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Hadlock
Nov 9, 2004

Koskinator posted:

I have a 32 bit version of Windows 8.1 running on a 64 bit capable system (don't ask why). I have legit Windows CDs for both 32 and 64 bit, same CD key for both. The 32 bit version is of course installed right now.

My understanding is that I'll need to do a clean install of Windows 8 64 bit. What is the procedure like for this? I'm irrationally paranoid about losing all my important files or bricking my computer. Also, roughly how long does a clean install of 8.1 typically take?

Buy a 256gb SSD and install Windows to that, use the old hard drive as your storage drive is the best option.

You're always going to forget something, but by splitting out your data to another drive (or heck, at least a different partition) you can always just wipe the OS partition down the road without worrying about this problem in the future.

A clean install of 8.1 to a VM on a rotational drive takes less than an hour with all the reboots (8.1 likes to reboot a lot during install). Make sure you have spare copies of your eithernet and video drivers on a USB stick ready to go if needed.

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Obfuscation
Jan 1, 2008
Good luck to you, I know you believe in hell
Does anyone know how MS Office keys work? I need to install Office to my parents new computer but they have lost the discs and their product key. Is it possible to find the key from the old installation somehow and then use that with torrented installer to end up with a legit Office?

taqueso
Mar 8, 2004


:911:
:wookie: :thermidor: :wookie:
:dehumanize:

:pirate::hf::tinfoil:

Obfuscation posted:

Does anyone know how MS Office keys work? I need to install Office to my parents new computer but they have lost the discs and their product key. Is it possible to find the key from the old installation somehow and then use that with torrented installer to end up with a legit Office?

It might be. http://www.howtogeek.com/206329/how-to-find-your-lost-windows-or-office-product-keys/ has some info. This is the tool from the end of that article, which is probably way easier.

reL
May 20, 2007

ufarn posted:

Oh my god, why is the default setting for wireless adapters to go to sleep to save battery on a friggin desktop computer.

Did two hours of googling, driver updating, cord swapping, etc to figure out why my newly-acquired second monitor wasn't working, or even registering in the device manager.

Turns out the power-saver feature not only disables displayport, but doesn't leave you any sort of notification anywhere that the PC even physically has a displayport.

Xander77
Apr 6, 2009

Fuck it then. For another pit sandwich and some 'tater salad, I'll post a few more.



For some reason skype is pinned to my taskbar. Or rather, it behaves exactly like a program which is pinned to the taskbar (never buggers off when minimized) but clicking "pin/unpin" doesn't actually do anything. Kinda suspect other programs are going to do the same and crowd my taskbar latter. What's the deal, and how do I fix it?

...

What's the right thread to ask in about internet issues? I got a new computer, and the internet just slowed right down, to the point that I can't download anything. Same (wi-fi) internet connection, same (dual-band USB) adapter, so I kinda assume it's an issue with some obscure network configs or something?

Edit - Yeah, I'm getting periods of "limited access", whatever that means. How do I fix it / where do I ask about fixing it?

m2pt5
May 18, 2005

THAT GOD DAMN MOSQUITO JUST KEEPS COMING BACK

Xander77 posted:

For some reason skype is pinned to my taskbar. Or rather, it behaves exactly like a program which is pinned to the taskbar (never buggers off when minimized) but clicking "pin/unpin" doesn't actually do anything. Kinda suspect other programs are going to do the same and crowd my taskbar latter. What's the deal, and how do I fix it?

In settings > advanced, there's a 'keep skype in the taskbar setting you can turn off.

Xander77
Apr 6, 2009

Fuck it then. For another pit sandwich and some 'tater salad, I'll post a few more.



m2pt5 posted:

In settings > advanced, there's a 'keep skype in the taskbar setting you can turn off.
That worked. Thanks.

...

In other news, after an auto-update and a reboot in the middle of the night, a bunch of settings got reverted - I hacked in a quick launch bar, added some keyboard languages etc, all of which was gone come morning. Is there a way to keep future updates / restarts from reverting any/all custom settings?

