You can get a legitimate retail copy of Windows 8.1 from Newegg. See my above post:
Upgrade from Home to Ultimate
"Retail" means that you can move it from computer to computer as much as you want to, using it on only one computer at a time.
You can install Classic Shell in Windows 8.1 to make it look and feel exactly like Windows 7. This is literally your last chance to have something that is just like Windows 7, and receive five more years of support from Microsoft.
Thanks for that link.
First let me say that this 3 - 4 year old home made computer works excellently, fast and no quirks. Other than the fact that lately F8 no longer works, sfc /scannow finds some files that it cannot repair, and that LATELY when I use Eusing Registry Cleaner it "stalls" (never finishes) during scan for "empty keys", so I uncheck "empty keys" and it works fine. These three things bother me. They have no effect on operation, but they tell me that there are underlying problems somewhere and that they will have to be addressed some day otherwise they will be carried over to any future upgrades that I make to this computer. Am I correct in assuming that? I use this mainly for internet with occasional print jobs and document writing, and photo editing. It is a dual boot with UBUNTU as well as Win 7, accessible via F12 into a separate boot menu.
A few questions if you don't mind:
1. Is my above assumption correct?
2. If I upgrade to Win 8.1, will these problems be fixed?
3. Will I have to do a clean install in order to fix any underlying problems?
Thanks for staying with me. If the answer to question 1 is "yes" then I will have to bite the bullet sooner or later. If that is the case, then I might be better off doing it sooner rather than later. If the answer is "no" then I like Win 7 and the way this computer runs. I have no problem holding out as long as I can before I finally install Win 10.
I hope that I gave you a fairly clear understanding of my goals.
Depending on the precise details of the problem, which you probably can't know, an in place upgrade may or may not solve the problem. The only sure way to solve any preexisting issues is to do a clean install.
If I buy a new OEM (?) / retail (?) 64 bit Windows 7 Professional installation disk (Newegg shows that they still sell them) will I be able to use it for a successful repair installation which will fix everything including registry errors, missing/damaged files, and Windows boot sector issues?
Remember that I have a 64 bit Windows 7 Home of questionable origin (bad key) installed. Again, I am sorry but was scammed when I inadvertently bought it 3-4 years ago. I am willing to pay now to get back on track.
A repair install replaces all windows files and copies your settings & programs. It has to be done from within your running windows.If I buy a new OEM (?) / retail (?) 64 bit Windows 7 Professional installation disk (Newegg shows that they still sell them) will I be able to use it for a successful repair installation which will fix everything including registry errors, missing/damaged files, and Windows boot sector issues?
Not sure what you mean by bootsector issues. Probably a good idea to fix those first.
Joe:
Since you aren't setting up your computer to sell to someone, you need to buy the retail version of Windows 8.1, not the OEM version.
A clean install, which includes deleting all partitions on the drive then creating one new partition, then formatting that partition, should eliminate all problems on your drive, unless you have a failing drive, in which case you would need to replace the drive. You always get a cleaner install when you wipe the drive first, although it isn't usually required that you wipe the drive first.
I mean Windows boot sector. Maybe I'm using the wrong terminology.
The "main" (?) boot sector seems OK.............it will boot into Windows, Ubuntu, CDROM, USB device. It is the "Windows Boot Sector" (? terminology) where I think the problem lies because I don't get an advanced Windows boot menu.
Thank you.
If I buy a retail 64 bit W7 Ultimate, then I can do a repair install, which will also upgrade from Home to Ultimate........RIGHT?
If I buy a retail 64 bit W8.1 Pro, then can I do a repair install which will upgrade from 7 Home to 8.1?
In either case, if a repair install doesn't solve the issues, then I can always do a clean install later on. Rather than go directly to a clean install, I'd like to try a repair install first.
Installing Win 8.1 would be the better choice. If I do so, then I understand that I can install "Classic Shell" to make it feel like Windows 7. I have a very old version of Windows Word and Windows Excel installed. Would I need to buy a late version for Win 8? Also, I read somewhere that I can eliminate certain updates to Win 8 which will alleviate the data mining situation. Is there anything that I can do to totally eliminate it as in Windows 7? I also killed the "auto update feature" in Win 7........can I do the same with Win 8.1?
It is a good idea to first try the repair install. As you say, you can always do a clean install later.
It is getting hard to find a retail version of Windows 7 from a legitimate dealer. However, you can get a retail version of Windows 8.1. The three types of Windows 8.1 that are available are: "8.1"; "8.1 Pro"; and "8.1 Enterprise". "Pro" will have everything you need. The version I linked to at Newegg is "Pro".
What version of Word and Excel do you have? You can probably get them to work; but keep in mind that anything older than 2010 is no longer receiving security patches from Microsoft. Another option is to use Microsoft Office Online, which is free, and which is a stripped down version of the latest Microsoft Office. (Does not include Outlook.) You can find it here:
https://products.office.com/en-us/of...-office-online
You can turn off automatic updates both in 7 and in 8.1. Then do your research; and when the experts say it is safe to update, update your computer. As long as you do that, you don't need to have automatic updates turned on.
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