Laptops don't like coffee

[Shayne]

Must be nigh on 2 years since I got my CAT touchscreen toughphone and I still hate it but i haven't broke it yet .

 

[Shayne]

Well it arrived and initial thoughts , very pleased . Then I noticed "this copy of Windows is not genuine" noted at the bottom right of the screen , into control panel to activate windows gets "invalid product key" .

I have contacted the seller but while waiting for a reply I am wondering if it matters ?

 

[Rosy]

@Shayne, it depends on the version of windows, the later versions just pester the hell out of you to update without any real loss of functionality. You might not get all updates but should still receive critical security updates as long as that remains MS policy.

Out of curiosity, is there a windows license product key sticker on the underside of the machine?

 

[Shayne]

Hi Rosy , the sticker has been removed completely so playing around with things I found only 3 programs installed and other evidence it's been wiped clean so I hit upon the idea that my fast postage request had them install win 7 and ship it out without attaching the sticker . The seller thinks this is likely and I can imagine him sorting through his bin looking for the sticker

 

[Rosy]

I would quickly check if you have a recovery partition which should confirm if you are able to reinstall windows if things go awry at some point in the future (unless you have a recovery disk in which case disregard). Personally I do this with all second hand devices as you never know what nasties come pre-loaded but that's just cos I'm a sceptical git!


windowskey+r - this should bring up your run window
type "cmd" and hit return - to bring up your command line
then type"diskmgmt" and hit return - to bring up your disk manger which should look like the image below
your looking for the "healthy recovery partition" which should be about 15GB

 

[Shayne]

Interesting I have disk C healthy and disk 0 which is also on C healthy 104.24gb and 119.23gb .

 

[Rosy]

The spec sheet for your model suggests it should have a 160GB HDD which suggests you have "lost" around 40GB to a hidden recovery partition which is good news.

Fingers crossed your seller comes through with a valid product key

 

[Shayne]

Thanks Rosy . I have decided i'm keeping the laptop regardless , a gen copy of win7 pro is only 15 quid if there is problems and i imagine that will only bring with it the "update to windows 10" VIRUS which is the most annoying computer problem i have ever had .
Beggars belief a laptop as chunky as this comes with space for it but no CD drive which means i can't install the microsoft works i have on disk but 15 quid buys one of them to so 300 quidish for used laptop that will hopefully outlast all the new ones i have bought seems a good deal to me . Time will tell , it always does .

 

[Rosy]

@Shayne, I wouldn't stress about it either mate. It sounds like yours has a recovery partition which should allow you to reinstall without any licensing issues if you follow the process outlined in the link below should you ever need to.

MS are pushing all their product toward subscription services so who knows how long they will continue to support standalone installs before you begin to get "compatibility" issues. Openoffice might make a suitable alternative for most things you want to do. I caved last year and stumped for the Office 365 subscription which costs just under a tenner a month.

Anyway.. this is a truck forum so ill keep my opinions on that one for another outlet .. if you need any help just shout!

 

[Shayne]

Thanks again Rosy , windows is now verified as genuine and an aborted factory reset suggests the option is there should i need it . I guess i will find out if Panasonic's own drivers are still installed when i come to fit a cd drive but i can usually find my around that sort of thing .

I bought one of two the seller has should anyone else the idea of a does what it says on the tin laptop .