Unsolved
This post is more than 5 years old
21 Posts
0
4877
Failed Hard Drive
We have a Dell XPS One 2720 that was setup at our Rescue Squad and is out of warranty. No problem, I can replace the hard drive but non on created system discs or backups and my look at Dell.com for drivers will not allow me to download the drives ahead of time so I can install them when I install the new drive and install Windows 10. It appears I may be able to order the system discs from Dell that I think will have Windows 8 Pro and hopefully the drivers/programs that would bring the system back to where it was when new.
Is there a way to download just the drivers that won't try to auto install or expand when downloaded? I want them on a USB memory stick ready to install after loading Windows 10. Suggestions welcomed.
Thanks,
Steve
RoHe
10 Elder
10 Elder
•
43.4K Posts
0
May 16th, 2016 17:00
Was the PC already upgraded to Win 10 or did it only have Win 8.1?
Dell no longer provides reinstallation media since it's available from Microsoft.
If the PC had Win 8.1, you can clean install Win 10 by using the ISO file to create your own bootable DVD, and it should recognize the Win 8.1 product key in BIOS and activate itself. If it previously had Win 10, it will activate again.
You should be able to manually download all the Win 10 drivers here, and save them on a USB stick for transfer to the 2720. You will just have to know what hardware you have (eg video card), but you can find that info using your Service Tag on the Support site by checking the System Configuration link. Just don't add the drivers to a "Download List".
And remember that drivers have to be installed in the correct order, starting with the chipset drivers...
Philip_Yip
7 Technologist
7 Technologist
•
16K Posts
0
May 20th, 2016 15:00
Direct Download links are available via downloads.dell.com this won't install any download manager etc will will try the auto installation etc.
http://downloads.dell.com/published/pages/xps-one-27-2710-aio.html
sreilly24590
21 Posts
0
June 11th, 2016 11:00
Thanks for the replies. I was away for 2 weeks and just getting back from Alaska. The 32 GB SSD is dead. Can I eliminate this drive and use just the 1 TB Seagate drive or replace the SSD with another model? At this point I haven't seen much in what needs to be changed in BIOS or if this can be done.
Thanks for the replies,
Steve
sreilly24590
21 Posts
0
June 11th, 2016 17:00
No updated OS, still Windows 8 Pro. Trying to get that back and then update to 10. I was finally able to get the system reinstalled using the USB Media stick we got from Dell but now Windows will not activate. This computer is under another person's name and it actually belongs to the Scottsville Volunteer Rescue Squad (svrs.org). Jay is no longer a member. The mSATA drive died and I removed it using on a replacement WD 2TB Black HHD. After a good deal of guessing about the BIOS settings I was able to install and boot the new drive. Now the problem with the Windows activation. Please advise, this has been about a month since the computer went down (I was gone for two weeks). Dell Out of Warranty service told me the next call would cost $120. Seems the product key is either unreadable or rejected. I'll try to make note of the message after this update finishes.
RoHe
10 Elder
10 Elder
•
43.4K Posts
0
June 11th, 2016 20:00
Contact Microsoft by phone and explain the situation. They should be able to give you a new product key, especially since you're a volunteer rescue squad.
You will have to upgrade to Win 8.1 before you can upgrade to Win 10, if you don't already have 8.1.
sreilly24590
21 Posts
0
June 11th, 2016 23:00
Surprisingly enough, Microsoft was of no help at all. Didn't matter who it was for but Dell really surprises me. They have all the information including the name of the person who placed the order for the system including the Service Tag. Seems that the fact it's out of warranty they have little interest in assisting. Really makes me want to go out and buy another Dell. Sorry but weeks of chasing my tail is getting very old and it's not even for my benefit. My systems are all up and running just fine.
Thanks for your help and sorry for the temperament.
Steve
Philip_Yip
7 Technologist
7 Technologist
•
16K Posts
0
June 12th, 2016 05:00
Most activation issues with UEFI BIOS Embedded System Locked Preinstallation Keys are due to the issues of Edition specific installation media. If you used Windows 8.1 with Update 2 or Windows 10 TH2 installation of the correct Edition you should have got:
If you used installation media of the wrong Edition you are asked for a Product Key:
Were you asked for a product key or not during installation?
sreilly24590
21 Posts
0
June 12th, 2016 09:00
No key was requested. The USB Media stick from Dell was ordered using the Service Tag and is indeed Windows 8 Pro 64 which is now installed. That's the strange part of all of this, nowhere was I asked for a Product Key and that would make you think it successfully read the key from hardware. I read a few sources that said the key was hard coded to the motherboard and a few that said it was in the registry, which the original is long gone. I saw several posts that said Dell said they did not have records of the millions of product keys assigned which seem silly seeing how they have the Service Tag and computer configuration. At this point calling Dell again after being threatened with a $120 charge seems pointless. I could buy a new OS from Newegg and be done with it but at my age I guess I'm stubborn and really see no reason why the rescue squad needs to spend that money. There are principals and ethics at play here.
