Windows 12 ! Already....

spapakons · Aug 2, 2023

Well not all OEM computers have an embedded key in BIOS, but for those that do, ShowKeyPlus can tell you what it is, along with your current key (if you have upgraded say from Home to Pro).

Scannerman · Aug 2, 2023

Still a very handy tool to have. Especially if it is free. I really enjoyed using Belarc Advisor because it would give me this info before but not on newer operating systems. Belarc was also good for much more than this but these good things rarely last long.

spapakons · Aug 2, 2023

In Windows 95/98/XP you can use Everest by Lavalys. The modern version is called Aida64 and works from XP up to 11. However the unregistered version may not show all data, it may have part of the key masked.

Scannerman · Aug 2, 2023

spapakons said:
In Windows 95/98/XP you can use Everest by Lavalys. The modern version is called Aida64 and works from XP up to 11. However the unregistered version may not show all data, it may have part of the key masked.

That is why I asked at what price this ap is used. You are likely aware of the sage adage: If it's a product then it isn't free, if it's free then you are the product. Sometimes I think it is both, but I digress. Our friend could easily save themselves much time and trouble simply by writing down the activation key and keeping it handy in a little black book. No muss, no fuss, no bloat, no addies, no intrusion, no dead wood. This is an ancient, but proven techie tip: the magic of writing things down cannot be easily spurned. Anyone needing help with this can pm me, dm me, or message me. I will explain to them how they can purchase an inexpensive little booklet with blank pages for under a dollar. They will also need additional hardware: a pen, a pencil, a crayon etc. They may also need extensive knowledge of the alphabet and the standard numerical system, but if they have enough artistic ability they may simply be able to copy that information directly into the booklet without even comprehending it. In fact, I'm considering starting up a work shop called The Magic of Writing Things Down as this ancient skill seems to be dissipating into oblivion. Of course, my work shop won't come cheap. Teaching people how to write things down costs time, and energy, and MUNNY. Did I just make a funny?

johnlgalt · Aug 2, 2023

spapakons said:
Like I said, Windows XP doesn't find all drivers automatically (the more modern is the hardware the less drivers are installed), so you have to install the drivers manually. This in virtual machines is done by installing the Integration Services (Hyper-V) or VMWare tools (VMWare Player) or additions or whatever it is called. If you know exactly which device is emulated (use Aida64 to find out) you can even install the official manufacturer drivers. For example installing Intel 440BX chipset drivers improves compatibility and performance. You can also install AMD PCnet drivers for network, assuming this is the model of the network adapter that the virtual machine emulates.

You install the actual VM Integration tools (as obtained from Server 2008, Server 2008 R2, Server 2012....)

This allows for using modern hardware within the guest OS.

abactuon said:
I have Microsoft Windows 10 Home (32/64-Bit) Box.
Hopefully the key can be used for Windows 12.

I mean, I'm still using Windows 7 keys to activate Windows 11, so....

spapakons said:
ShowKeyPlus is free: Releases · Superfly-Inc/ShowKeyPlus

Of course you must use it while your system is running. Don't wait to fail! It can also read the embedded Windows 8/10 key in BIOS and tell you.

PS: Even if your system doesn't work, you can connect the disk to another computer and use ShowKeyPlus to tell you the key. I don't remember how it is done though.

Only works if you actually used a key versus using a digital license, otherwise it only shows the default installation key - which you don't even need, as you can simply skip key entry completely when clean installing anyway. And that can be done for any Windows 11 install.

spapakons · Aug 2, 2023

Scannerman said:
That is why I asked at what price this ap is used. You are likely aware of the sage adage: If it's a product then it isn't free, if it's free then you are the product. Sometimes I think it is both, but I digress. Our friend could easily save themselves much time and trouble simply by writing down the activation key and keeping it handy in a little black book. No muss, no fuss, no bloat, no addies, no intrusion, no dead wood. This is an ancient, but proven techie tip: the magic of writing things down cannot be easily spurned. Anyone needing help with this can pm me, dm me, or message me. I will explain to them how they can purchase an inexpensive little booklet with blank pages for under a dollar. They will also need additional hardware: a pen, a pencil, a crayon etc. They may also need extensive knowledge of the alphabet and the standard numerical system, but if they have enough artistic ability they may simply be able to copy that information directly into the booklet without even comprehending it. In fact, I'm considering starting up a work shop called The Magic of Writing Things Down as this ancient skill seems to be dissipating into oblivion. Of course, my work shop won't come cheap. Teaching people how to write things down costs time, and energy, and MUNNY. Did I just make a funny?

Using a pen to write down notes, or even worse, using a pencil reminds me of school and I hate school. No thanks. Also I am bound to misplace this little notebook and lose access to all notes. No thanks. It is safer to create a little text file with Notepad and save it to your Documents folder. You never miss a thing.

Scannerman · Aug 2, 2023

My little notebook, in a safe place, in a good grace, not in the fireplace, can help me save face, even with a disc erase. It's not school. It's a good tool. Tried and tested a thousand times and more, will help me keep score, get me through the door, with passwords and more. AND should I kick off from this backwater planet and leave my loved one's behind me someone will know where to look for my little black book. This is old school thinking but it works well. It's not school. It's prudence.

It's like having an analog back up. Even if the hardware crashes you still get to keep the data. Even if the software goes you still have those keys you need to get through the doors online. It's even more reliable than one drive. In my 25 some odd years of PC building and using I've never lost my little black book. I keep it handy at my side for when I need it and when I leave the premises it goes back in my safe. So easy. So simple. So utterly reliable.

spapakons · Aug 2, 2023

Simply copy the text files to a USB and your smartphone for backup. Having a key in a file allows you to copy-paste it and avoid any typos.

