Windows 10: Activation of Windows on a Pre-owned device

Hello there beautiful people. I am having a bit of a problem. I bought a laptop from my trusty local pawnshop and when I brought it home it wants me to activate my windows os.... why and how on a preowned device. Where do I get the key or do I have to buy a new system?

:)

 

BitLocker...on a pre-owned device (W10 Pro)

I recently bought a pre-owned HP ProBook 430 G1. The previous owner told me he reset the device, and at the time I bought it, it was running the initial free upgrade to Windows 10 Pro (I presume upgraded from W8.1). It is now running W10 Pro, build1611 Anniversary
Edition.

I want to activate BitLocker, but before I turn it on I need to be certain there will be no negative consequences...being locked out of the OS is not a good thing!

My understanding is that to access and operate a BitLocker encrypted drive, a password or recovery key is required...without at least one of these, the drive is essentially impenetrable, rendering all data lost.

I do not know whether the previous owner(s) used BitLocker...if they did, I do not know what their password and recovery key details were.

My questions:

• 
  If the previous owner(s) had activated BitLocker (establishing a password and recovery key), and at some subsequent point they turned BitLocker off prior to my buying the device, what happens if I click “Turn on BitLocker”.....
  
• 
  will I be locked out of the system (no password or recovery key)?, or;
  
• 
  does the turning off of the BitLocker function result in all previous password and recovery key data being deleted, thus enabling me to establish new details?
  

Thank you in advance for all advice on this subject.

 

Taskbar bug: switching to another window -will not appear at the front


Follow either of these steps to fix the issue with the Active window hiding behind.

Method 1:
I suggest you to disable window by hovering over it with the mouse and check if it helps. To do so I suggest you to try the below given steps and check if it helps:

1. Press Windows key + X key and click on Control Panel.
2. Select or click Ease of Access.
3. Click or tap onEase of Access Centre.
4. Click on Make the Mouse Easier to Use was uncheck Activate Window by hovering over it with the mouse.
5. Check if issue is resolved.

Method 2:
I would suggest you to completely uninstall the touchpad driver and reinstall it. Kindly follow the below given steps.

1. Press “Windows key + X” and click on “Device Manager”.
2. In the list of devices, you should see the touchpad drivers.
3. Right click on the device and then select "Uninstall".
4. In the uninstall dialog, make sure you select the option to delete the driver package from the system. This causes the driver package installed earlier to be deleted.
5. In the Action menu of Device manager, select “Scan for Hardware changes” option. This will cause the device driver to be reinstalled. Once the driver is installed, close all windows and restart the computer.

 

Vista Pre-SP1 vs. Vista SP1

I've been Windows Updating for two straight days and I finally saw SP1. If you want to troubleshoot it, follow these steps:

• Show hidden updates
• Manually install any failed updates (google the KB_____ and install from the windows site)
• Make sure everything in Device Manager is good to go

I had to do step two for like 4 or 5 updates to be able to see SP1.

Any other benchmarks you guys want to see? I might try PCMark05 (I think it works on Vista).