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Old 04-09-2021, 03:48 PM   #1
JST
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Windows Laptop

OK, I need a Windows laptop to do some trouble shooting/remote coding with this new headunit install for the BMW. I do not have a Windows laptop or any other kind of windows machine at this point other than my work laptop, which is obviously locked down tight.

What is the easiest and/or cheapest way around this dumb and extremely annoying problem? Boot camp on the Mac, I guess, but that would mean buying a copy of Windows? I don't really want to spend the money to do that. Nor do I want to buy a new laptop just for this one task.

What a pain in the ass.

EDIT: Should I just buy something like this and take it back when I'm done?

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/hp-14-l...?skuId=6450167
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Old 04-09-2021, 03:49 PM   #2
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find a friend with a windows laptop...and/or...someone's kid surely has one for online school?
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Old 04-09-2021, 04:05 PM   #3
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what dan said, or jump on ebay and get a used one for $200 or less. Or check out the bimmercode or Carly app for your Iphone w/ an OBD dongle and see if either of them will do the codin you need.
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Old 04-09-2021, 05:43 PM   #4
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I bought a Windows laptop off eBay for a similar purpose. 1) Running the tuning software for the RX-8 and 2) running the Durametric tool for the Boxster.

There are a few extremely highly rated sellers that basically re-sell corporate lease laptops. I think I paid $180 or so and it's been rock solid.
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Old 04-09-2021, 05:55 PM   #5
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What about running Windows in VMWare Fusion?

Fusion is now a free license for personal use (requires registration, but no cost).

MS has a Win10 image you can download to install in Fusion... It will require activation, but not immediately. Should let you run in trial mode for at least a few days. The software won’t know you are on a VM, and you can attach USB devises to the VM.

I reinstalled Win10 in a VM like that last year - and didn’t activate it immediately and it ran fine...

Edit: even better - here’s a link to a VM image to download. Run that in Fusion. Image is valid until mid-May... https://developer.microsoft.com/en-u...tual-machines/
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Old 04-10-2021, 08:11 AM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dan View Post
find a friend with a windows laptop...and/or...someone's kid surely has one for online school?
What does the machine need? (memory speed wise) I have an HP laying around that I wiped to factory settings. it even has a touch screen.

We were going to donate it, so shipping cost (it is in its original HP packaging) and it is yours

It was my wife's until about 5 months ago. I would not call it a "fast" machine
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Old 04-10-2021, 08:39 AM   #7
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Thanks, all! I think I found one to borrow locally.
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Old 04-10-2021, 02:40 PM   #8
Terri Kennedy
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I saw that you solved the problem locally, but I'll answer this here in case anyone else refers to the thread in the future.

Quote:
Originally Posted by JST View Post
What is the easiest and/or cheapest way around this dumb and extremely annoying problem? Boot camp on the Mac, I guess, but that would mean buying a copy of Windows? I don't really want to spend the money to do that. Nor do I want to buy a new laptop just for this one task.
Microsoft has various places you can download evaluation or trial versions of Windows (evaluation = time-limited, can't be converted to a regular install by purchasing a license key, trial = time-limited but you can purchase a license key to use it perpetually). These are normally in the 30- to 90-day range (from date of installation).

Coding software may have copy protection that doesn't work properly in a virtualized environment or for other reasons (for example, the older Autoenginuity dongles need a 2nd USB port for their copy-protection thingy, so a system with a single USB port would have problems).

Quote:
EDIT: Should I just buy something like this and take it back when I'm done?

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/hp-14-l...?skuId=6450167
Please don't. It just makes it harder for the rest of us to do returns for valid reasons in the future (didn't work, mis-specified features, etc.) without paying a restocking fee and/or jumping through hoops. Plus, for a time there was a big problem with people returning new boxes with bricks or flooring tiles in them, so stores are wary of returns.

eBay systems can be hit-or-miss, and most sellers don't provide detailed specs on the system (like screen resolution) to make an informed decision. A lot of them seem to come with pirated copies of Windows 10 - this seems quite common on systems that were sold with an earlier Windows versions, and the seller used a stock cracked image instead of installing the Windows that the license sticker was good for and then doing the "free upgrade" thing to get a legitimate serial number.

I've been buying Studio 1558s on eBay for $50-$100 and putting new SSDs in them. That's a 10-year-old model which is actually still competitive today, if upgraded to a top-spec configuration. I then sell them to friends at cost. This is not something you should try yourself unless you're comfortable tearing a system down to a set of individual pieces. I've documented some of what I do on my blog.
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Old 04-10-2021, 04:37 PM   #9
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I like old thinkpads for this kind of use.
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