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April 8th, 2017 21:00
Win 7 Pro64 Dell Factory downgrade reactivation
I purchased a new Dell Optiplex 5040 that came with Win7 Pro 64 installed and included a licensed Win 10 Upgrade DVD. I Just installed a fresh Win7 Pro 64 onto a new SSD and found out that there is no Win 7 product key sticker on the machine like Dell typically includes.
I used 3rd party software to extract the windows product key from the original HDD and used that when booting up the SSD but windows gives an error saying that product key is invalid. How do I reactivate an OEM Dell Win 7 if there is no key sticker on the machine?
Thank you in advance for any help you can offer.
Gary
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Philip_Yip
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April 9th, 2017 16:00
You need to use Dell OEM System Locked Preinstallation. More details about the activation mechanism here:
http://dellwindowsreinstallationguide.com/the-oem-product-key-and-oem-system-locked-preinstallation/
Since you purchased your system with Downgrade Rights - the Dell Skylake .iso should be Downloadable see here:
http://dellwindowsreinstallationguide.com/download-dell-windows-7-64-bit-reinstallation-sp2-oem-iso-for-a-uefi-bios/
gasbmw
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April 11th, 2017 22:00
Thank you so much. That is very helpful. I'm currently up and running by using the key code from a factory purchased Win7 Pro DVD that I previously used to install a 32 bit version from. I assumed that the code was only good for one install of 32 or 64 bit but Windows accepted the code.
I downloaded the ISO and I'm going to go ahead and use the method you describe to install the OEM Dell version onto a spare SSD. If either one out performs the other, I will use that one, and keep the other for an emergency spare.
Thanks again,
Gary