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4635
April 22nd, 2015 17:00
Product key?
I have an XPS 2720. The warranty expired one week ago. Windows 8, which was shipped with the computer, is corrupted and I need the product key. I cannot find it. I called premium support and they said, "There is no product key, you have to pay for support.". ? How can I find the product key to MY Windows 8?
Thank you.
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RoHe
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April 22nd, 2015 21:00
That's correct. The Win 8 product key is embedded in BIOS. You only need the installation media to do a clean install of Win 8 (8.1).
But, if your system boots to the desktop, you can run a Reset which will reinstall the factory image. You have to back up personal files on external media first because everything will be lost. If things aren't so serious, you could do a Refresh instead of a Reset. Search Reset on the Charms search bar.
If you can't get to the desktop, read this tutorial for doing a clean Win 8.1 install.
Either way, you'll need the installation disks and product keys for any other software you installed...
Philip_Yip
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April 24th, 2015 08:00
No need to resort to eBay for Windows 8 DVDs.
No need to use the generic keys with the Windows 8.1 with Update 1 .isos from the Windows 8.1 Media Creation Tool... The updated .iso treats both Windows 8.0 and Windows 8.1 keys as equal inputting them automatically from the Dell UEFI BIOS during installation. This media is different from the Windows 8.1 without update 1 which rejected Windows 8 keys.
Recommending generic keys actually may cause some issues as these .isos are unfortunately edition locked and if a generic key is used to install Windows 8.1 when the OEM key is Windows 8/8.1 Single Language there will be product activation issues later down the line. Previously they had to be used with a large scope of trial and error but now they don't need to be.
An updated guide on using the Windows 8.1 Media Creation Tool with the GPT partition scheme and the Dell UEFI BIOS is here:
http://dellwindowsreinstallationguide.com/download-microsoft-windows-and-office/download-microsoft-windows/download-windows-8-1-retail-and-oem-iso/
This guide has 122 comments and has been well tested by Dell users with Windows 8 OEM and Windows 8.1 OEM licenses. Their comments helped shaped the guide addressing most the issues with reinstallation particularly with UEFI and SecureBoot.
Philip_Yip
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April 24th, 2015 10:00
The Windows 8.1 Pro .iso from the Media Creation Tool accepted my 2 Windows 8 Pro Retail keys without any problems... The one from the previous downloader didn't. Personally I don't have a Windows 8 OEM system to test. However I have also got comments like this on the page and many more reporting success on both Microsoft Answers and the Dell Community Forums:
Hello,
I just re-installed my Asus laptop using the mediacreationtool from Microsoft. Using the tool I downloaded the Windows 8.1 x64 version in Dutch using a FAT32 formatted USB-stick. Before the installation I selected the USB-stick with the EUFI option. During Installation I did not had to input my product key, so I assume it took the embedded key automatically. I checked if Windows was activated and it was. Ooo, and i used a Windows 8 product key, so glad that worked without any problems.
Kind regards,
Rick
Thanks, this worked a treat. Clean installed windows 8.1 core onto a new ssd in my 2012 Toshiba satellite p850-321. Did not ask for a key during installation and auto activated, presumably due to embedded win 8 OEM key.
Had to burn a DVD as could not boot from USB (turned out to be a bios issue fixed in a newer version available from Toshiba), and needed a USB mouse as trackpad not recognised until driver downloaded
I used mediacreationtool to download windows 8.1 update 1 iso and used it on a dell desktop to reinstall windows 8 after a the first hard drive died .
From what I see if you have the internet plunged up to the computer when installing windows it will activate itself and if it has no internet then you will have to go and tell it to activated windows when you do get a internet connection .
Yes I did,it didn’t ask for product key.Went straight to the license screen.
But my system is not showing USB path under the boot list options in boot menu (F12) if secure boot is ON.So I continued in OFF mode and finally it showed “Windows can’t be installed on GPT partitioned disk” error for every drive of my hdd,didn’t allow me to proceed further!
I tried with all three types of Partition schemes in Rufus,didn’t work.
(I faced this before when I was installing Win 7.So I removed my hdd,converted to MBR using other system and installed.)
Mine is Inspiron 15R 5521,Win 8.0 OEM licensed.
I guess all preinstalled systems come with GPT partitioned disks,isn’t it?
Philip_Yip
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April 26th, 2015 00:00
I'd recommend a SSD such as a Crucial MX200 500 GB:
http://www.crucial.com/usa/en/compatible-upgrade-for/Dell/xps-one-2720
rdunnill
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April 22nd, 2015 21:00
There are a few Dell Windows 8 install DVDs for sale on eBay.
speedstep
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April 23rd, 2015 06:00
You can use Generic Key to install and then activate once online.
Pre installed windows 8.x requires the 64 bit media.
These Keys cannot be used to activate. You have to download the HOME or PRO image depending on which version you have.
You can tell by the Windows Genuine Label.
Windows 8 keys are encrypted stored in the Bios installed at the factory. There are no more COA Stickers due to piracy. (OEM System Builder Versions Do Still have COA Stickers)
Windows 8 now comes with a Genuine Microsoft Label there are NO MORE Certificate of Authenticity (COA) Labels.
See the following examples of labels to look for.
Color-Shifting Ink
The color shift on the label is designed to change from one color to another when viewed from different angles,
making it easy to determine if it is genuine.
