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Yet more questions about a Windows 10 Professional Clean Install
The first thing I want to do is congratulate Dell on having the worst support staff and technical support on the planet. I resell a lot of Optiplex 3020 and the question I posed was simple: How to you do a clean install of Windows 10 Professional? During two days worth of chats and several technicians this is what some of then told me:
1) You can do it but you need the correct media. The "Already Installed Windows 10 Pro 64-bit" media that came with the computer isn't the one you want. I'll send you what you need on a flash drive. Of course the flash drive showed up and it was the exact same thing I had on the media.
2) You have the right media but you need to enable UEFI. At that point the DVD you have will display the option to install ground ground zero.
3) You have the right media but you need to disable UEFI. At that point the DVD you have will display the option to install ground ground zero.
4) They sent me links to hundreds and hundreds of third party pages explaining how to do it. None of which worked.
I even went so far as to suggest that it was obvious that the techs I was chatting with have never done this and don't know the answer. Their reply was that they have all done and Dell makes them take classes on the subject. Right.....
So after two to three days of beating on Dell and trying everything in the book I have found that there are only two ways to install WIndows 10 Professional on a Dell Optiplex 3020:
1) Install Windows 7 Pro. Do the online upgrade to Windows 10. This will register the computer with Microsoft as being a legitimate WIndows 10 install. Then download and boot the Retail Windows 10 Professional CD and skip entering the Product Key when asked. At that point Windows 10 Pro will install and it will check with Microsoft. Microsoft says "yep it is a legit install" because of the previous upgrade. End of story.
2) By a copy of Windows 10 Professional because if you don't like option 1 above the only other way to do it is with a legitimate product key.
So I am going to pause here and ask if anyone has come up with a way to Install Windows 10 (clean install) other then one of the two ways I mentioned above?
Further questions:
Is it true that there no longer seems to be a Dell Windows 10 OEM SLP DVD which looks in the BIOS to determine if the computer is a Dell and, if it is, installs and bypasses the activation.
So what is going to happen here shortly when Microsoft discontinues the free Windows 10 Upgrade. A lot of my customers don't want to go to Windows 10 because it is buggy but if they don't do it now will they have a chance to down the road?
The just released Optiplex 3040 comes with Windows 7 Pro and is advertised as being Windows 10 up/downgradable. Is that via the free Windows 10 upgrade which is soon to be discontinued or is Dell going to actually start putting Windows 10 COAs on the Optiplex 3040?
Not much has changed with either Microsoft or Dell. The "Free" Windows 10 upgrade isn't really free and Dell still doesn't have a clue how to supply upgrade/downgrade media nor are their technicians very good at helping with the issue.
1) You can do it but you need the correct media. The "Already Installed Windows 10 Pro 64-bit" media that came with the computer isn't the one you want. I'll send you what you need on a flash drive. Of course the flash drive showed up and it was the exact same thing I had on the media.
2) You have the right media but you need to enable UEFI. At that point the DVD you have will display the option to install ground ground zero.
3) You have the right media but you need to disable UEFI. At that point the DVD you have will display the option to install ground ground zero.
4) They sent me links to hundreds and hundreds of third party pages explaining how to do it. None of which worked.
I even went so far as to suggest that it was obvious that the techs I was chatting with have never done this and don't know the answer. Their reply was that they have all done and Dell makes them take classes on the subject. Right.....
So after two to three days of beating on Dell and trying everything in the book I have found that there are only two ways to install WIndows 10 Professional on a Dell Optiplex 3020:
1) Install Windows 7 Pro. Do the online upgrade to Windows 10. This will register the computer with Microsoft as being a legitimate WIndows 10 install. Then download and boot the Retail Windows 10 Professional CD and skip entering the Product Key when asked. At that point Windows 10 Pro will install and it will check with Microsoft. Microsoft says "yep it is a legit install" because of the previous upgrade. End of story.
2) By a copy of Windows 10 Professional because if you don't like option 1 above the only other way to do it is with a legitimate product key.
So I am going to pause here and ask if anyone has come up with a way to Install Windows 10 (clean install) other then one of the two ways I mentioned above?
Further questions:
Is it true that there no longer seems to be a Dell Windows 10 OEM SLP DVD which looks in the BIOS to determine if the computer is a Dell and, if it is, installs and bypasses the activation.
So what is going to happen here shortly when Microsoft discontinues the free Windows 10 Upgrade. A lot of my customers don't want to go to Windows 10 because it is buggy but if they don't do it now will they have a chance to down the road?
The just released Optiplex 3040 comes with Windows 7 Pro and is advertised as being Windows 10 up/downgradable. Is that via the free Windows 10 upgrade which is soon to be discontinued or is Dell going to actually start putting Windows 10 COAs on the Optiplex 3040?
Not much has changed with either Microsoft or Dell. The "Free" Windows 10 upgrade isn't really free and Dell still doesn't have a clue how to supply upgrade/downgrade media nor are their technicians very good at helping with the issue.
Good Question?
akluth
6 Posts
0
January 30th, 2016 12:00
I have the same problem, following what the Dell people said appeared to be a corrupted regular Windows update. I did what the Dell technicians told me to and downloaded Window 10 from the Microsoft site onto a USB stick. Then I did the clean install from that. It installs OK but then tells me I need to validate Windows 10. The product key for the Windows 8.1 pre-installed does not work for this Windows 10 update so it's not validated. I can't now get back to Windows 8.1 to work with a valid installation of Windows.
theflash1932
7 Technologist
7 Technologist
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16.3K Posts
1
January 30th, 2016 12:00
I don't understand the problem. You have the Windows 10 media ... just install it.
ALL Windows 10 media checks the BIOS for valid product keys. There is no longer a need to verify the manufacturer.
Users will likely have a discounted upgrade path to Windows 10 after the free upgrade period expires.
Dell has already started putting Windows 10 COA's on systems and all systems shipping with Windows 7 are downgrades.
The "free" upgrade is free. I'm not sure I understand your reasoning for it not being free. A clean install of Windows 10 is not difficult - very easy, in fact. Why Dell support personnel can't give you better answers is probably a combination of policy and their lack of experience with the product and process.
theflash1932
7 Technologist
7 Technologist
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16.3K Posts
0
January 30th, 2016 12:00
Windows 10 will validate a valid Windows 7/8 key, but you have to use build 1511 or later. Microsoft released 1511 for a few days, then pulled it, finally putting it back a few weeks later. If you downloaded a build other than 1511 (or later), it will not automatically activate with just a Windows 7/8/9 key; if you use 1511 or later, it will.