Rexxed posted:

Usually all of that stays. It's possible it was a particularly large update like 8 to 8.1 or 8.1 to 8.1 update 1 which was actually a large change, but I can't say for certain if that would cause what you're describing, it just seems the most likely.
Hmm. Well, it was (more or less) the first update on a brand new computer. Windows 7 though, can't really work with 8 (much less hack it to have the basic convenient features of xp). Guess I'll find out come the next auto-update, unless other solutions pop up.

Xander77 fucked around with this message at 08:24 on May 9, 2015

Rexxed
May 1, 2010

Dis is amazing!
I gotta try dis!

Xander77 posted:

That worked. Thanks.

...

In other news, after an auto-update and a reboot in the middle of the night, a bunch of settings got reverted - I hacked in a quick launch bar, added some keyboard languages etc, all of which was gone come morning. Is there a way to keep future updates / restarts from reverting any/all custom settings?

Usually all of that stays. It's possible it was a particularly large update like 8 to 8.1 or 8.1 to 8.1 update 1 which was actually a large change, but I can't say for certain if that would cause what you're describing, it just seems the most likely.

Medullah
Aug 14, 2003

FEAR MY SHARK ROCKET IT REALLY SUCKS AND BLOWS
Its been a while since i played with this, so figured I'd ask here.

I signed up for Amazon cloud music, but it appears their uploader is a giant turd. It can't handle scanning my massive music directory, and the suggestion was to scan in smaller segments. I don't want to manually point the uploader to every directory, and i don't want to move the actual directories because then my other software reliant on that directory might get confused.

Is there a way to spoof a new set of directories where i could, say, have A-D in one directory, E-H in another, etc. Have the Amazon uploader think the files are actually in those directories, but they're essentially shortcuts?

Gromit
Aug 15, 2000

I am an oppressed White Male, Asian women wont serve me! Save me Campbell Newman!!!!!!!
My brother has a company overseas and has asked me if I know of a way to set it up so that he can send and receive emails from that factory, and ONLY email. That is, he wants a computer there that lets the user access email only, and can only send to specific addresses at that. No other network access at all, kind of like having a dedicated hotline phone connection, but for email.

e: Don't worry - this looks like a job for a server or domain controller or something running Exchange.

Gromit fucked around with this message at 04:49 on May 11, 2015

Avulsion
Feb 12, 2006
I never knew what hit me

Medullah posted:

Its been a while since i played with this, so figured I'd ask here.

I signed up for Amazon cloud music, but it appears their uploader is a giant turd. It can't handle scanning my massive music directory, and the suggestion was to scan in smaller segments. I don't want to manually point the uploader to every directory, and i don't want to move the actual directories because then my other software reliant on that directory might get confused.

Is there a way to spoof a new set of directories where i could, say, have A-D in one directory, E-H in another, etc. Have the Amazon uploader think the files are actually in those directories, but they're essentially shortcuts?

Powershell can do that, and comes standard on modern versions of windows. Here's a script I wrote:

code:
#SubdirectorySplitter.ps1
#This script makes junctions (links) to each subdirectory in whatever folder it is run from.
#The junctions are placed in a folder of your choice and split into different subfolders.
#
#This value determines how many junctions are in each directory, adjust as necessary: 
$FakesPerDir = 30
#This is where the junctions will be made, make sure it's on the same computer as the real folders:
$FakePlace = "C:\Fakes\"
#----Don't mess with anything below this line unless you know what you are doing.----
$FakeCount = $FakesPerDir
$DirCount = 0
Get-ChildItem * -Directory | foreach { 
    if($FakeCount -lt $FakesPerDir){$FakeCount++} 
    else {
        $FakeCount = 1
        $DirCount++
        $FakeDirPath = $FakePlace + $DirCount.ToString() + "\"
        if(!(Test-Path $FakeDirPath)){
            New-Item $FakeDirPath -ItemType directory 
        }
    }
    cmd /c mklink /J ($FakeDirPath + $_.Name) $_.FullName
}
Copy it to a .txt file, rename the file to SubdirectorySplitter.ps1 and drop it in your "..\itunes media\music" directory (or where ever your music is stored, the directory with hundreds of sub-folders). Right click and run and it will make a folder (C:\Fakes\) and fill it with sub-folders (1, 2, 3 etc) full of junctions (shortcuts that can fool most programs). Default location is C:\Fakes\, and it will save 30 junctions to each sub-folder, but you can edit that if you like.

