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4800
November 19th, 2016 13:00
Windows 10 Pro Digital License
I just received my Aurora R5 with Windows 10 Pro pre-installed. I could not find any Product Key information. Searching the OS I found the Update & Security section and read about the Digital License. I am still insecure about how this works - particularly if I am interested in installing an SSD for my boot drive.
Has anyone explicitly done this - wiped their 7200 rpm HDD; installed an SSD drive; then (somehow) re-installed Windows 10 Pro onto that SSD? Can anyone point me to a description of how to go about accomplishing this task?
I am beginning to think I would have been better to pay the extra bucks to have the SSD installed by Dell/Alienware...
Thanks in advance for any help / suggestions.
u2jimbo
89fordprobee
1.2K Posts
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November 19th, 2016 19:00
windows key is stored in motherboard bios.. it will activate with that key your purchased license automatically... no need to input it..
Tesla1856
8 Wizard
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17K Posts
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November 19th, 2016 21:00
Well, 89FordProbee covered how the license works. There should be no license problem with a clean-install (if that is what you choose to do).
However, with a "clean-install" ... if you are trying to build the machine back up to the exact way Dell sent it to you, you will have to find all the individual pieces available for download (minus what you get during the main install and Windows Updates).
Alternatively ... If you want, you can just create an Image of the whole spinning drive with Macrium Reflect Free (with Verify On), to an external USB drive.
Shut-down and disconnect the spinning drive. Put it aside as a backup for now. You can always re-install (only) it, and go back to the old config.
Connect only the (completely blank ... no partitions) SSD in Drive-0/Slot-0. It should appear in BIOS.
Boot with the Macrium Reflect USB drive, and restore the image.
Not the way I would do it, but I think you can also just clone directly to the SSD. In that case, you would boot with only the (newly cloned) SSD connected. But I would want to eventually erase the spinning drive and use it as Drive #2. I would lose the original factory software load at that point. That's why I like to create an Image file instead.
89fordprobee
1.2K Posts
1
November 20th, 2016 08:00
haha thats what i get for using my phone to access the forums.. only half the question loaded :(
that will teach me :)
u2jimbo
7 Posts
0
November 20th, 2016 10:00
Thanks for the info. So, I guess I can tinker with any hardware element of the computer as long as it is NOT the Mother Board and the Bios will automatically recognize my computer as 'valid' and allow me to restore the OS. Pretty cool advance in security protocols. I hated those keys!
u2jimbo
7 Posts
0
November 20th, 2016 10:00
Well, somehow I have made a mess of things. I show duplicate responses by Tesla1856 and 89fordprobee. I responded to both of you guys but only one response shows up. I will include my response to Tesla1856 here. Thanks for your detailed guidance. Two follow-on questions: 1. if I want to have the SSD as the boot drive and the 1 TB HDD as my storage drive I am guessing I follow your guidance then at the end, wipe the HDD and install it in Drive Bay #2; 2. You mention you prefer to make an image of the drive rather than clone the drive so you wouldn't "loose the original factory software load". What does that mean, in a practical sense?
Tesla1856
8 Wizard
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17K Posts
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November 20th, 2016 12:00
89fordprobee
1.2K Posts
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November 20th, 2016 12:00
naw when u verify an answer it posts it to top assuming its a long thread makes it easier to find.. incase answer was further down the list, its all good there ..
what i have done was what was said above before, install install windows setup and all that jazz, power down, install previous HDD, power up go to bios VERIFY its set to boot from the ssd first, then reboot.. on 2 systems i have now (both asus towers) i have done this leaving the 1tb WD green installed with the OS intact, and the wife's inspiron aswell so if i have any issues and need to call support i can go back to the original installed OS on the original drive, it caused me no conflict so far and going almost on 2 years.. would have done the same on my X51 R3, but the original 1tb drive was shot in the first 2 days i owned it :( didnt care anyway i had ssd going in regardless... haha
otherwise if you dont care to keep original OS intact, but support may require you to reinstall OS on that drive if issues arise for warranty reasons , just format the drive and be done with it ..
original factory image is nice to have incase toubleshooting is required since it restores it to how your system was when you first powered it on. vs cloning which takes what u have with all installed stuff..
u2jimbo
7 Posts
0
November 23rd, 2016 16:00
I obtained Macrium Image and am creating a backup as I write this. I had created an Image file to a USB flash drive; then tried to boot from that drive. No luck, but I have no confidence that I know what I am doing. Checking on the internet, it appears to boot from a USB I need to connect the flash drive to the SATA port of the Motherboard (? this seems exotic to me). Can you help by describing the process for rebooting from a USB flash drive that has been successful for you? Thanks.
