cockpheasant

My old comp running Win 7 died (graphics). I have the hard drive (sata ide) with Win 7 on it, I also have a 7 disc. Stupidly, I binned the old case with the windows no key sticker. Is there any way that I can get the no from the old hard drive and will; microsoft stand me transferring it to a laptop presently running Vista. Compliments of the season to all

Hi Woodbug, I had the same problem, and after considerable thought, I was able to buy refurbished windows 7 units that were way above the spec of my old XP machines and would take windows 8 for not a lot more money than the cost of Windows 7 programs. Worth a thought!!

Thanks Ray, I shall dig that out!

Hello again Nev. I am trying to rip a DVD to a USB drive for my portable caravan TV. The TV will play AVI or Mpeg. Is there a free reliable convertedr that I can download please.

OK Ken.....Company is Bargain*hardware (3419) on Ebay uk. Offering refurb Dell Win 7 home premium 32bit. 6.8 Ghz dual core 4GB ram with ATI radeon graphics card at £149.99 with free courier carriage. A DVD RW can be adde for a further £15.00 Regards, John

One other thing Matt, a usb wifi plug in dongle was just £6.99 and very easy to set up

Hello Matt. After the help that I had from this forum I decided also to go for a refurb. I found a supplier offering such machines with a good spec who were accredited microsoft agents. The unit has turned out to be excellent value, will take windows 8 later and the price was less than £150.00. If you are interested, Email me and I shall send you a link.

Back again guys. I dont know whether this is the correct thread, but in the new windows 7 I tried to connect first to this site and then to my TOMTOM update. The sites said that I needed Flashplayer which is incorporated into chrome but when my tomtom connects, the browser reverts to IE. Trying to download Flashplayer results in a flagup saying the file has an invalid signature and has been blocked by IE. Help please..its late and I am crying with frustration.

OK gentlemen, first of all, the compliments of the season to you. Next.....after weighing up the costs and pros v cons, I found a supplier who was offering refurbished Dell units with Windows 7 and a much much higher spec than my desktop which will also accommodate Win 8. The price was not a great amount over the cost of purchasing a new O/S and so I went for that. The laptop is newer so I shall get an upgrade disc. Many thanks once again for all your help. Reg John F.

Nev, thanks for the pointer. Things are starting to become clearer now. I shall get there eventually, I just learn more slowly with the advancing years.

Please excuse my tardiness Ken. I ran the check and the old XP unit will support Win 7.32 bit. as will the Vista unit. I am just in the process of updating the points picked up by the XP check, (audio drivers etc) and am climbing the learning curve until I am sure what I am doing. I have downloaded the official windows disc and I am still considering which way to jump as per the activation code.

Nice one Ken. I'm afraid that rolling pins and fish stunning clubs are about my level. Oh, and my goose egg cups are in demand!

I have a wood turning lathe......and argue the qualities of timber with the woodyard staff. Its what comes of being a war baby and wanting things for nothing.

Y'know what? I feel just like a little old man who threw a colleagues burger into a piranha pond!!

Many thanks once again folks, it will be interesting anyway to install a freeby on the Vista unit and see how it compares. Meanwhile, I shall continue to look for a good copy of Windows 7...it seems that the big retailers (pc world ) now only sell windows 8 and looked at me with pity for wanting an out of date o/s.