password, just to feel fancy—though I'll probably delete that later.
2. I downloaded Google Chrome (that's the right way to say it, right?).
3. Using some tips from CNN, I got my email working in WLM on the laptop. I pulled the address from my old Microsoft Outlook and even synced it so both my old desktop and this laptop receive the same messages. The server keeps them for seven days, so once I fire up the laptop and WLM, everything syncs right up.
4. As far as I can tell, I'm doing okay so far. The only thing missing is the Microsoft Office suite (Word, Excel, etc.). How do I go about getting that? Is there any way to find an old free version somewhere?
5. I'm sure I've missed something. What am I forgetting? Any suggestions on what else I should set up? 😕

Keith Bennett38 said:Everything is already installed on your laptop. If you check the sticker on the bottom, it should tell you which version of Windows 7 you're running. I’d bet it’s one of the more budget-friendly editions. 🙂
The CD is really just there for when Windows completely craps out; it lets you run a Recovery so you can reset the laptop back to its factory default state.
Moving data is easiest via a USB drive. Emails might be a bit trickier depending on what software you use. Outlook Express doesn't exist in Windows 7 anymore; the replacement is Windows Live Mail, which you can grab for free online. If you happen to be using Microsoft Outlook as part of an Office suite, it's simpler—just export the Outlook.pst file from the old machine and import it onto the new one.
I'm assuming your new laptop came with a pre-installed version of Office Home and Student, likely a 60-day trial. Once those two months are up, it stops working and asks you to register or buy it.🙂

😉

1. We'll deal with moving emails and files later (hopefully).
2. I had WLM right there in the package, so I didn't need to download anything. I highly doubt that's something I'll have to pay for later. I was under the impression that if I bought a laptop with Windows 7 Ultimate pre-installed, I just install it and I'm done—paid once and good to go forever. Tell me I'm right.

3.

Donna Martin86 said:I’ve set things up.
1. I have Windows 7 Home Premium. It's probably overkill for my needs, I guess. The installation went through fine, so that's okay. You did catch me a bit off guard when you mentioned the 60-day trial, since they're already prompting me to buy it (wasn't it included when I bought the laptop?). I also set a password, just to feel fancy—though I'll probably delete that later.
2. I downloaded Google Chrome as my browser (is that how you say it?).
3. Using some help from CNN, I managed to get my email working in WLM on the laptop—I pulled the address from my old Microsoft Outlook setup. I even got it configured so messages hit the same address on both my old desktop and the laptop. The server holds onto them for 7 days, so once I boot up the laptop and open WLM, everything syncs right up.
4. As far as I can tell, am I good to go? The only thing left is getting an MSO suite (Word, Excel, etc.). How do I download that? Is there some kind of old free version floating around somewhere?
5. I'm sure I missed something. What could it be? Any suggestions on what else I should do? 😕

Just grab the free LibreOffice and call it a day. 🙂

Benjamin King2 said:Head over to C:\Windows\ServiceProfiles\LocalService\AppData\Roaming\PeerNetworking and delete the idstore.sst file. Once that's gone, try checking or changing the password again.

Look, you need the clocks synced on both computers if you want to access the HomeGroup. Even a few seconds of difference and it’ll throw an error, claiming you used the wrong password.

Same old story. I tried setting it up again, but it won't show me the password, and now I'm stuck in this HomeGroup on my laptop with no way out.

Man, I dealt with something pretty similar once—honestly, you’d probably just be better off doing a clean reinstall. In the end, I just ditched HomeGroup entirely and went back to old-school file sharing. To actually kill off HomeGroup, you have to go in and stop both the HomeGroup Listener and the HomeGroup Provider services.

Donna Martin86 said:1. We'll deal with moving emails and files later (hopefully).
2. I had WLM right there in the bundle, so I didn't have to grab it online. I assume that isn't something I'll have to pay for down the road either. I figured if I bought a laptop with Windows 7 Home Premium pre-installed, I just install it and that's it—paid once and done? Tell me I'm right.

3.

