COA Location

There is no COA sticker on our Inspiron 3647 nor was there paperwork with it. Anyone know where it might be located, is it stored in the EUFI? I ask because the original drive is bad, I replaced with new drive and attempted to use recovery media, but that is not working. I also tried the online download of the dell image, that does not work either, they both want COA that we don't have. This computer was upgraded to windows 10 during the free upgrade phase.

Responses(2)

RoHe

10 Elder

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43.7K Posts

0

June 27th, 2017 12:00

There's no COA sticker for Win 8.1 or Win 10. The Windows key is stored in BIOS on the motherboard.

Dell's site is probably asking for your Service Tag which should be on your original paperwork and on a sticker on the PC.

If you want Win 10, you can get the ISO file and tools for free directly from Microsoft. This version is probably more recent than the version on Dell's site.

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10

You'll just need to install Dell's Win 10 drivers for your specific hardware from here:

<ADMIN NOTE: Broken link has been removed from this post by Dell>

EDITED: I fixed the MS link.

speedstep

9 Legend

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47K Posts

1

June 27th, 2017 13:00

You can use a generic number to install and then change the Key to the one stored in the Bios. You get this key via a script or via a utility.

https://github.com/Superfly-Inc/ShowKeyPlus/releases/tag/ShowkeyPlus

8.0 keys will not work with 8.1 for install.

Pre-install Windows 8.x or Windows 10 with a generic key. These keys can only install Windows. It's not possible to activate it unless you enter an original key purchased from Microsoft or in the BIOS.

XKY4K-2NRWR-8F6P2-448RF-CRYQH (Windows 8 Pro)

RR3BN-3YY9P-9D7FC-7J4YF-QGJXW (Windows 8 Pro MCE)

FB4WR-32NVD-4RW79-XQFWH-CYQG3 (Windows 8 [Home])

XHQ8N-C3MCJ-RQXB6-WCHYG-C9WKB (Windows 8.1 Pro)

GBFNG-2X3TC-8R27F-RMKYB-JK7QT (Windows 8.1 Pro MCE)

334NH-RXG76-64THK-C7CKG-D3VPT (Windows 8.1 [Home])

VK7JG-NPHTM-C97JM-9MPGT-3V66T (Windows 10 Pro)

YTMG3-N6DKC-DKB77-7M9GH-8HVX7 (Win10 Home - multi language)

BT79Q-G7N6G-PGBYW-4YWX6-6F4BT (Win 10 Home - single language)

Retail Media Has the key on a card.

OEM System Builder Media has a coa sticker.

Dell Shipped systems have a Windows Label

If its windows 7 pro with windows 8 licence it will have a Windows Genuine label instead of a COA. Its on the back and looks like this

Windows 8 keys are encrypted stored in the Bios installed at the factory. There are no more COA Stickers due to piracy. (OEM System Builder Versions Do Still have COA Stickers)