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Product Key
HEllo
I recently bought the Alienware M17x Laptop and i have decided that i need to format the laptop due to school reasons so now i have two questions:
1: if i format and reinstall windows, do i have to go and download the things like alienrespawn and the alienfx(all the goodies that were already installed on the laptop.
2: i cannot find my windows key, i read somewhere that it is on the disc, does this mean its not going to ask me for a new key or what, i do not understand that so welll.
Thanks in advance
AndrewSi
901 Posts
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January 25th, 2014 09:00
Hi, just to clarify.
You bought the new Alienware 17 - Is that right?
The Alienware M17x is an older model.
If you have the new Alienware 17 then your windows key is embedded in your system BIOS and theres no need to enter a new one when you do a re-installation.
Yes you will have to download everything, make sure you do it and save it to a USB stick BEFORE you begin.
Here's a link to the correct driver installation order for a Alienware 17
http://www.dell.com/support/troubleshooting/us/en/19/KCS/KcsArticles/ArticleView?c=us&l=en&s=dhs&docid=536193
MiniMus27
3 Posts
0
January 25th, 2014 10:00
Hi
thanks for the reply but i have the M17x-R4. The model before the Alienware 17-R1.
AndrewSi
901 Posts
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January 25th, 2014 16:00
What operating system do you have?
MiniMus27
3 Posts
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January 28th, 2014 12:00
AndrewSi
901 Posts
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January 31st, 2014 10:00
There should be a windows product key either on the bottom of the laptop or underneath the battery, as far as I know ALL M17xR4 factory issued with Win 7 had a key sticker attached/included.
If you re-install windows using AlienRespawn then that will take EVERYTHING back to exactly the way it was when you bought it from Dell, drivers, programs and windows, you won't need a key, just a USB drive to save your AlienRespawn image on.
If you reinstall without using AlienRespawn then the recovery partition will be wiped and you will have to re-install EVERYTHING again from scratch, all drivers, programs etc
BJFox
763 Posts
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January 31st, 2014 15:00
If you haven't already wiped out your exist Windows 7 installation you can retrieve the product key with free third-party utilities (several key finders, such as Magic Jelly Bean and BelArc Advisor) will do this. If you already formatted your options are slim. There are some complicated ways to extract (or inject) it in the BIOS SLIC certificate that we cannot delve into.
If you still have Windows installed, you can backup your Windows 7 activation (along with the product key retrieval) and, if necessary, restore your Windows 7 activation after a clean installation. ABR (Activation Backup and Restore) is the utility that can do that for you. Be sure to run it and store it on an external hard drive or USB flash drive so you do not lose it. You will find a text file created in the backup that contains the product key. Write it down and use it when doing a clean Windows installation. This is a good idea anyway because there are a limited number of OEM Windows 7 product keys and some are now blacklisted for activation due to abuse/misuse. If you have the activation backup you don't have to worry about your valid key being blacklisted by Microsoft.