You may need to be an administrator to run it. The script itself won't damage or alter any of your files. You can delete \Fakes\ or any of the numbered folders without incident, but don't click on the junction and start deleting the files you find inside.

Avulsion fucked around with this message at 08:35 on May 11, 2015

Medullah
Aug 14, 2003

FEAR MY SHARK ROCKET IT REALLY SUCKS AND BLOWS

Avulsion posted:

Powershell can do that, and comes standard on modern versions of windows. Here's a script I wrote:

code:
#SubdirectorySplitter.ps1
#This script makes junctions (links) to each subdirectory in whatever folder it is run from.
#The junctions are placed in a folder of your choice and split into different subfolders.
#
#This value determines how many junctions are in each directory, adjust as necessary: 
$FakesPerDir = 30
#This is where the junctions will be made, make sure it's on the same computer as the real folders:
$FakePlace = "C:\Fakes\"
#----Don't mess with anything below this line unless you know what you are doing.----
$FakeCount = $FakesPerDir
$DirCount = 0
Get-ChildItem * -Directory | foreach { 
    if($FakeCount -lt $FakesPerDir){$FakeCount++} 
    else {
        $FakeCount = 1
        $DirCount++
        $FakeDirPath = $FakePlace + $DirCount.ToString() + "\"
        if(!(Test-Path $FakeDirPath)){
            New-Item $FakeDirPath -ItemType directory 
        }
    }
    cmd /c mklink /J ($FakeDirPath + $_.Name) $_.FullName
}
Copy it to a .txt file, rename the file to SubdirectorySplitter.ps1 and drop it in your "..\itunes media\music" directory (or where ever your music is stored, the directory with hundreds of sub-folders). Right click and run and it will make a folder (C:\Fakes\) and fill it with sub-folders (1, 2, 3 etc) full of junctions (shortcuts that can fool most programs). Default location is C:\Fakes\, and it will save 30 junctions to each sub-folder, but you can edit that if you like.

You may need to be an administrator to run it. The script itself won't damage or alter any of your files. You can delete \Fakes\ or any of the numbered folders without incident, but don't click on the junction and start deleting the files you find inside.

Nice, thanks, i didn't even think of Powershell. I'll give it a shot!

Eight Is Legend
Jan 2, 2008

repiv posted:

You can download an unmolested installer from Microsoft and create a bootable USB or ISO.

Make sure you match the edition that came with the machine or the key won't work.

Toast Museum posted:

A clean install is just that. None of the bloat is tied to the product key. Just use a standard ISO from Microsoft rather than the recovery disc/partition that came with the laptop.

It's Windows 7, so the only official thing I can find on Microsoft's site is this: http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-recovery

Unfortunately, when I enter the product key, I get this error message: "Unsupported Product -The product key you entered appears to be for software that was pre-installed on a device. Please contact the device manufacturer for software recovery options."

dpkg chopra
Jun 9, 2007

Fast Food Fight

Grimey Drawer

Koskinator posted:

I have a 32 bit version of Windows 8.1 running on a 64 bit capable system (don't ask why). I have legit Windows CDs for both 32 and 64 bit, same CD key for both. The 32 bit version is of course installed right now.

My understanding is that I'll need to do a clean install of Windows 8 64 bit. What is the procedure like for this? I'm irrationally paranoid about losing all my important files or bricking my computer. Also, roughly how long does a clean install of 8.1 typically take?

edit: Also, can my MS Office 2010 suite be preserved either through the install or on an external drive, or would it need to be reinstalled as well?

Just FYI, Windows 8 keys work for both the 32 and 64 bit versions so you, in fact, have an extra key. Just in case you want to sell it or something.

