Dear Hive mind, help a poor Squaxx who is open to admitting he's not the most knowledgeable...
I replaced the laptop I use to make comics on two years ago, with a refurbished HP running windows 7 that didn't cost me the earth. Since then I've been happily spamming you all with comics and reminders of which artists and writers are going to be huge.
However- last week, upon booting up I got a message that my install of windows might not be legit...
I've contacted the company I bought the laptop from (via Amazon, so I assumed all should be above board) and have heard nothing since. I did a bit of searching and it looks like the company I bought the laptop from are no more- so I'm on my own here.
I followed the prompt on the laptop through to microsoft to see what I would need to pay to get back on with a legit version of windows but the link goes to a 404 page.
So I'm here, asking you what you would recommend I do? Do I just take my laptop to a shop and ask for help? Do I buy something online or should I just accept that my laptop is fudged and look at replacing? Ideally I'd like to stay on windows 7 as I'm not sure windows 10 will work with the increasingly aged versions of Photoshop & Illustrator I own (CS2)
Thanks for reading and all non-dairy comments gratefully received.
...sigh...
...no-one?
Honestly - not sure.
I'm not sure if you can buy a win 7 install from microsoft any more - I have a win 7 ultimate lying around you're welcome to try - whether it will let you though is another matter.
Might be a case of getting a new HD and reinstalling.
If you're doing that (and can afford it) I'd recommend getting an SSD for the boot drive - makes a big difference in speed booting up.
Perhaps a method of kicking the can down the road (https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2009/08/how-to-use-windows-7-for-free-for-120-days-legally/).
Same thing on a video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VrlLmKGrP-k) here, but they don't explain what's happening.
Some mad voodoo (https://www.howtogeek.com/206329/how-to-find-your-lost-windows-or-office-product-keys/) here might help (if your OS was legit in the first place).
Cheers Chaps.
Think I'll see what the PC repair shop recommend, but It might be time to retire this machine.