Laptop advice.

[Bolt-01]

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.

[Bolt-01]

...sigh...

...no-one?

[Steve Green]

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.

[Funt Solo]

Perhaps a method of kicking the can down the road.

Same thing on a video here, but they don't explain what's happening.

Some mad voodoo here might help (if your OS was legit in the first place).

[Bolt-01]

Cheers Chaps.

Think I'll see what the PC repair shop recommend, but It might be time to retire this machine.