Toast Museum
Dec 3, 2005

30% Iron Chef

Eight Is Legend posted:

It's Windows 7, so the only official thing I can find on Microsoft's site is this: http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-recovery

Unfortunately, when I enter the product key, I get this error message: "Unsupported Product -The product key you entered appears to be for software that was pre-installed on a device. Please contact the device manufacturer for software recovery options."

Ugh. I forgot that Microsoft took down their ISO download pages for Windows 7. If you're up for tracking down an ISO from elsewhere, here are their hashes:

quote:


Windows 7 Home Premium 32Bit: 6071B4553FCF0EA53D589A846B5AE76743DD68FC
Windows 7 Home Premium 64Bit: 6C9058389C1E2E5122B7C933275F963EDF1C07B9

Windows 7 Professional 32Bit: D89937DF3A9BC2EC1A1486195FD308CD3DADE928
Windows 7 Professional 64Bit: 0BCFC54019EA175B1EE51F6D2B207A3D14DD2B58

Windows 7 Ultimate 32Bit: 65FCE0F445D9BF7E78E43F17E441E08C63722657
Windows 7 Ultimate 64Bit: 36AE90DEFBAD9D9539E649B193AE573B77A71C83

Edit: These are for ISOs with SP1.

WorkingStiff
Jul 5, 2005

Eight Is Legend posted:

It's Windows 7, so the only official thing I can find on Microsoft's site is this: http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-recovery

Unfortunately, when I enter the product key, I get this error message: "Unsupported Product -The product key you entered appears to be for software that was pre-installed on a device. Please contact the device manufacturer for software recovery options."

What is the OEM? If it uses System Locked Pre-installation (SLP), you need to edit a file on the install media, but I haven't used Win7 for five years or so, so I can't recall the specifics.

Any OEM media should work. So if you have a Dell, acquire a Dell Win7SP1 .iso and it will work without having to enter the key.

Roargasm
Oct 21, 2010

Hate to sound sleazy
But tease me
I don't want it if it's that easy
Office 2016 Preview is out :suicide:

Does the 2013 installer even work yet?

https://products.office.com/en-us/office-2016-preview

Shard
Jul 30, 2005

So what's the consensus? Is getting a Windows 7 OEM cool? I just installed a new motherboard and cpu and my old Windows 7 isn't booting any more and I'd like to not break the bank getting the same OS I already had.

Krailor
Nov 2, 2001
I'm only pretending to care
Taco Defender

Spikeguy posted:

So what's the consensus? Is getting a Windows 7 OEM cool? I just installed a new motherboard and cpu and my old Windows 7 isn't booting any more and I'd like to not break the bank getting the same OS I already had.

You should be able to re-install using your existing Win7 key.

Or just install the Win10 preview it should be a free upgrade for Win7 users anyway.

Krailor fucked around with this message at 00:01 on May 13, 2015

benisntfunny
Dec 2, 2004
I'm Perfect.
Anyone know of an app that will wake my screen when the webcam detects motion? I have a kiosk type machine that I want to wake up the screen when someone walks by or up to it.

Dinictus
Nov 26, 2005

May our CoX spray white sticky fluid at our enemies forever!
HAIL ARACHNOS!
Soiled Meat
Dumb question. Is there a way for me to move pre-installed Windows 7 from one machine over to another machine? No discs, it was just a present OS at the time. Or would such a copy be :filez: ?

Entropic
Feb 21, 2007

patriarchy sucks

Dinictus posted:

Dumb question. Is there a way for me to move pre-installed Windows 7 from one machine over to another machine? No discs, it was just a present OS at the time. Or would such a copy be :filez: ?

As long as you have a valid COA there's no reason you can't.

Avulsion
Feb 12, 2006
I never knew what hit me
COA = Certificate of Authenticity (a sticker with a product key) or use this to get your product key: http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/product_cd_key_viewer.html

As for getting a copy, read a few posts up on this page.

