When someone buys a laptop with no HD or COA....

[GoodEnough]

What is the buyer most likely going to do with this?

Pirate Win7 COA?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/IBM-Lenovo-...p-/141488538220?ssPageName=ADME:B:WNA:US:3160

 

[ArisVer]

A lot will probably do that. Or a cracked Windows 8.
You might be able to retrieve the COA from the BIOS if it's UEFI, (or whatever chip they put it in). I'm sure it had one when it left the factory. You have to find out what version of Windows it was originally installed with and install that to retrieve it using a third party program. Some people said it's sometimes found in the battery compartment.

Some other comment. If this is what you mean in your other thread, the caddy might set you off for way more than $5. And why not get Win8 since you'll have more support.

 

[DaveSimmons]

Some will put linux or ChromeOS on it. Some of us get copies of Windows "free" with our $3,000 / year MSDN subscription at work. I think some university students can get Windows for $5-15 through their university.

 

[GoodEnough]

$5 caddy
http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-Hard-Dr...2?pt=US_Drive_Bay_Caddies&hash=item3cdadb2562

 

[dave_the_nerd]

xUbuntu, usually.

 

[lakedude]

Looks like it would take a universal PS and Puppy Linux to get one of those running, no HD required.

 

[GoodEnough]

How no HD? Run OS off flash drive?

 

[dave_the_nerd]

How no HD? Run OS off flash drive?

I have a rack of servers at work that run from CF cards. It's enough for a hypervisor.

You can pretty easily run a desktop OS off of a 16/32/64GB SD card or USB drive.

 

[GoodEnough]

When installing the OS, it will recognize the SD card as a viable drive?

 

[VirtualLarry]

When installing the OS, it will recognize the SD card as a viable drive?

Linux will.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

When installing the OS, it will recognize the SD card as a viable drive?

Yeah, what Larry said. It depends on the OS.

CompactFlash to IDE or SATA adapters are a pretty common cheap solution for running Windows that way. Otherwise you have to resort to trickery to get Windows booting from USB.

 

[lakedude]

How no HD? Run OS off flash drive?

On a computer with an optical drive Puppy will boot and run just fine from RAM. I see these ThinkPads lack an optical so yeah, from an SD or USB flash drive.

Man, with no HD, no OS and no Optical I think I'd take a pass...

Puppy is a tiny and amazing OS BTW. Lightning quick because it runs entirely in RAM which is much faster than a mechanical HD. Check out a screen shot:

 

[lakedude]

http://puppylinux.org/main/Overview and Getting Started.htm

 

[ninaholic37]

Puppy is a tiny and amazing OS BTW. Lightning quick because it runs entirely in RAM which is much faster than a mechanical HD. Check out a screen shot:

Agreed, awesome OS and fits easily on a 512MB USB stick (probably a 256MB too). 4.2.1 was a fun and colourful version! I'm using Slacko 5.7 right now.

 

[cbn]

How no HD? Run OS off flash drive?

Yes, that would be possible.

Check out Pendrivelinux.com.

Just realize your file size for storing persistent changes (see step 4 in image below) will be limited to 4GB with the Universal USB installer: http://www.pendrivelinux.com/universal-usb-installer-easy-as-1-2-3/

P.S. I found running Linux from a usb stick (using Universal USB installer) is actually a pretty nice experience for very light web type work. The major caveat is the boot time which can be extremely long with a usb 2.0 stick like my Sandisk Cruzer 8GB.

 

[GoodEnough]

Last time I tried Linux desktop OS, it was the late 90s,
and it was a cute little toy joke that didn't really do much.
(Or broke anytime it was actually used like Windows, you know like having 5 million users actually doing work or something)

What is interesting is that I barely use any Win specific apps on my weekend laptop.
Mostly just email & web. So, a Linux UI really could work.

But, I think I want to stick with Win7.
I am a 20 year user of Win.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

Last time I tried Linux desktop OS, it was the late 90s,
and it was a cute little toy joke that didn't really do much.
(Or broke anytime it was actually used like Windows, you know like having 5 million users actually doing work or something)

What is interesting is that I barely use any Win specific apps on my weekend laptop.
Mostly just email & web. So, a Linux UI really could work.

But, I think I want to stick with Win7.
I am a 20 year user of Win.

Using Windows for 20 years is one of the main reasons people try Linux instead.

heh.

But if you're a light email/web user, you might want to look into a Chromebook. Sure, Google owns your firstborn, but you can get a used one for, like $100.

 

[compuwiz1]

Are we really talking about the COA or the Product Key? Many laptops have the PK on the bottom somewhere, as a sticker. If I knew the seller was not using the product on another computer, I'd install a HD, then download Windows 7 from the Digital River site. If you can activate it, you're good to go. If you can't, then you can now buy a license and PK for about $60 or less. For some reason my original Window's key would not work on a recent reinstall. After spending an hour and a half on the phone with support, I just said screw it and bought a new key.

 

[cbn]

Last time I tried Linux desktop OS, it was the late 90s,
and it was a cute little toy joke that didn't really do much.
(Or broke anytime it was actually used like Windows, you know like having 5 million users actually doing work or something)

What is interesting is that I barely use any Win specific apps on my weekend laptop.
Mostly just email & web. So, a Linux UI really could work.

But, I think I want to stick with Win7.
I am a 20 year user of Win.

If you ever decide to give Linux a try I strongly recommend Linux Mint. It goes one step beyond Ubuntu and includes all the codecs you'll need. It seems like the ideal beginners or ease of use distro because almost everything works out of the box.

I use the MATE version myself and so far have been very happy with it.

 

[GoodEnough]

Are we really talking about the COA or the Product Key? Many laptops have the PK on the bottom somewhere, as a sticker. If I knew the seller was not using the product on another computer, I'd install a HD, then download Windows 7 from the Digital River site. If you can activate it, you're good to go. If you can't, then you can now buy a license and PK for about $60 or less. For some reason my original Window's key would not work on a recent reinstall. After spending an hour and a half on the phone with support, I just said screw it and bought a new key.

What's the difference between a COA and PK ?
These used laptops are said to have a "COA"
Should I verify the seller means PK?

 

[compuwiz1]

The product key. You need one of those to activate windows. Maybe it's on the sticker with the COA as well. Haven't looked at one in a while.

 

[corkyg]

On some laptops, the COA sticker is located under the battery in the battery compartment. The COA is a Microsoft sticker.

 

[lakedude]

P.S. I found running Linux from a usb stick (using Universal USB installer) is actually a pretty nice experience for very light web type work. The major caveat is the boot time which can be extremely long with a usb 2.0 stick like my Sandisk Cruzer 8GB.

I've found boot time from a USB stick to be very quick using Puppy Linux.

BTW there is a 64bit version called "Fat Dog 64" which is excellent if you need a 64 bit OS...

You don't need to install anything to check these out. They will boot are run just fine from an optical with no need to store anything on a hard drive (unless you want to).