Nah, not for me. I have only built my own PC’s since 2006. If i had a laptop (and a few surfaces) it was through work.

I know all about the OEM license thats now hardcoded on the board due to my job. Our company was buying devices with windows, essentially paying more per device, then imaging them with our image with an enterprise license…

Please, i never once paid for windows either.

Never used cli to install windows in the 25 years I have been dealing with it. I have used dism to remove as much unnecessary crap as I can before installing it though. It only half works anyway since the next feature release reinstalls most of what you remove anyway. These days I just use Rufus to make a bookable USB since it will remove all the requirements and other things by just checking them off as options. GUI is fine after that.

I am pretty sure windows 7 got 1 last patch a while after it stopped just because of how bad the vulnerability was. It could happen, but it will take a lot.

I remember going through tech school 20 years ago and them telling you you need a crossover cable with you at all times for just this type of situation. I think in the 20 years I have used one once.