From what I can tell, you might have missed a bit in my post. I was just saying that when you buy computers with Windows, they usually come with a 60-day trial of Microsoft Office pre-installed.
You paid for Windows, so it's yours and it's legal, but if you see an icon for Office on your desktop, it's probably just that 60-day trial version. 🙂

But like Joshua Garcia3 suggested, you could always just download LibreOffice for free. 🙂

PS: Glad you managed to get everything sorted out on your own. 😉

Alright, here’s the deal—I picked up a laptop about a month ago, and a buddy of my mom’s from work set it all up for me, installing Windows 7, Microsoft Office 2010, and everything else.
But now I've got this constant issue where my desktop background keeps reverting to plain black. Every time I try to change it to something else, it just snaps right back to black... and there's this message sitting in the bottom right corner: Windows 7
Build 7600
This copy of Windows is not genuine
Everything else seems to be working fine, though.
Does anyone know what's actually going on here?

Just go out and buy some genuine Windows.

Do I really have to? :S

Nah, unless you're planning on switching over to Linux or finally picking up some genuine Windows software, we aren't really going to be able to help you out here on this forum.

Brian Miller74 said:Do I really have to? :S

Just let Mom tell the "Master" to come over and fix that up—don't even ask how she'll phrase it. 🙂

What a total "Master" he is—showed up with the plate but completely forgot the spoon 😂

Is there actually a way to deal with the WinSxS folder bloating up by about 500 MB every single time an update rolls out?

From what I’ve gathered—and I’ve spent quite a bit of time looking into this—the issue stems from the fact that Windows keeps all those older versions of DLLs tucked away; essentially, every time a change is made, the outdated versions just pile up. Now, Service Pack 1 includes a specific utility designed to scrub those old DLLs clean, though the one major downside is that you lose the ability to roll back the installation. It seems perfectly logical to me that we should be able to perform a similar cleanup after every individual update, but I haven't been able to find any concrete documentation or a direct method to do exactly that.

Honestly, it was worth it just to deal with that Vista service pack mess... if you want the only real, reliable way to handle this, you should use the DISM tool to wipe out those old file backups from before you installed SP1. Just fire up an elevated command prompt and type in:

dism /online /cleanup-image /spsuperseded

I make a habit of running that right after I finish installing SP1—it usually clears out about 2 to 4 GB of backup junk, depending on how your system is configured and what updates you've got hanging around. Whatever you do, don't go using those random third-party "cleaner" apps; there's a massive chance they'll just end up breaking something important.

Benjamin King2 said:That was worth it back when we were dealing with the Vista service pack... honestly, the only reliable way to handle this is to use the DISM tool to wipe out those old file backups from before SP1 was applied. Just open an elevated command prompt and run:

dism /online /cleanup-image /spsuperseded

I make it a point to run that right after I finish installing SP1—it usually clears out about 2 to 4 GB of backup data, depending on how your system is configured and which updates you have installed. I really wouldn't recommend touching any of those third-party "cleaner" programs; there is a very high chance they will end up breaking something important.

That’s exactly what I was getting at.

Is there a similar way to "clean up" the system after installing a smaller update?

I honestly haven't heard of any tools that can actually do that.

So, I'm running an AMD Athlon II X4 450 with 4GB of DDR3 RAM on an ASRock 770 Extreme3, and I've been wondering—is it actually worth going with the 64-bit version of Windows 7, or should I just stick to the 32-bit version? My main focus is definitely playing older classics like Diablo 2, Heroes of Might and Magic III, and Baldur's Gate... though I do dabble in a few newer titles every now and then.
Also, when it comes to software, I mostly find myself reaching for the same old programs I’ve been using since my days on Windows XP 32-bit.

Arthur Thomas said:I've got an AMD Athlon II X4 450, 4GB of DDR3 RAM, and an ASRock 770 Extreme3 motherboard. Is it actually worth going with 64-bit or should I just stick to 32-bit Windows 7? Most of my time is spent on older titles like Diablo 2, Heroes of Might and Magic III, or Baldur's Gate... though I might throw in a newer game once in a while.
For software, I mostly just run the same old programs I used back on Windows XP 32-bit.

Go 64-bit. The speed difference is pretty minor, but at least you'll actually be able to use all 4 GB of RAM you've got available.

As for those older games, compatibility mode usually works perfectly. It runs fine on my laptop. (diablo 2 and stuff)

There’s honestly no reason why you wouldn't just go ahead and install the 64-bit version of Windows 7.

Joshua Garcia3 said:Just grab the free LibreOffice and call it a day. 🙂

I ended up getting Microsoft Office 2007.