Counterfeit or genuine restore media?

Delltonian,

It is difficult to tell if the disk are counterfeit if they have all the p/n and markings as a regular disk. You can use them to install Windows, I cannot say if they have malware and spyware on it. It actually could be a legit copy. If it does load malware and spyware then you will need to purchase a legitimate disk.

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In the past Dell Windows 7 Reinstallation DVDs were shipped with systems. The OptiPlex 390 being one of the last business systems shipping with physical media. They look like this but the colour may vary:

However now you may Download Windows 10 TH2 64 Bit Installation Media from Microsoft and clean install Windows 10 TH2 using the product key on the COA affixed to your computer. See here for details:

http://dellwindowsreinstallationguide.com/download-windows-10-oem-and-retail-iso/

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL1RkaknDn7v-Ucth4gt0U3BHVSY7oNkWr

What are the markings on the inner ring around the hub of the disc in the picture?

No markings its just reflective there.

"No markings its just reflective there."

There are no markings on the reflective band around the hub on the side of the disc bearing the printed disc title. The markings I am talking about are located on the opposite side of the disc, meaning the other side of the disc where the optical drive reads the data. As you move from the innermost edge of the reflective area where the data is located, there is a mirror reflective band followed by more bands as you look further towards the center of the hub. The markings on these bands vary according to the product and product origins.

Because I do not have a second copy of the Dell Reinstallation DVD Windows(R) 7 Professional SP1

32-bit that is known to be authentic, I instead used a Reinstallation DVD Windows(R) 7 Professional SP1 64-bit that is known to be authentic as the basis for comparing the markings and their patterns of usage.

The Dell product known to be authentic has the following information on the printed side of the disc:

[Printing on the DVD, black or dark grey and white]

OPERATING SYSTEM

ALREADY INSTALLED ON YOUR COMPUTER

Reinstallation DVD

Windows(R) 7 Professional SP1

64-bit

[….]

(c) 2011 Dell Inc.

Portions (c) 2011 Microsoft Corporation

All rights reserved

P/N D0V2K

Turning the disc over to the opposite side and reading the markings located on the bands between the data area and the hub finds the following markings:

[description of the markings located on the data side of the DVD and around DVD hub]

[outer band at the hub]  DRDL – 4009680A1     1     MADE IN USA  [long bar code track]  A02     IFPI L333

In the next step, the operating system disc that is suspected of being a counterfeit is found to have the printed label and markings reported in my original post as follows:

[Printing on the DVD, blue-grey and white]

OPERATING SYSTEM

ALREADY INSTALLED ON YOUR COMPUTER

Reinstallation DVD

Windows(R) 7 Professional SP1

32-bit

[….]

(c) 2011 Dell Inc.

Portions (c) 2011 Microsoft Corporation

All rights reserved

P/N M1T3F

[description of the markings located on the data side of the DVD and around DVD hub]

[outer band at the hub]  M1T3F A00 Made in China XS    21  [symbol]     [symbol] [symbol]  [bar code band]

[inner band at the hub] [logo or ideograph] X420

Note how the known authentic disc is marked as Made in USA, whereas the suspected counterfeit is marked as Made in China. also note the formatting differences in the markings.

The original purpose of this post was to see if anyone in the Dell Community has the same Dell discs known to be authentic that can be used to compare these markings. Also it would be helpful to know whether or not Dell has ever manufactured and distributed these same product discs with the same markings located around the disc hub on the data side. Note, one of the key differences in these markings around the hub of the Dell Resource Media DVD discs is the "Dell Made in USA" marking on a known authentic Dell disc versus the Made in China marking that is not marked as Dell Made in China on the disc which is suspected of being a counterfeit.

Does anyone have known authentic versions of these product discs that can be used for comparison of the markings on the data side of the disc?

"I would find a legal copy of Windows 7 and download the drivers from Dell's support site."

That is exactly what we were attempting to do when we purchased a used Dell Optiplex 390 MT with these restore discs included. Dell refuses to supply three of these four discs, so the only alternative available was to purchase them from the used market. Based upon past experience the counterfeit media makes photographic duplicates of the printed labels on the discs, but they do not take the expense and trouble to reproduce the laser engravings, embossing in the polycarbonate, or embedded markings found around the hub on the data side of the disk. Before I presume these Made in China discs are counterfeits due to their variance from known authentic copies of the same product titles, I want to determine (1) whether or not Dell ever manufactured discs with the observed markings Made in China and (2) what markings are found around the hubs of known authentic copies of these products? We have a very large community of Dell users, so surely someone else has the same restore discs and can report on the markings found on those discs?

Unfortunately unless you get them straight from Dell, there isn't anyway to really know.  Anyone with a decent printer can make a disc cover look like anything they want and its possible discs can be made both in the US and China depending on a host of factors.  You could install Windows 10, but you may run into driver issues and instability issues since it is not supported on your computer.  I would find a legal copy of Windows 7 and download the drivers from Dell's support site.

The front side of the operating system disc:

The back side of the same operating system disc in the area around the hub:

The formatting and content of the markings around the hub on the back side of the disc are very different from the 64-Bit versions that are marked as Dell Made in USA.

"However now you may Download Windows 10 TH2 64 Bit"

Dell Product Support says:

Product not tested for Windows 10 upgrade

Dell is not testing or developing Windows 10 drivers for this product. If you choose to upgrade, some features, applications, and connected devices may not work as expected.

Also:

1. Does the installation of Windows 10 modify the BIOS/UEFI and disable the ability to downgrade back to MS Windows 7 32-Bit/64-Bit or install a Linux OS?

2. _

Does the installation of Windows 10 modify the BIOS/UEFI and disable the ability to

I can't answer your question, but find myself in a similar situation, buying a "reconditioned" laptop that didn't come with restore media at all.  I'll be monitoring this thread, and hopefully someone will have a simple answer, since your question seems straightforward enough.

While it's a bit more work, running an MD5 checksum against a known genuine DVD would at least let you know if the files have been tampered with.

This reminds me of an occasion when I accidentally bought a counterfeit DVD from an Amazon Marketplace seller, actually of Amazon's own Createspace DVD-R...a bit like counterfeiting Monopoly money IMHO.  After weeks of going back and forth with Amazon customer service, asking them to simply verify the front and back case artwork, I gave up and just returned it to the seller.