Windows 8: magenta to green
Windows 8 Pro: blue to purple
Windows RT: turquoise to purple
XHQ8N-C3MCJ-RQXB6-WCHYG-C9WKB (Windows 8.1 Pro)
334NH-RXG76-64THK-C7CKG-D3VPT (Windows 8.1 Home)
The Windows 8.1 Media Creation Tool
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-8/create-reset-refresh-media
Microsoft has released a new Media Creation Tool, which downloads the Windows 8.1 installation files, and creates an iso file to burn to DVD or bootable 16 gig usb flash drive from them.
You can also download the ISO and use the Windows 7 DVD tool to make bootable flash drive or DVD. Once installed you get online and activate.
d786
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April 23rd, 2015 11:00
Thank you.
I apologize to all for the way I phrased my question. I only counted to 7.
speedstep
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April 24th, 2015 08:00
I have had 3 dells with 8.0 vs 8.1 and the Bios Key is NOT recognized and therefore it asks for a key. 8.1 Dells don't ask for anything.
If I put a generic key in and install then say activate online I have had no issues. And the 64 bit version is REQUIRED if you want it to read your bios key.
d786
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April 24th, 2015 10:00
I would like to thank everyone who responded. I thought I'd marked the question "answered", but I guess I messed up. Here is what ultimately happened.
Your suggestions were great, but nothing worked. Ultimately I used a boot disk and tried to run System Restore from there, but it failed with the message that it could not replace a file. It was the same message that I'd received from within Windows, but now I knew that it wasn't because of my virus software... it pretty much had to be a disk problem.
I ran "chkdsk /r" and it hung up on 11%, but eventually I let it run overnight (after making multiple backups, of course). This morning my hard drive was making strange noises, but I rebooted and everything (!) is better than it had been before. Even my boot time is cut in half. I'll do more disk checking, but I'm really optimistic. My Dell might be even better than ever.
Thanks again to all. I'll try to close this conversation now.
:-)
RoHe
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April 24th, 2015 10:00
Back up your personal files on external media ASAP!
HDD may be working now but who knows for how long...?
And you can refer back to this thread for instructions how to install Windows on a new HDD if / when this one dies.
d786
17 Posts
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April 25th, 2015 19:00
That is certainly great advice and I appreciate it. Do you guys know a good place to get a new drive?
It's weird that things always seem to go haywire a few days after the warranty expires. Joss, I suppose.
Thanks!
RoHe
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April 26th, 2015 19:00
If you're looking for external backup, you want a USB hard drive. You can get 3T external drives for not very much cost these days. I've got 3 different Seagate USB drives for backups, but Western Digital makes good ones too.
Look for one with the longest warranty, and if your PC has USB3 ports, look for a USB3 external drive. Even if you don't have USB3 ports now, it might be worth the relatively small extra cost to get a USB3 external drive now because your next PC will have USB3 ports.
In my hands, data transfer to my USB3 drive from a USB3 port is ~8-10X faster than to the same USB3 drive from a USB2 port. And a USB3 drive should be fully backward compatible with a USB2 port, except for speed of data transfer.
speedstep
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April 27th, 2015 06:00
Microcenter has 128 GIG usb flash drives for $50.
They will last years longer than external drives.
http://www.microcenter.com/product/411158/128GB_SuperSpeed_USB_30_Flash_Drive_-_Gray
d786
17 Posts
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May 5th, 2015 16:00
I suppose I have to post again. I just booted from the Acronis True Image 2015 CD that I bought. I clicked to recover my image and in the selection menu for the image media it offers: hard drive, dvd drive, Acronis Cloud, ftp connections, and nas connections. It does not recognize external drives. I'm shutting everything down now.
d786
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May 5th, 2015 16:00
That seemed like a good idea so I bought a Crucial 1 TB SSD. I still think that was a good decision, but I want to provide a minor cautionary tale.
The drive comes with a coupon for Acronis True Image HD. It's kind of a pain to get the software: you send Acronis the 16-character code from the coupon, then they make you go online and they ask for pretty much all of your information, and then they send you the 64-character code you need to activate the software, which they then tell you where to download.
So I did it, made an image of my failing drive, created a True Image boot disk, and replaced the old drive with the SSD. That was all good, but when I booted from the boot disk I hadn't reconnected the USB drive with the image. I decided to reinstall all my external stuff, so I turned the PC off. I suppose, now that I think about it, that maybe that was my error.
The next time I tried to boot from the disk, it failed. I tried a couple more times. Then I mucked around on the Acronis website trying to find out where to download an iso file to make a boot disk. By then it was midnight, so I used their chat line. Eventually (every message from the agent took a minimum of 3 minutes to arrive), she refused to tell me how to get the iso. She told me to contact the manufacturer of the drive.
The next morning I wrote to Crucial online and they sent me a form letter in response that did not approach answering the question. I wrote again with an appeal that my PC was down, and they sent the same form letter (signed by someone else, though). Now getting desperate (PC down, you all know about that), I asked a third time, explaining my dire situation. Someone read it, because the response was unprofessionally angry and basically told me to FO.
Anyway, not a big, I just bought True Image. I'm counting on it working (it just arrived). It's just that apparently you can't count on manufacturer support for much of anything these days.
Oh, well.