Maneki Neko
Oct 27, 2000

Roargasm posted:

Office 2016 Preview is out :suicide:

Does the 2013 installer even work yet?

https://products.office.com/en-us/office-2016-preview

Office 2016 really hosed up the test machines I installed it on at Ignite. Hopefully they either fix that or I didn't read gud or something.

Dinictus posted:

Dumb question. Is there a way for me to move pre-installed Windows 7 from one machine over to another machine? No discs, it was just a present OS at the time. Or would such a copy be :filez: ?

These kinds of licenses are generally tied to the machine they were purchased with, so it's not technically legal.

Maneki Neko
Oct 27, 2000

QUOTE != EDIT

EugeneJ
Feb 5, 2012

by FactsAreUseless
I have an old dual-core Vista laptop that I'm still happy with, but I want to be able to upgrade it to Windows 10. I know you can get boxed versions of Windows 7 on eBay for around $50 - would that be the cheapest upgrade path for me to go?

Entropic
Feb 21, 2007

patriarchy sucks

Avulsion posted:

COA = Certificate of Authenticity (a sticker with a product key) or use this to get your product key: http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/product_cd_key_viewer.html

As for getting a copy, read a few posts up on this page.

Note that a lot of brand-name machines come activated with a special bulk manufacturer's key which is different than the key printed on the COA sticker. So if you pull the active key out with a keyfinder utility and try to activate a new install of Windows with that key, it won't work if it's one of those bulk keys. It's a common thing people run into when their COA sticker is smudged to illegibility and they try to use a keyfinder to scrape the key out of the OS before reinstalling.

Nintendo Kid
Aug 4, 2011

by Smythe

EugeneJ posted:

I have an old dual-core Vista laptop that I'm still happy with, but I want to be able to upgrade it to Windows 10. I know you can get boxed versions of Windows 7 on eBay for around $50 - would that be the cheapest upgrade path for me to go?

Yes it would, though you might find that Windows 7 runs better on it than 10 depending on just how old it is.

semicolonsrock
Aug 26, 2009

chugga chugga chugga
What version of windows do I need to use 32 gb of ram? Would prefer 7 to 8 but either is fine. I get the idea I'll need to get a more expensive version.

beefnoodle
Aug 7, 2004

IGNORE ME! I'M JUST AN OLD WET RAG

semicolonsrock posted:

What version of windows do I need to use 32 gb of ram? Would prefer 7 to 8 but either is fine. I get the idea I'll need to get a more expensive version.

It's not the version, it's the edition. You'll want the 64-bit edition, regardless of the version being 7 or 8.


VVVV Just to be a sperg, Home is an Edition of Windows not a version :)

beefnoodle fucked around with this message at 20:12 on May 14, 2015

repiv
Aug 13, 2009

As he said you need 64-bit, but version matters too. The Home versions of Windows 7 can't utilize 32GB of RAM but any version of Windows 8 can.

https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-gb/library/windows/desktop/aa366778%28v=vs.85%29.aspx

Shaocaholica
Oct 29, 2002

Fig. 5E
So I'm playing with Win10 build 10074 and I can't seem to figure out how to set default folder view options to be 'details' view. If I go into some arbitrary folder and set things the way I like then I go into [File Explorer Options] and 'Apply to Folders' it doesn't work. Whenever I navigate to a new folder I'm still presented with icon view.

Edmond Dantes
Sep 12, 2007

Reactor: Online
Sensors: Online
Weapons: Online

ALL SYSTEMS NOMINAL
The time has come for my annual flatten/reinstall, and I was considering installing 8.1 instead of my usual 7. I use my pc as a jack of all trades: gaming, graphics design, htpc. Is the jump to 8.1 worth it, or should I just stick with 7 until 10 comes out?

Cheers.

Goober Peas
Jun 30, 2007

Check out my 'Vette, bro


Edmond Dantes posted:

The time has come for my annual flatten/reinstall, and I was considering installing 8.1 instead of my usual 7. I use my pc as a jack of all trades: gaming, graphics design, htpc. Is the jump to 8.1 worth it, or should I just stick with 7 until 10 comes out?