Tesla1856
8 Wizard
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17K Posts
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November 23rd, 2016 17:00
Inside Macrium Reflect / Other Tasks / Create Rescue Media ... you create it on a small USB Flash drive. I personally don't save images to this. I only connect USB Flash drives to external USB ports.
Here are my usage notes. You should also have their PDF User Guide.
*****************************************************************************
Macrium Reflect Notes (by Tesla1856)
www.macrium.com/reflectfree.aspx
Used DL-Agent to DL current installer in 03-2016
- Macrium Reflect Free (64bit/UEFI) v6.1.1196
Install locally on PC
My Required Backup Imaging Features (and compatibility)
- Windows 7, 8, and 10
- Support for Legacy, UEFI, SecureBoot, MBR/GPT, etc.
- Clone a large disk (with free space) to a smaller disk (ie large HDD to smaller SSD).
- Bare-Metal Backup and/or Restore (in this case, via WinPE USB-Flash Boot)
- Verify Image file(s) immediately after creation
* All Requirements are met with Macrium-Reflect Free v6.x
Usage Notes:
------------
WinPE USB Boot
- Flash-Drive prep. Must use supplied Help docs to prep flash-drive with DiskPart first.
- Created for Windows-10, (64bit/UEFI) v6.1.1196
- One Rescue Media works for both MBR (Legacy BIOS) as well UEFI systems (if created properly with the option to do so ... see below)
- Seems to only use 500mb (I used a generic "IBM 2gb" flash drive)
- Test after creation
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Preparing a USB stick for Windows PE
Created by Sarah Pineger, last modified by Macrium Software on May 21, 2015
To use a USB stick as a boot device, Windows requires a Master Boot Record (MBR) however some USB sticks are shipped without one and with just a single partition. The USB stick, therefore, needs formatting but the standard Windows format option does not prepare the disk correctly as it does not create a master boot record. You therefore need to prepare the USB stick using other tools, for example, Windows diskpart.
1.Start an elevated command prompt. See Running an elevated command prompt for more information.
2.Type: diskpart
3.Type: list disk
4.Identify the disk number of your USB stick.
Note: Please ensure that you correctly identify your USB stick.
5.Type: select disk
Where is the number of the disk previously identified as being the USB stick. Confirm that the current disk selection is correct by typing in detail disk, this will show information relating to the currently selected disk.
Note: Please be certain you have the disk selection correct before proceeding to the next step.
6.Type: clean
This erases all data on the USB stick.
7.Type: create par primary
This creates a primary partition on the USB stick using the maximum size available.
8.Type: active
To make the primary partition active.
9.Type: format FS=ntfs LABEL="Macrium WinPE" QUICK
This formats the newly created partition on the USB stick for legacy MBR booting.
If your system has GPT disks and uses the newer UEFI booting standard then please type the line below instead:.
format FS=FAT32 LABEL="Macrium" QUICK
Note: UEFI booting requires a FAT32 formatted partition and will not recognize NTFS.
10.Type: exit
once the format command has completed to exit diskpart.
11.Type: exit
Again to close the command prompt.
See also: Troubleshooting USB rescue media
In Macrium, when creating the Rescue Media. (Notes edited by Tesla1856).
1. I prep the USB-Flash-Drive (or external USB-HDD I suppose) as above
2. I then quick-format the USB-Flash-Drive with FAT32, and give it a name like Macrium-WinPE.
3. Toward the end of creation (where you select the destination drive of the built-up Image waiting to be written), select the check-box to "Enable multi-boot on MBR (Legacy BIOS) and UEFI systems".
This enables extra checks to ensure that the USB stick will boot in both modes. This should enable this one flash-drive to work on multiple vintage computers. If you get an error message,
it will include a link to explain how to correctly prepare your USB stick for uEFI & MBR booting.
4. Official docs say that Image files can be stored on the rescue media. This means you can also add a main folder to the Flash drive, that might contain the main installer, notes, etc.
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Creating Image:
- Normally do "self contained" Full Backups of whole C: drive or whole machine
- Advanced Options - BE SURE TO Turn on "Verify After Creation" (check setting each time)
- Leave recommended long name.
- Save to external drive, in Folder like "Dell Inspiron"