Didn't you get a Dell Win 7 Reinstallation DVD with the PC when you purchased it?
You can buy a Win 7 disk without a Product Key fairly cheaply these days. Or you can borrow one from somebody. As long as you use a disk with exactly the same version of Windows 7 that Dell installed (eg Home Premium or Pro), it's perfectly legal and your Product Key from the sticker will activate the installation. If you use a different version, your Product Key won't work.
And if you use a Dell OEM Win 7 disk that's exactly the same version, it may not even ask for the Product Key.
Either way be sure to get one that already includes SP1, but you'll still have over 100 updates and hotfixes to download and install.
I believe Dell replaced Data Safe with Dell Backup and Recovery. So go here and see if you can download it.
Would it be worth upgrading to Win 10 on the existing HDD, and then migrating it to the SSD afterwards, when an iso will probably be available...?
Microsoft have removed all the Digital River .isos for Windows 7 and replaced them with a non-functional tool which blocks Dell OEM licenses.
If your Windows install on your hard drive is still working then wait until the 29th of July 2015 and use Windows Update to upgrade to Windows 10. Windows 10 Insiders got the update on the 16th of July 2015 but entry to the Windows Insider program is closed just now. I demonstrate the upgrade here:
You will be able to insert your SSD and use this Recovery Drive to Clean Reinstall Windows 10 on your system. Note I haven't tested the Recovery Drive on a system with multiple drives so just have the SSD installed when using the Recovery Drive.
RoHe
10 Elder
•
45.2K Posts
0
July 17th, 2015 11:00
Didn't you get a Dell Win 7 Reinstallation DVD with the PC when you purchased it?
You can buy a Win 7 disk without a Product Key fairly cheaply these days. Or you can borrow one from somebody. As long as you use a disk with exactly the same version of Windows 7 that Dell installed (eg Home Premium or Pro), it's perfectly legal and your Product Key from the sticker will activate the installation. If you use a different version, your Product Key won't work.
And if you use a Dell OEM Win 7 disk that's exactly the same version, it may not even ask for the Product Key.
Either way be sure to get one that already includes SP1, but you'll still have over 100 updates and hotfixes to download and install.
I believe Dell replaced Data Safe with Dell Backup and Recovery. So go here and see if you can download it.
Would it be worth upgrading to Win 10 on the existing HDD, and then migrating it to the SSD afterwards, when an iso will probably be available...?
Philip_Yip
9 Legend
•
16.1K Posts
0
July 19th, 2015 17:00
Microsoft have removed all the Digital River .isos for Windows 7 and replaced them with a non-functional tool which blocks Dell OEM licenses.
If your Windows install on your hard drive is still working then wait until the 29th of July 2015 and use Windows Update to upgrade to Windows 10. Windows 10 Insiders got the update on the 16th of July 2015 but entry to the Windows Insider program is closed just now. I demonstrate the upgrade here:
http://dellwindowsreinstallationguide.com/windows-10-rtm/windows-insiders-%e2%86%92-getting-windows-10-rtm/
After the initial upgrade via Windows Update you can create a Recovery Drive using inbuilt Windows 10 features and a USB Flash Drive:
http://dellwindowsreinstallationguide.com/windows-10-rtm/creating-a-recovery-drive-and-using-it-in-windows-10/
You will be able to insert your SSD and use this Recovery Drive to Clean Reinstall Windows 10 on your system. Note I haven't tested the Recovery Drive on a system with multiple drives so just have the SSD installed when using the Recovery Drive.