No apologies for long wind needed, I just learned where MS moved some of the furniture to, again.(G)
Putting the product key in the BIOS and (rashly assuming) every key is unique, would address MS's constant search for a way to get rid of shared enterprise keys which are so commonly bootlegged. Except of course, someone will (or already has?(G) found ways to crack them, to generate false ones, and of course, to wedge them into the BIOS exactly the same way that any BIOS flash would rewrite them. Bottom line, this new(ish) kludge ain't gonna hunt. But even HP says it won't always work on that URL you cited.
It really is a shame in a way. Now the hardware identification is sent to MS and MS has to approve the Windows install on the hardware. So MS controls all the mechanisms that makes Windows work.
SSDs do help, but last time I did a Win10 upgrade on a perfectly good system, MS literally took 24 hours over a good broadband connection to fix and load everything, and although that system wasn't an SSD, in 24 hours even a plain hard drive can stow a lot of data. Matter of fact, that one failed to complete three times--each 24 hours--and that's when I was shocked to find the "new" MS support in India actually could resolve the problem and get it finished within the hour.
Good ole Microsoft. I have said for years that MS can take the fastest machine on the planet and make it seem like a lowly Intel Atom.
"My point is this, why put yourself through undo suffering simply to claim a warranty that is likely going to run you in circles? " Because as you found, sometimes it IS a loose wire, and just saying "Takee Fixee" is the only way that's gonna get fixed, unless you're into hardware repair.
I do take computers apart when needed. Just not 3 days after being bought.
I have 4 laptops here and every one of them has been apart for applying new paste and whatnot. Laptops used to be a bit scary and now I can take them apart with my eyes closed. Desktops are easier though, much.
But about LINUX and no malware...like the Apple folks said, no there's no malware problem. Hmmm...except they sweep them under the rug and have for over 20 years. It is just a smaller target, so there are fewer attacks. But the good folks at CERT and other agencies have statistics that say otherwise, there's no OS that has been immune to malware. LINUX is great if you are programming and doing custom systems, but when you have to move and work in different offices and companies--they require Wintel skills, not *NIX, on the desks. Although I've worked with mixed networks (UNIX, Apple, and Wintel) and even terrified a roomful of mainframe techs by using DOS EDIT to force an HP laser printer to manually load a font set. (He's using DOS! On our printer! Quickly, bring more priests and crosses!"
I think that system security comes down to being proactive as a user. No system is secure if one is not careful.
I would say that Linux with its tighter permissions and such is a better candidate for security for the security minded. I run Firefox with Ublock and Noscript and I have a VPN installed and can toggle that when wanted. Right this very instance I am posting from Denmark sitting at my computer desk in Kentucky
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Oh the days of DOS. I have a soft spot for DOS. Calling the local BBS at 9600 baud... Oh, those were the days
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On my home planet, we don't have these computer problems. Aeons ago, the people rose up en masse and slaughtered alleged programmers in the cubicles and in the streets. Dragged them out of vent shafts, impaled them on lampposts, left the corpses to dry in the wind and rot in the rain.
And as a result, the few surviving programmers and techs learned to take extreme care in what they did, and they haven't released ONE line of buggy code ever since. Their descendants are honored and respected, as a result.
Here, things don't seem to have gone as well.(G)
Oh, how I want to come to your planet
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Take care.
