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How to use 8.1 recovery disk on vostro 3558 that came with windows 7
So my vostro 3558 came with windows 7 installed. However, on the bottom of the laptop, near the service tag, it says windows 8 and it also came with an 8.1 red operating system recovery disk, which says on the disk label, "already installed on your computer".
I have 3 questions.
1. First, why does it have windows 7, and labled as windows 8?
2. If I had to replace my hard drive, can this disk be used to install windows 8.1 on a new hard drive, or will it only reinstall windows 7 on it?
3. Can I use this disk to upgrade from windows 7 to windows 8.1?
ejn63
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May 11th, 2016 14:00
1. Many systems that shipped around the time Windows 8 did came with 7 and a free upgrade to 8.
2. It should work for either.
3. It probably is not an 8.1 disc. You can upgrade 7 to 8 and then upgrade to 8.1 (free) from there.
For that matter, you may as well go straight to Windows 10 at this point - it's also a free upgrade and fixes many of the usability issues WIndows 8/8.1 had.
Philip_Yip
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May 11th, 2016 14:00
Perhaps it cam preinstalled with Windows 8.1 Pro with downgrade rights to Windows 7 Pro. You should be able to use Dell Backup and Recovery to make a Bootable USB of Windows 7 Pro. See here for details:
http://dellwindowsreinstallationguide.com/dell-backup-and-recovery-1-8-1-71/
Regarding the upgrade to Windows 8.1 Pro, theres no point at the moment. You are best to clean install Windows 10 Pro directly See here for details:
http://dellwindowsreinstallationguide.com/download-windows-10-oem-and-retail-iso/
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL1RkaknDn7v-Ucth4gt0U3BHVSY7oNkWr