Windows 10 Activation

[Wendelspanswick]

I bought a Mini PC from Gearbest to use at home so that I can run a VOIP phone system and it can also act as a print server as well as running Kodi if required.
http://m.gearbest.com/tv-box-mini-p...hKC92f6VOGFl_02SrcJTPc0XCUMYs5xmasaAmhC8P8HAQ
It's a Wintel Pro which costs £54 including delivery and I'm really pleased with it, the specifications are amazing for the price but the only issue is that the Windows 10 Home that comes pre-installed fails to activate.
When I say it fails to activate the PC boots up and even updates with the latest releases but in the control panel it says 'Windows failed to activate, the licence key provided does not match' or words to a similar effect and yet everything works as it should.
Gearbest just fobbed be off although they did offer a refund if I returned the PC, reading the latest reviews it seems I not the only one having this issue but I'm loath to return it as it's doing all that I require perfectly.

What I don't understand is if it's not activated why is it updating and what downsides are there to having an unactivated version of Windows 10.

 

[MattH]

Report them to FAST.

After 30 days Windows will log let you log in if not activated.

 

[exciton]

Sorry, don'y know what happens if the licence does not activate but last year I bought a Windows 10 Professional key off ebay for a server that came with no OS. Installed and activated fine. Maybe you could go that route if you have issues down the line?
Mark

 

[pedrobedro]

As above it will probably lock you out after so long or limit what you can do. I had to ring Microsoft to activate a computer for a friend of mine. It got done eventually but it was a really long painful phone call and took two attempts as the first was so Indian I could not understand him. Also learnt the NATO phonetic alphabet during the course of the second call which was nice.

 

[the snooper]

If it was used they probably just downloaded win 10 and stuck it on it, you only got 10 free if you had certain versions of 7 & 8 so you'll probably need to buy a licence to activate it

 

[rikrobson]

I suspect that at £54 there was not any intension of providing a license. It would usually have an oem licence on it and a sticker with the number on it. iy possible that if they had intended to provide a correct licence its been used before or too many times.

as an aside what windows software are you using for your VOIP?

 

[Wendelspanswick]

It was brand new, done some reading up on it and it's not a pirate version, it seems Microsoft made Windows 10 available as an image for anyone to download but they have the option to revoke it's use at anytime, you can tell it's this version as there is a watermark on the screen stating 'Requires Activation' and the option to personalise your desktop is removed. Seems like there are people who have been running this version of the software for over a year now with no sign of it being revoked.
I think I will carry on as it is for now, I can easily get a copy of Windows 10 Pro from one of the IT guys we deal with if the need comes.

We are rolling out the 3CX VOIP software across the NHS in Somerset and it makes sense for me to set up my own 3CX server at home so I can do updates and tweaks on it first before performing them on site.
http://www.3cx.com/
I'll stick a SIP trunk on it, get our landline number ported across and do away with the calls element of our line rental and broadband costs.

 

[eSCHEn]

As said, you'll get updates for a while then it'll all stop working until it's activated properly.

If you can get a legit license from your work then go for that as it'll be the least effort for most payback for you.

£54 is indeed cheap but not too cheap really. Microsoft are pushing hard into this market and volume licence prices are surprisingly low.

 

[rikrobson]

We are rolling out the 3CX VOIP software across the NHS in Somerset and it makes sense for me to set up my own 3CX server at home so I can do updates and tweaks on it first before performing them on site.
http://www.3cx.com/
I'll stick a SIP trunk on it, get our landline number ported across and do away with the calls element of our line rental and broadband costs.

I've never used that. We use asterisk and opensips and I work my magic on it.

 

[richie00boy]

Looks interesting for the lounge. Can the internal ROM be wiped and Linux mint installed?

 

[windingroads]

I would ask the company to replace it, and to ensure before they send it out that what ever OS they have on it is legal
and activated, sounds like the same key has already been used
and is running somewhere else.
Other alternative is to go for Linux.

 

[MattH]

I would tell the company to replace it, and to ensure before they send it out that what ever OS the have on it is legal
and activated, sounds like someone obviously entered the wring windows key, or the same key has already been used
and is running somewhere.

Or heavens forbid they are deliberately selling the boxes without a authentic copy of Windows. For £54 what do you really expect?

 

[Wendelspanswick]

Looks interesting for the lounge. Can the internal ROM be wiped and Linux mint installed?

The Linux version is cheaper.

 

[richie00boy]

Do you mean android?
I looked into it a bit more and it seems Intel don't support HDMI on Linux.

 

[rikrobson]

I looked into it a bit more and it seems Intel don't support HDMI on Linux.

Intel may not but I doubt very much if there isnt a driver around in the Linux comunity that has gt it working.

 

[Farside]

I recently went back to Windows after a year on Mint.
Mint was great - it just worked out of the box, and apart from a couple of legacy hardware issues, that were resolved with Wine and VM, it was fine.
Until the half-arsed, badly-written pile of dog poo that is the ALSA sound system in Mint killed my sound card and damaged my system speakers.
The writers and developers of that should be horse-whipped.

Anyway, the point of this little rant is to illustrate that MS are making it easy to go back - by the time I'd decided to take them up on their free upgrade to Win10, the freeby had finished, but not quite...
A Win10 system sticker off ebay and a downloaded genuine copy from MS married up fine and activated perfectly - all in, it cost me a tenner.