OS reinstall

Reset or reinstall Windows 10 on your Dell computer | Dell US

Those instructions are helpfull if I had not needed to replace the hard drive. That article is resetting/recovering with an OS already installed. The problem is that it is on a fresh harddrive currently empty (No OS).

If i remember correctly the product key for windows should be embeded on the motherboard and should automaticly be used.

When i start the install it asks me for a product key which i do not have since its embedded and is not displayed anywhere on/in the case. If i try any of the options in the advanced section it cant find the harddrive to install it.

But in the F12 boot menu it reads the hdd along with in the bios.

Some ty ill mess around with it later today to see what happens.

Re: When i start the install it asks me for a product key which i do not have since its embedded and is not displayed anywhere on/in the case.

this pc being an older model probably was shipped with Win 7 or 8 but not Win 10?

Does it have a Win 7/8 sticker on case?

if yes, and you now want to install Win 10, you can just tell install you do not have a product key at beginning of install.  Choose either home or pro.  Install will proceed to complete.

then look around to see if you can borrow a Win 7 key from other pc either home or pro. If you installed Win 10 pro, look for a Win 7 pro COA sticker with key.   Sometimes at work there are lots of old business pc with such stickers that you can borrow keys from.  A win 7 key from another pc will often help you activate win 10 provided it was not already used to do so.

So I Got it installed but now the issue is that i can not get it activated without the product key that's embedded on the chipset. This should automatically be injected into the OS from the chip set but i believe its not since i am not running UEFI Secure Boot. The only way i could install windows was through Legacy vs UEFI. Now when i try to switch it back since it is completely installed it will not read the boot drive. It shows that there is one there but the bios will not boot from it. 

Thank you for your help that got windows installed now i just need to figure this part out

If you have win7 coa you have to change the key to that.

WIN7 key in bios will not activate.

WIN8 key in bios will not activate if you chose incorrect version aka home for pro or pro for home during initial install.

win8.1 key wont work if you have 8.0 key in bios and the 8.1 key should not be used if you have 8.0 key in bios for install.

No version of windows will activate if you do not go online at least 1 time every 180 days and activate.

Phishing here for a key is not going to be successful because end users do not get a key from Dell.

The activation key also cannot be re used on multiple machines.

Once activated it stays and cannot be re used.

"If i remember correctly the product key for windows should be embeded on the motherboard and should automatically be used." This is not the case for WIN8 or WIN8.1

That only happens with specific 10 versions of windows and only AFTER you get online.

Current windows 10 disks have a " I dont have a key option" so that you do not need the generic keys.  You do need to specify HOME or PRO correctly because HOME keys in bios will not activate for PRO and vice versa.

There are no more permanent activation's.  You must be online at least every 180 days to stay activated,