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Optiplex 790 Reinstall Win 10
I'm helping a family member with lots of computer problems likely related to way out of date virus protection. I want to format and reinstall Windows 10. Can I do this on a system that was shipped with Windows 7.x that was eventually upgraded to Windows 10.x by the automatic free upgrade?
I don't have any system disks, but do, assumed, have a Window Key inside the system.
If this can be done please send me a link to instructions.
Thanks.
fireberd
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August 12th, 2020 03:00
The 790 is not supported for Win 10 by Dell. And Windows 10 is "depreciating" old hardware support. Reinstalling Win 10 may result in some hardware devices not being supported (sound is one potential). Keep this in mind if you reinstall. On newer systems with UEFI BIOS there may be a Windows key embedded but its questionable for this model. However if you log on Win 10 with what is used now for ID and PIN it should pick that up.
Here is the tutorials from tenforums.com on downloading Win 10 (not sure if the 790 will boot from a USB flash drive) . Installation is straightforward.
https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/9230-download-windows-10-iso-file.html
https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/1950-clean-install-windows-10-a.html
Philip_Yip
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August 13th, 2020 15:00
The OptiPlex 790 came with a Windows 7 Pro OEM License. When you upgraded to Windows 10 Pro its system hardware profile (motherboard details) were registered with a Microsoft Product Activation Server. You can now clean install Windows 10 Pro Version 2004 64 Bit directly on the OptiPlex 790 without a Product Key and it will reactivate when online.
The OptiPlex 790 is an early UEFI system so it is recommended to update the UEFI BIOS to the latest version and make sure you are using a UEFI Boot. The Windows 10 Bootable USB should use the GPT Partition scheme and be FAT32 Formatted if using the likes of Rufus to make the Bootable USB. Note that this system does not have Secure Boot.
When you Boot to the USB ensure that you select the USB under UEFI and not under Legacy: