full fibre - seem to have an Ethernet restriction

[#1]

Yeah, but its old and faithful. low spec now .....high spec when bought 12 - 14 years ago

is at 78,000 getting very done 

HD fitness 70% performance 93%

will not play hvac videos or support them  and they seem to be taking over ..so days are numbered

uses windows 7 ..that support is ending on

not compatible with modern internet speeds

so will start investigating what to replace it with after Christmas

so i will catch up

cheers for the help guys and forcing me along to drop the idea of keeping it ..think i needed pushing.

[#2]

 @Browni Yes, I'm a little surprised , I found a few of these https://www.tp-link.com/uk/home-networking/adapter/tg-3269/ on a well known auction site and they do seem to provide Win 7 drivers. It is already EOL though and no Win 10 support

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/165511960864?epid=144411961&hash=item2689481920:g:2MoAAOSwI6Nil1T2&amdata...

@markinwales so if you really want to stick with your existing system , it does seem possible

[#3]

That's too long and will block the cooling

made my mind up now ..time to replace the lot .

lets hope this more modern stuff has not gone the way of cars ......

meaning  not having loads of [-Censored-] hooked up to it, like Dpfs , Egr's, net zero gimmicks that make it break down, cost £££££ to fix or become obsolete

thanks 

mark

[#4]

---

@bobpullen wrote:

Windows 7 is end of life and hasn't received security updates for years. No admiration for an operating system would see me running it on my own machines.

---

I appreciate that. Hence my dallying with Linux (must have another look next year to get things fully set up). However I have a working Win7 copy on it in case I do need to abandon ship which gives me access to all the programs I use.

At the very least it would buy time to consider options. I have a Dell monitor with a built in KVM switch to allow both machines (NUC not NEC as I think I stated before) to work off the same keyboard and mouse.

Brian

[#5]

@markinwales 

Not certain if this would work but a USB WiFi dongle might buy you some time. Disconnect the Ethernet cable and run off WiFi.

Brian

[#6]

Can anyone tell me if this windows 11 is based on or needs ANDROID system to function

as i do not like this android and how google integrates everything into it .

is this windows 11 going to insist that im signed into google and synchronised with google and going to keep synchronisation with all its so called products like it does on the phone ...

i don't like this! .........and got rid of the phone because of it .........it was using / consuming more band width to monitor me than it was using for norrmal activities

im using a microsoft phone now ..Yes obsolete.........but i don't use it for logging into anything .......and it uses less than 2 gb a month ...v... android that could use that much in a couple of days  --- same activity

Yes i know ...i did not understand how to turn this synchronisation off on the phone ..........and how to stop things happening ..as i found ( still do) the touch screen garbage very hard work...will never get used to it, will never be anywhere near fast at it ...find it a real chore. compered with a FULL SIZE keyboard 

standing by for advice

[#7 · Accepted solution]

@markinwales 

There is no tie up at all between Windows 11 and Android.

If you want to keep clear of big brother in the form of Microsoft then the trick is to not set up a Microsoft account, Fight off all the messages about all the wonderful benefits that you will miss out on and set Win 11 up with a local account and use that.

[#8]

@markinwales 

If Win11 is like Win10 then it'll try to grab as much information as possible. As stated use a local account to Set Up. Then go through the privacy settings and turn off every permission you don't like.

However, if your mail program is Outlook then you may be out of luck - don't use it myself so can't say one way or another as to whether you need to login to an MS account.

At least for the time being MS still sell a retail version of Office. They are trying very hard to get people onto a subscription model.

In thinking about what to buy I would start by making a list of every program you currently have on Win7 and seeing if a Win11 version is available. That way you'll know what you might lose and have to look for substitutes.

There are way to many options available with new machines for my liking but last time I bought I went for a silent PC ie no cooling fan. Used SSD's so no moving parts at all unless I run a DVD. I am also able to "hot swap" hard drives. Potentially more expensive but boy do I like the silence. I bought from https://www.quietpc.com/ and have been more than happy with the machine and customer service. If you have a look, select a machine and then the select customize you'll get an idea of choices - so many choices!!!

Brian

[#9]

@Baldrick1 

Is it possible to set up Windows 11 without using a Microsoft account? I thought that was one of the complaints about it.

Linux (Mint) is my OS of choice, but my main desktop PC is set up to dual boot with Windows 11.

It used to be dual boot with Windows 10, which as you say, I set up using only a local account due to privacy concerns, but when I changed it to Win11 it insisted on being connected to a Microsoft account to install it.

The "trick" I used when installing Win 10 was to pull the ethernet connection from the PC at the appropriate time, but that didn't seem to fool Win 11?

Is there a way to install Win11 using only a local account? What's the "trick"?

[#10]

@markinwales 

I forgot to mention - the default browser will be MS Edge. If you use FireFox, Chrome or any other browser I would have an install exe on a USB stick. Then install it as the very, very first thing you do and make it your default.

Brian

[#11]

---

@Mr_Paul wrote:

@Baldrick1 

Is it possible to set up Windows 11 without using a Microsoft account? I thought that was one of the complaints about it.

...

Is there a way to install Win11 using only a local account? What's the "trick"?

---

See How to Install Windows 11 Without a Microsoft Account | Tom's Hardware (tomshardware.com)

[#12]

@Mr_Paul 

I honestly can’t remember exactly what I did but I first downloaded the Win 11 .iso file and did a clean install to a wiped disk from that. There was a lot of looking for the small font non preferred options. I have a Microsoft account somewhere but it doesn’t appear as an account on my PC.

[#13]

@Townman @Baldrick1 

Thanks for the replies.

As I said previously, I have my main desktop PC set up as dual boot, with Linux Mint (primary OS) and Windows 11 Pro (secondary OS), with Windows linked to my Microsoft account because I couldn't get it to install any other way at the time. That installation might date back to when Win11 was still "Preview" - which could explain it?

This morning I booted the PC in to Linux and tried installing Windows 11 Pro in a Virtual Machine, using the instructions linked to by @Townman 

Pulling the ethernet cable out did not work for me - the installation just stopped until the internet connection was restored.

The "Shift +F10" method did not bring up a Command Prompt window - so that method could not be used.

However:

The "No Thank You" method did work for me , and I now appear to have a working "Windows 11 Pro" installation that is not linked to my Microsoft account. 😀

I don't use Windows very often, but next time I completely wipe my machine for a clean installation, (happens more often than you might think!), then I'll try "No Thank You" for the Windows partition.

Thanks again!

 

[#14]

Local shop -- well the only shop for 20 miles

had a look today ..and it seems computer shops that sell towers are getting thin on the ground

scroll down to "system 5" -  base unit £709

base unit is everything above the line where the monitor is

PRICELIST-NOV04-22NEW (vfm-computers.co.uk)

Does that seem reasonable value?

[#15]

@markinwales 

I would look around on line.

Check out, for example, offerings from Palicomp and Chillblast.