I am just learning how much fun they can be.
 
 I have my new Toshiba lap top and it seems more flimsy than the one that I still enjoy, but has broken into two pieces. I am already worrying about the idea that it will surely break sooner than any previous laptop I have owned.
 
 I ordered it with Win7 so that I didn't have to spend a small fortune on upgrades to my other applications.
 Now I need to do some tweaking on the new one but I am worried I might buggar up the install so I figured I better have my license key ready just in case I end up doing a full install of Win7.
 
 Now is my chance to learn that my laptop has an embedded Win8Pro license in it's bios and that I'll never know what it is which means that if I ever have to activate the Win7 OS I just paid extra for after some sort of hardware change or OS reinstall that I don't have a license key to provide to Microsoft. I'm like a totally paid up and legit OS orphan. I don't have a sticker with the Win8Pro license I paid for and I have no way of knowing what the Win7Pro license that I paid Toshiba and extra fee for is either. Toshiba basically explains that all I have is some Win8 restore disks that will not need a license key should I turtle up and need help.
 
 When I was setting up my new Win7 custom DAW, Windows asked me to reactivate on several occasions... what am I going to do if this laptop does the same? I want to buy some memory for it... will the hardware change set me up for a reactivation? Yuck.
 
 The first thing I did with this laptop is make a disk image using a boot CD of Acronis 2013... but that program just seems buggier each year. It doesn't even need a mouse input to change states... sometimes it just changes states with a "mouse over". My confidence level is such that I made 2 Acronis images of the factory settings just in case.
 
 Just venting...
 
 
 
 
 
 

CD of Acronis

 
Oooof...
 
I had a bad experience with Acronis a few years ago and haven't been back. It seemed to be a pretty comprehensive product,  but it felt like it took over my system and was impacting performance. When I uninstalled it, it left things hanging; i.e. the system back-up dialogs in control panel still had Acronis modifications to them. I'm sure things have improved since then, but I just can't get that bad taste out of my mouth...

I hate the M$ Windows OEM licensing too. I've never understood it. If you own a license to windows, why can't you install Windows on a new machine?
 
A gentle reminder that Linux Ubuntu Studio is free and is awesome (if you have a class compliant interface or an interface that is Linux friendly).
 
http://ubuntustudio.org/tour/
 
I have an MSDN License, so I get a heap of Windows Licenses for my PCs so I don't normally wrestle with Windows Licensing. I'm afraid it might be the end of Windows for me if I had to. (I'd miss Sonar). If you have a spare external hard drive, you can install Ubuntu studio to it and make some recordings and see how it works for you. I'm booted to mine now.
 
This is one of the main reasons I invest more in hardware than in plugins that are not usable on Linux.
 
For me, moving to Linux is a clear view. My love of Sonar is the only thing that keeps my conversion from also being a short distance (soon).
 
Lastly, do you hate computers or Microsoft Windows?

I have Acronis too, but I only use it by booting from a separate CD...  I keep hearing that I should have chosen Paragon instead.

"I only use it by booting from a separate CD..."
 
That's how I do it too.
 
Does Paragon have a boot-able CD option or do you have to run it from Windows?

Abacus?
 
McQacus?

I've never had to reinstall a bead on my abacus.
 
Just saying.

That's b/c it's open souirce! No one owns the IP for the abacus. Now the Abacus® is another story all together. Just like the pp&j vs the PP&J® trademarked by Smuckers.
 
http://lunchboxlowdown.blogspot.com/2011/09/crustables.html
 

I just got hungry.
 
:-)

You should make Windows Recovery Disks in case something happens. When I got my computer, the license is embedded into the software - one computer - one license for whatever  Windows OS version on the machine. If all fails, I can get on the Internet to the manufacturer and download Windows OS again from the cloud.
 
The cloud computing is what is changing everything. Unless you bought a separate version of Windows OS like in a box or something, then computer manufacturers install the OS and it is all there. Actually there is a backup copy of Windows 7 OS also on the computer and then also the OS installed on the computer (both doing something whatever). If something fails then Recovery Disk should fix it (but you have to make probably about 3 DVD's for that) or the manufacturer has a program where you can also make DVD's of the OS incase something happens, or else (if registered with the computer) the manufacturer has the OS that was installed on your machine to download again if needed from the Internet.
 
The only thing I see with my computer is that the manufacturer uses the same OS for several versions of the computer whether you have certain features (needed for different computer models) or not. It gets on the computer whether you need it or not (probably taking up a little more room).
 
That is the reality of computers nowadays. If I wanted to upgrade I could but then Microsoft is connected to or the manufacturer and of course to change to a different version of the OS of say Windows 7 or upgrade to Windows 8, there would be the difference in price to what they want for it.
 
You make your own DVD's to recover or copy the OS system instead of getting a DVD with it on it (at least with my computer.)
 
 
PS everything is going to a cloud (mainframe computer that can hold your files or like the OS) and that is what I do not like, but again everyone is going to follow on with it other then Microsoft say for software.