On Wed, Jun 28, 2017 at 8:23 PM, William Oliver <vendor@billoblog.com> wrote:
I'm starting to get a little thing on my screen complaining that my
copy of Windows isn't "activated."

As I mentioned earlier "A non-registered OS will simply not draw updates and not nerf the system enough to prevent simple work from being completed."  This is not meant to set up a fully functioning system but rather give you a place to make conversions for Linux use or simple tasks - a work around.  It will complain but should not stop you from doing what you need.  If you need a fully functional system then the investment maybe warranted.  The few times I have needed a licensed copy around I bought a refirb system with the WinOS.  Installed Linux without turning on so the new system never registered then used the license in the virtual machine of the same machine.