BUG: Dell OS Recovery Tool - Tool Malfunctioning

t000,

The Recovery Tool uses only the system service tag which consist of an alpha- numeric number. and not just numbers.

So, is there no Recovery Tool for all numeric Service Tags? Or, is my only other option to order an OEM OS Disc from Dell Support?

So, is there no Recovery Tool for all numeric Service Tags? Or, is my only other option to order an OEM OS Disc from Dell Support?

You are confusing the Dell OS Recovery Tool with the Dell ISO Windows Recovery Image that may or may not be available for a Dell PC.

The Recovery Tool takes the image to create a bootable USB drive to let you do a clean install of Windows.

I don't know from whom you purchased your Dell PC, but every single Service Tag I have seen has consisted of numbers and characters e.g. alphanumeric.

@ieee488

I am not familiar with the Dell ISO Windows Recovery tool/option/image. If you think this might help, I will do my best to find out more about it.

The only tool that I have found on the Dell website is the Dell OS Recovery Tool.

I did not purchase this/these PCs, so I would have to ask the owner of said PCs where they purchased them from. What I did was look at the outside of the PC to find the services tags, which 2 out of the 10 PCs they had only consisted of service tags with numerical entries.

The funny thing is, if I go to support.dell.com and enter the service tags there, they are easily recognizable.

@firebird

To restate what I just said, I have found two Dell PCs with only numeric Service Tags, both of which work on the support.dell.com site when trying to find drivers, downloads, etc.

The only thing I cannot figure out, is how to make Recovery USB drives/discs for those two PCs.

.... 

@ EVERYONE

I just wanted to say thank you for all the responses so far. I appreciate everyone taking the time to help me with this issue.

@ieee488

That is about as far as I got. From that page I Selected: "How do I download the Windows ISO file on a non-Windows PC? "... And from that drop menu I Selected: "Browse to Dell Windows Recovery Image website."...

Which takes me back to the Dell OS Recovery Tool page, or here >>> www.dell.com/.../recoverytool

So... I do not think this solution will work for me. I assume at this point my only solution is to order the $20 OEM OS Disc from Dell Support.

I was hoping Dell offered a free solution, and it looks like they might have at one point; but as of now there is no way for me to access it that I have found.

www.dell.com/.../how-to-create-and-use-the-dell-windows-recovery-image

If you can order the Windows 10 DVD, then it may be your best option since you are having such great difficulty with the Recovery Tool.

I was just hoping I could help fix the "bug" in the "tool", but from what @DELL-Jesse L has told us... It seems Dell knows the tool does not work for numeric-only service tags, nor do they have any intention of making it work.

Making me pat $20 and wait 3-5 business days for something that I could easily do myself is kind of disappointing to me. I personally take care of about 5 Dell PCs at the moment (not including the 10 more I am working on right now), but I will definitely be weighing my options more carefully before purchasing another Dell product.

If all service tags are alpha-numaric as you say (NOT as @Dell-Jesse said), they why when I enter the all numeric service tags codes into the support.dell.com site do they work (I am able to download Drivers, Software, get information on the PC like configuration, express service code, etc, etc... EVERYTHING except a Recovery option)? THAT is my misunderstanding.

And yes, like I said earlier, I will check to see where they purchased they all-numeric Dells from, so I can get a better understanding of the situation.

SIDE NOTE: When I talk to the people at Dell support, they are able to pull up the information for the PCs using the all-numeric Service Tags. It just seems no one knows any "free" options for me to use.

We don't know the history of those PCs you are supporting.

As a person who has had in my possession at one time or the other nearly 50 Dell PCs and come across just as many at the companies I have worked, I have yet to see numeric-only Service Tag number.

You'll want to be sure of what you have.

And you are misunderstanding @DELL-Jesse's post. He is re-iterating that Service Tags are alpha-numeric!

@Dell-Jesse writes

The Recovery Tool uses only the system service tag which consist of an alpha- numeric number. and not just numbers.

I personally suspect that the service tag numbers are counterfeit, but only Dell can say for sure.

No, that is not correct. I have the Express service codes as well for those PCs, and they are not the same as the Service Tags. When I look on the PC, there is a sticker that says what the Service Tag and Express Service Codes are... that is where I got them from.

Please try to understand this is not my first rodeo. I have a ton of experience with computers, hence the reason why these people asked me to look at their Dells for them.

I will be sure to follow up on this matter.

I too thought those numbers where a little suspect. I've been dealing with Dell service tags for over 5 years and have never come across one that was only numbers (yet alone two in the same day). It did raise a red flag in my mind, and I even looked for other Service Tag locations on the machine.

Like I said though, the people at Dell recognize them at legit Service Tags... So I dunno...

Those are not service tag numbers.

They are Express Service codes.