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#1
Using different OS, then restoring Win 7?
My mother recently bought herself a new notebook and gave me her old Windows 7 machine to use as a spare. I'd like to use her old notebook to run Linux for a project that will take me a few months but I'd also like to be able to restore it to Windows 7 afterwards. Am I correct in assuming that if I simply install Linux over top of Windows, that I will lose Windows permanently as well as any license for Windows 7 that is on the machine? If so, what can I do now, BEFORE erasing Windows 7, to ensure that I can reinstall Windows 7 down the road and once again have a good, licensed copy of Win 7?
The computer came with Windows 7 preinstalled and no Microsoft disks of any kind. I remember making a two or three disk backup/restore disk when she first got it but that is all we did. I don't recall ever seeing any kind of paper license. (The computer is a 4 year old Acer notebook.)