A question, for those in the know, regarding using Windows 7 on a second computer when "connected" to the first one.

[GabeU]

Gwalk,

It's OEM, even though I bought it at a retailer.  LOL.  Retail was about $60 more at the time. 

I have an account at DLS Reports, but I figured I would ask here, first.

BirdDog,

I figured it was still connected and the product key would still be considered to be actively being used, being that everything that came after it was an upgrade that was built on top of it. 

I'll do a little more research, but I think I'll just end up using Linux Mint.  It's got a Radeon card in it, too, so I don't have to worry about the possible Nvidia driver glitch.  I've also found Mint to be a bit more user friendly than Ubuntu, and I think it's supposed to be. 

[GabeU]

That's a good idea, but for this it wouldn't work due to the Windows 7 product key only being used in Microsoft's records.  There's really no W7 product key on this computer due to the three successive upgrades with clean installs.  Technically the only way I could disassociate W7 from this computer is if I purchased and installed a full copy of Windows 10 on it and that W10 would stand alone.  That way the Windows 7 key this was all built on would no longer be in use.  It's kind of like Jenga.  I can't remove the bottom piece (Windows 7 product key) without having the whole thing come down.   

[jrgarrett]

If you used the product key for the first upgrade.. The Original key is still tied to your current system.. if you were to reactivate windows 7 it could deactivate the key on your current system during a random activation check. say you had w7, then upgraded to 10. then put w7 on another system.. it would deactivate your windows 10 system.
.

[GabeU]

Right.  That's why I'm not going to do it and I'm going to use the LinuxMint instead.  I don't want it to interrupt the system I'm using. 

[jrgarrett]

I hit the Like button, but it wouldn't click.

[GabeU]

Sometimes it takes a little bit for it to catch up, but it worked.  Thank you for the like.