Thanks,
Steve
sreilly24590
21 Posts
0
June 12th, 2016 11:00
Using Belarc Advisor I get 20 characters but the 0s and 1s can't be used according to the message as I try to enter them. In fact the characters I have listed are all numbers except for the last 5 entries which are all letters. And then the 5 displayed on the Activate screen are all letters. In all there are nine 0s and two 1s. All the other numbers can be typed so I suspect what Belarc is showing is not correct. I could probably post what Belarc is showing as it doesn't seem to be of any use.
Thanks Again,
Steve
Philip_Yip
7 Technologist
7 Technologist
•
16K Posts
0
June 12th, 2016 11:00
Okay that's strange that its found the product key and rejected it. Try to find the full 25 digit product key using the RWEverything program:
http://rweverything.com/
Select Access → ACPI tables → MSDM table.
Once you have the full 25 digit product key try entering it on that screen and let me know.
Can you provide some more details about the system, Press [Windows] and [ r ] and type in msinfo32 and press [Enter]. Provide the OS Name, OS version, System Model, BIOS version/date, BIOS Mode and SecureBoot state.
sreilly24590
21 Posts
0
June 12th, 2016 11:00
For some reason I'm not getting reply alerts but I downloaded the program and ran but no MSDM tab. Screen shot below:
Philip_Yip
7 Technologist
7 Technologist
•
16K Posts
0
June 13th, 2016 01:00
No MSDM table = No UEFI BIOS Embedded System Locked Preinstallation Key. The product key gets lost in some extremely rare cases, I've only seen it reported about 5 times and I've helped out with a good few Windows Installs just now. In one of the cases updating the UEFI BIOS to the latest version helped. So its worth installing UEFI BIOS revision A13 if you haven't done so already.
http://downloads.dell.com/published/pages/xps-27-2720-aio.html
As far as Microsoft are concerned you have no Product Key and they will not help you activate, they will send you to Dell. As far as Dell's concerned the motherboard needs replaced (although the rest of the systems working fine), they won't do this for an out of warranty system.
Unofficially there are two ways you can get Windows 10 Pro for free both lead to pretty much the same thing and require double installs.
The first is exhibit Downgrade Rights to Windows 7 Pro which activates using a generic Dell OEM SLP key. Your system is eligible for Downgrade rights for Windows 7 Pro as the UEFI BIOS came with Windows 8.1 Pro. This may be difficult as Dell don't list a full compliment of Windows 7 drivers.
The second is to use the unofficial Windows 10130 Upgrade path to make your system a Windows 10 Pro Device:
http://dellwindowsreinstallationguide.com/windows-xpvista-%e2%86%92-windows-10-free-upgrade/
RoHe
10 Elder
10 Elder
•
43.4K Posts
0
June 13th, 2016 11:00
Philip - Thanks for jumping in to help here.
Are you sure about the MSDM table? My Inspiron laptop was upgraded from Win 8.1 Pro to Win 10 Pro TH1 and then to TH2. Win 10 is fully activated but I don't see an MSDM table with that same software either...
Philip_Yip
7 Technologist
7 Technologist
•
16K Posts
0
June 13th, 2016 16:00
Yes here is my Latitude 7350.
Also msinfo32
In all testing no MSDM table = No UEFI BIOS Embedded SLP key.
Ron if you want to test to confirm to see if you have really lost your key then boot from Windows 10 TH2 Installation Media or Windows 8.1 (with Update 2) Pro installation media and see if you are prompted for a product key or not. In your case if the system is already a Windows 10 Pro Device it shouldn't matter but it''ll be nice to get a confirmation whether the installation media has also lost the key.
RoHe
10 Elder
10 Elder
•
43.4K Posts
0
June 13th, 2016 17:00
Philip - If I look at the Win 10 Pro Settings page, it says "Activated" and I can see a product key using Belarc. I'd have to create bootable media in order to test what you asked.
But none of my observations help Steve. I was just wondering if there can be instances when the MSDM table isn't visible even when there really is a key stored in BIOS.
Steve - Here are two dumb questions:
When you installed Win 8 on the new drive, was BIOS set for Legacy or UEFI? And will that make a difference to recovering the key and activating the install?
What happens if you download the free Win 8.1 ISO file from Microsoft and create bootable media? Will that install and activate?