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Windows 7 Recovery Image is unavailable
The hard drive on my three year old Alienware desktop just failed. The PC is out of warranty. After I replace the hard drive, I understand that I will need to reinstall Windows 7. I first went to microsoft.com to get the recovery media, but their site said that I needed to get it from the PC manufacturer. So then I came to Dell.com. I entered the service tag for my PC and received this message:
Recovery image currently unavailable. The recovery image download could not be generated due to missing information. Please contact technical support for assistance.
Any ideas what I might be able to do about this? I'd rather not pay for a new copy of Windows if I can help it.
Thanks!
speedstep
8 Wizard
8 Wizard
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47K Posts
1
January 5th, 2017 06:00
Any Dell WIN7 SP1 DVD will reinstall on your system.
Microsoft has forbidden OEM's from issuing WIN7 disks anymore.
So if you cant find on Ebay or Amazon you will have to buy windows 7 again.
It needs to be home or pro or ultimate depending on which version you have.
Philip_Yip
7 Technologist
7 Technologist
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16K Posts
0
January 5th, 2017 08:00
Microsoft have a broken digital distribution for Windows 7 which can be fixed with some workarounds... Dell only have Windows 7 .isos for 6th generation Skylake systems and Microsoft do not allow them to ship physical installation media anymore.
You can Download a Windows 10 RS1 .iso and clean install Windows 10 using your Windows 7 OEM key:
http://dellwindowsreinstallationguide.com/download-windows-10-oem-and-retail-iso/
Ohio Mike
2 Posts
1
January 5th, 2017 16:00
This looks great! I'll give it a try. Thanks for your help!