Scannerman · Aug 2, 2023

lol I'm old school. I don't use a smart phone. It's in my profile. Never owned a cell and likely never will. Even USB sticks die. For me, the written word isn't simply an art form. At the end of the day a hard copy still rules.

TechnoMage2021 · Aug 2, 2023

I've heard that USB Flash Drives can die. But, of the dozen or more that I've bought over the years, since that first 64mb drive that I got at Staples, I've never lost one.
But with that general knowledge in mind, I never trust just one Flash Drive for my backups.
I'm currently using three flash drives and one 1TB HD, for my data backups.
I did have one SSD die on me though. It was purchased directly from PNY,and when it failed after only three months, they refused to replace it. So now PNY is on my Sh** list.

spapakons · Aug 3, 2023

PNY was my Geforce 3 AGP graphics card bought in the late '90s. They should replace your non-working SSD under Warranty, provided it didn't have any visible external damage or burn. They would try to prove it died because of mishandling and hence the Warranty is void. However if they could not prove it is mishandling, they were obliged to replace it. You could report them to the appropriate authority and they would threaten to take legal action if the company refused to comply with Warranty terms. Here in Greece we have the Consumer Institution were we can do a formal report in such cases. Their legal department will then call the store and ask them to respect our rights and replace the product under Warranty. I was working at the RMA Department of a store and a couple of times we had to defend ourselves against customers that made a report at Consumer Institution. We either had to prove that the device doesn't comply with Warranty terms or replace it. We also made several reports against Lenovo because they refused to comply with Warranty terms for devices we sent on behalf of our customers. As soon as we proved that the device had still a valid Warranty, Lenovo was forced to replace ot repair it. Yes, unfortunately Lenovo Greece hadn't very reliable Support. Dell and HP were much better.

retiredat44 · Aug 3, 2023

did you release the door on the left of the box with the 3 little humanoids that are trapped working as customer service...

retiredat44 · Aug 3, 2023

TechnoMage2021 said:
I've heard that USB Flash Drives can die. But, of the dozen or more that I've bought over the years, since that first 64mb drive that I got at Staples, I've never lost one.
But with that general knowledge in mind, I never trust just one Flash Drive for my backups.
I'm currently using three flash drives and one 1TB HD, for my data backups.
I did have one SSD die on me though. It was purchased directly from PNY,and when it failed after only three months, they refused to replace it. So now PNY is on my Sh** list.

i will never buy a pny product again after a video card fiasco a long while back... btw, I had quite a few microSD cards go bad, lexar was one...

antspants · Aug 3, 2023

Already this year I have bought about 40 sandisk 32gb flash drives. Not one issue. I would hate to think of how many I’ve bought over the last 10 years. @ AU$7.00 a pop and free delivery from Amazon, I’m a happy camper. I just received another 4 today, this time I ordered them in Blue lol

Isn’t it pretty!

Scannerman · Aug 3, 2023

I had a friend once give me a few dozen brand new USB sticks as a gift. They were 4 GB Chinese knockoffs. They worked for a time but data would frequently go corrupt on them and eventually they would lose integrity all together and die. I'm glad they were free but I never kept anything that was essential on them exclusively. I've also had SanDisks (like that one in the picture with the slider) literally fall apart on me during insertion. Not long after the functional circuit died too, which was rather sad as I enjoyed using it without the casing, watching that tiny little LED light the dark like a little beacon in a watchtower.

I have a solid metal Lexar that absolutely refuses to die and a bunch of old Kingston USB sticks that probably won't die because I hardly ever use them. I have some old Radio Shack USB sticks from a family of 16 GB USB drives (initially over two dozen) that are slowly dying one at a time after much use. Anything using a circuit will eventually die. This is why backups are important. This is also why keeping a little black book is also a prudent thing to do. Just my opinion, of course. Can't say how many times this practice has saved my bacon, but I honestly can say once is enough.

antspants · Aug 3, 2023

Scannerman said:
This is also why keeping a little black book is also a prudent thing to do. Just my opinion, of course.

I totally agree with you about notebooks. I have PC’s that could create all sorts of damage, start wars etc (Wanna play tic-tac-toe?) Yet I have notebooks and pens all over the place.

TechnoMage2021 · Aug 3, 2023

spapakons said:
Simply copy the text files to a USB and your smartphone for backup. Having a key in a file allows you to copy-paste it and avoid any typos.

I'm sorry, but that's the dumbest thing I've ever heard you say!
So called Smart Phones are probably the most volatile places that you could put anything.
The die, they get stolen, they can fall in the toilet, and they can be easily hacked.
Almost like Flash Paper....POOF and they're GONE!
Flash Drives are better, but still (depending on the brand, and how you store them) they are not permanent.
The Ancients had it right....they carved everything in STONE.

I'm not a stone carver (wish I were) so I make multiple backups, to multiple locations, of everything that I consider important.

Y'all stay safe, and have a great day now, Y'hear?
TM

Ghot · Aug 3, 2023

TechnoMage2021 said:
The Ancients had it right....they carved everything in STONE.

Yep. If you want your data storage to last... carve it in stone.

Seriously, smart phones are about as secure as... a broken zipper.
Personally, the only thing I will ever do on a smart phone is talk, text, take some pics and maybe play a few simple games.

spapakons · Aug 3, 2023

I mentioned the smartphone because I want easy access to non-crucial data such as a phone number, a TeamViewer ID (I store only the ID, not the password of course) and other info I won't mind losing. I never store my passwords in my smartphone or an easy to find text file in my computer! Would be like writing your PIN at the back of your credit card! I have common sense.