Cheers.

I'd stick with 7 until 10 is released. Actually, I'd wait until 10 comes out to do the reinstall unless you are solving a specific problem.

But that's just me.

Edmond Dantes
Sep 12, 2007

Reactor: Online
Sensors: Online
Weapons: Online

ALL SYSTEMS NOMINAL

Goober Peas posted:

I'd stick with 7 until 10 is released. Actually, I'd wait until 10 comes out to do the reinstall unless you are solving a specific problem.

But that's just me.

I'm not having any particular issue, it just... feels a bit bloated.
I actually thought about waiting for 10 as well, but I was sure it was releasing in 2016 so I wasn't planning on waiting that long; I went and checked the release date and it says late 2015 so yeah, I think I'll hold for now.

Thanks, mate.

semicolonsrock
Aug 26, 2009

chugga chugga chugga

repiv posted:

As he said you need 64-bit, but version matters too. The Home versions of Windows 7 can't utilize 32GB of RAM but any version of Windows 8 can.

https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-gb/library/windows/desktop/aa366778%28v=vs.85%29.aspx

Ok. So I need at least professional if I et windows 7. What is the major difference between 7/8? I have mostly only used vista at work and macs at home.

Read
Dec 21, 2010

What're you doing with 32 GB of RAM?

FatUglyUseless
Dec 6, 2013

Edmond Dantes posted:

The time has come for my annual flatten/reinstall, and I was considering installing 8.1 instead of my usual 7. I use my pc as a jack of all trades: gaming, graphics design, htpc. Is the jump to 8.1 worth it, or should I just stick with 7 until 10 comes out?

Cheers.

8.1 pro will let you install hyper v as a role and run some VM's. I don't know if thats an "I NEED IT NOW" feature for most people though.

semicolonsrock
Aug 26, 2009

chugga chugga chugga

Read posted:

What're you doing with 32 GB of RAM?

~*~*~big data~*~*~

(More like medium data, but R stores everything in memory so it's really RAM hungry, even with best coding practices, and no one I work with uses anything else)

E: for example: I literally can't load the data I'm working with right now in more than 1/100th at a time chunks. A server probably would have solved this too, but I'm not mad that a desktop means I can check out all the games which came out while I was on Mac only for like 5 years. Also it was surprisingly cheap.

semicolonsrock fucked around with this message at 00:44 on May 15, 2015

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abraham linksys
Sep 6, 2010

:darksouls:
I'm a weird situation: My Windows 8 install on my PC is busted as hell (won't boot anymore), it doesn't have a recovery partition, and I lost my Windows 8 license key. There's nothing important on it so I'm cool with just wiping it clean and starting from scratch.

I figured, what the hell, I'll just grab the Windows 10 preview and give that a shot. Not having a DVD burner, I figured I'd throw it on a USB stick. However, my only other computers are Macs, and the tool everyone suggests to do this sort of thing, Rufus, doesn't exist on Mac.

I tried just using the Boot Camp tool that sets up install media, but with that I get an error when I go to install Windows on my PC. When I select the partition I want to install to, I get the following message:

quote:

Windows cannot be installed to this disk. The selected disk has an MBR partition table. On EFI systems, Windows can only be installed to GPT disks.

I'm not actually sure if my desktop is an EFI system or not, but I installed Windows 8 on this SSD around a year ago and didn't have any issue, so I don't think I should actually have to do any fancy reformatting or anything. I figure either this is some sort of bug that I can work around through BIOS fiddling, or maybe a side effect of using a Boot Camp-generated install disk on a computer that isn't a Mac (though I've seen several guides that suggest doing this, so I don't think it's supposed to be impossible to make this work). Any ideas?

e: I just realized right after posting this that there's a Windows 10 thread, but it does seem like this is basically the same process across 7/8/10 :shobon:

e2: welp I just deleted both partitions and now it created a GPT partition table, I guess, will be interesting to see if this works

abraham linksys fucked around with this message at 00:28 on May 15, 2015

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