Kyle_N

Those laptops will likely still upgrade (some OEM licenses were sorta extended indefinitely), but the license is still stuck on them - you can't transfer to a device of a different type (laptop vs desktop) and usually you can't transfer OEM licenses. 
 
You can use Windows 10 without a key. There is no requirement to insert a key, however you will be stuck with a watermark in the bottom right corner, and the Personalization Settings screen will be disabled (but all the options are still fully available through other apps and registry). Other than that, everything works exactly like an activated version of Windows 10. Updates and everything still work. 

Those laptops will likely still upgrade (some OEM licenses were sorta extended indefinitely), but the license is still stuck on them - you can't transfer to a device of a different type (laptop vs desktop) and usually you can't transfer OEM licenses. 
 
You can use Windows 10 without a key. There is no requirement to insert a key, however you will be stuck with a watermark in the bottom right corner, and the Personalization Settings screen will be disabled (but all the options are still fully available through other apps and registry). Other than that, everything works exactly like an activated version of Windows 10. Updates and everything still work. 

Those laptops will likely still upgrade (some OEM licenses were sorta extended indefinitely), but the license is still stuck on them - you can't transfer to a device of a different type (laptop vs desktop) and usually you can't transfer OEM licenses. 
 
You can use Windows 10 without a key. There is no requirement to insert a key, however you will be stuck with a watermark in the bottom right corner, and the Personalization Settings screen will be disabled (but all the options are still fully available through other apps and registry). Other than that, everything works exactly like an activated version of Windows 10. Updates and everything still work. 

I think uptime is only counted from full reboot.
The shut down option in Windows 10 will sign out the user (although it does save their open apps, which is a new feature), but OS goes into hibernation rather than full shutdown, since there's no noticeable difference anyways and it's faster. 

The newer "I'm not a robot" ones are made by Google. They use a variety of data to determine who is and isn't a bot, most of which is kept confidential to prevent bot-makers from taking advantage of any flaws in it. If the captcha isn't sure if someone's a bot, it shows a "challenge", usually picking images. 
 
My personal suggestion:
After you click "I'm not a robot", move your mouse really fast over the box while it's spinning. Make sure to do random patterns like circles and diagonal lines. It should approve you right away. 
Reason it works is because bots can't do true random movements very well. So if it sees you doing that, it will know you're probably not a bot. 
 
Not 100% reliable, but I've gotten a lot less challenges since I've started doing this (I encounter captchas multiple times every single day because a site I use requires it for login). Used to get a challenge every single time, now I get them maybe 1-3 times a week. 
 
Your findings may vary, as there's a on of other data it uses. 
 
It also looks at your history, tracked via google ads. So if you clear your cache often, use an ad-blocker, or rarely visit websites that use google ads, you will also get challenges more often. 

The service manual is here: http://h10032.www1.hp.com/ctg/Manual/c05493256
 
To remove the bottom cover, you need to remove the four visible screws, four under the feet (one under each), and one in the battery compartment (total of 9 screws). Pry it up, front to back, and remove the cover. There are two memory slots near the front of the computer. 

Just a case, probably. The motherboard and PSU might not be ATX size though. If the PSU is not ATX size, you should be fine with any other PSU, but I would check all the pinouts on the existing PSU just to be safe. Sometimes they are slightly different, usually not an issue though. If the motherboard isn't ATX, check if at least some of the screws fit.

It seems you can get a 2.5" drive (any type) and put it inside the laptop, alongside the M.2 SSD. 
 
From the service manual:
Full manual with instructions is here: http://h10032.www1.hp.com/ctg/Manual/c05474219
 
The only possibly concerning part is it says "Support for M.2 SATA solid-state drive (support for storage function, port 1; not available on computer models equipped with an Intel Pentium processor)" which makes it sounds like the M.2 SATA slot can't be used with Pentium processors (which your system has). But if it ships with one then I don't see the issue. 
If it means that the chipset only supports a single SATA device though, then it won't work. I wasn't able to find any info on the chipset so I'm not sure about this. 
 
The top cover (keyboard/palmrest) lifts up after removing bottom screws, allowing access to the hard drive bay. There is a rubber sleeve that the hard drive is designed to slide into, and there is a removable cable that it plugs into the system board. If you have opened up computers before, this should be very easy. 
 
Only other thing I am not 100% sure about is whether the rubber sleeve is included, but it seems like it is, because the hard drives don't ship with it (therefore it must be included with the PC). If you are getting the PC anyways, I would check for this before going and buying a drive (if it doesn't have the sleeve, you'd technically be fine with an SSD, but it might move around. Do not try an HDD or SSHD because it will likely be damaged without the sleeve. Otherwise just get an external drive or SD card.)

That LED is the Standby Power indicator.
It let's you know if the motherboard is getting power, if the system is on, sleep, or soft-off mode.
You cannot disable that...might need to cover it up with black tape, or use the trusty black Sharpie pen.
 
On second thought...have you tried, Enabling/Disabling ErP?

Bell's "Fibe" is only fiber to the neighborhood, phone line to the house. 
So it's more accurate to say phone line vs. TV cable. 
 
No idea what Rogers is like, but with Bell I typically get download speed slightly above my speed (30 instead of 25), and usually below-expected upload (5-7 instead of 10). Note that the speed they list is usually the maximum, and the guaranteed speed is usually lower. 

That product number comes up as a Spectre x360-15t, which does have a single Thunderbolt-capable port (right-side, there are two USB-C ports, nearest the front is TB, other is not TB), but has no room for a HDD (only a single M.2 slot). http://store.hp.com/us/en/pdp/hp-spectre-x360-convertible-laptop-15t-touch-1wb97av-1
 
If you're sure it's an Envy x360 though, then that might not be right. The Envy x360-15m does not seem to have TB, not 100% sure about the 15t as I can't find a service guide for it. Though it seems doubtful given that it's not mentioned anywhere else. 

Can you get the exact model? I can check if it's TB. There have been numerous revisions to the Envy x360, so not sure which you're looking at.
 
Most HP laptops and tablets do have USB3.1+TB3, but not all. 
 
EDIT: the AMD ones definitely won't have TB3 as it requires Intel CPU/chipset. The Intel ones will have different boards so it is possible, but doubting it as HP doesn't typically do a ton of non-Intel stuff. 

Start menu, Cortana, Action Center, and various other taskbar flyouts are part of an application called ShellExperienceHost. 
 
Windows Explorer is responsible for launching this app as needed, but this app is NOT part of Explorer, it is a separate exe. When a flyout is opened, ShellExperienceHost is un-suspended and the flyout is opened. When the flyout is dismissed, the app is suspended (taken off CPU, but remains in memory), and stays that way until another flyout is opened.
You can track this behavior in task manager, you have to show the Status column though, and "Show suspended status" in one of the menus. 
 
The issue seems to be with un-suspending ShellExperienceHost. My usual workaround is to end ShellExperienceHost.exe in task manager, and that will force it to restart.
 
It seems to be worse in FCU (compared to CU), don't really have a better fix other than restarting the app though. 

Start menu, Cortana, Action Center, and various other taskbar flyouts are part of an application called ShellExperienceHost. 
 
Windows Explorer is responsible for launching this app as needed, but this app is NOT part of Explorer, it is a separate exe. When a flyout is opened, ShellExperienceHost is un-suspended and the flyout is opened. When the flyout is dismissed, the app is suspended (taken off CPU, but remains in memory), and stays that way until another flyout is opened.
You can track this behavior in task manager, you have to show the Status column though, and "Show suspended status" in one of the menus. 
 
The issue seems to be with un-suspending ShellExperienceHost. My usual workaround is to end ShellExperienceHost.exe in task manager, and that will force it to restart.
 
It seems to be worse in FCU (compared to CU), don't really have a better fix other than restarting the app though. 

Win 10 is free to use, I mean sure you can't change your wallpaper but who cares

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10 I've had 3 machines running windows 10 without keys for over a year, soft locks some customization features (like desktop background, can still change things if you're creative) all the important functionality remains

You can just run Windows without activating it. 

It depends on the task. Certain things can only be divided so many ways, so some tasks can never benefit from more cores. Additionally, optimizing for more cores is more difficult. 
 
If you want to find the sum of a sequence of numbers, but have no way of determining the next elements in advance, then there's no way to improve performance by adding more cores. 

I do it all the time as part of my job.   I still recommend a fresh install for an amateur though.  I know how to fix potential problems, but diagnosing and explaining them to someone else is going to take more time than a fresh install alone would.

One drive works like that, have you tried it?

OBS is basically the best option to show what your capture card is previewing in real-time.
Maybe you could figure something out with VirtualDub but I'm not sure myself.

Trying VirtualDub now, thanks for the hint!
Looks like the best solution so far. It seems as quick as OBS's preview window but VD has minimal clutter and is much easier to set up. Just open it, File - Capture AVI , then go to Device and select Razer Ripsaw or whatever card you may have. In Audio, Enable Audio Playback and you'll get sound with your image.
 
Everything seems snappy and in-sync, but I only testes for a few minutes.
 
Zelda is very playable with the Ripsaw, provided I get the right software.
 
Haven't tried any other games yet. Going to test with Mario Kart and maybe a Xbox One.
 
 
Screenshot doesn't show the game... Weird... Some sort of copy protection?
 
 
 
 

why is it that every time there is news surrounding windows that they are doing something to improve the OS, these threads always devolve into people complaining and whining about the same shit over and over?

While I do like Google, they are still in the same bag as Microsoft... they "own" us, and I'm no longer "for sale". 
 
 

If you're using the same motherboard, Windows 10 will just see the code (which nowadays is saved on the motherboard).
If not, use the Windows 8 key (which with the upgrade turned into a W10 key) or just link your license to an account and you're fine too.