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Windows 7 no longer available
I have, for most of my professional life, worked with Dell computers. I also have directed a lot of people towards the brand, because I value its designs and reliability. As a computer professional and collector, sometimes I also get computers from people who have moved on. I see what I can do with them, and recycle them for another use. Most of the time, I load some form of Linux on them and give them away to people who just need browsing capabilities an not a lot more.
Recently, I was given a Dell laptop by a colleague. His daughter had moved up - or down - to an Apple and didn't need her Inspiron any more. Since the machine had a Core2 Duos CPU, a pretty big HD and 4 GB RAM, I decided to reset it to it's original state and install Windows 7 Home Premium.
When I entered the product key on Microsoft's site, to download the .iso, I was directed to the manufacturer, because it was a 'pre-installed version'. So, I went to the Dell support site, and after jumping through hoops trying to download the iso, finally I ended up installing the Dell OS Recovery tool on a Windows machine (Dell) I have, but it appeared that there simply isn't a .iso available for this machine! Any more.
Now, I have 2 things to say about that.
1. Why doesn't Dell support a re-installation of a Windows 7 PC any more, while Microsoft still does? Now, this is just a file on a server so I don't understand this. Support from Microsoft for Windows 7 installations is valid 'till january 2020. There are several PCs Dell sold with Windows 7 on it, that do get support, so I don't see why mine doesn't.
2. Dell is pushing me into illegality. In order to re-install my machine with an OS that is still legal to use, on a machine that is mine, I now have to get an illegal copy of the OS DVD. I want to do the right thing, using legal software and so on, but by this policy, Dell is obstructing me from doing that.
I am very disappointed.
nyc10036
4 Operator
4 Operator
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5.6K Posts
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November 4th, 2018 14:00
Getting any OS DVD that is not a Dell Window 7 DVD to install Windows will not allow Windows 7 to activate.
Or said another way, any product key that has OA --- which this PC most likely has --- which you plan on using to activate Windows 7 requires a Dell Windows 7 Home Premium DVD.
I suggest that you use one of the free product key retrieval software to retrieve the Windows 7 Home Premium key from the current laptop before you do anything drastic.
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Jan-80
2 Posts
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November 6th, 2018 13:00
I don't see why this wouldn't work. I can install a non-branded Windows DVD on any Dell, can't I? If I have the product key...
I have the product key, it's on a label on the bottom of the computer. So I don't have to retrieve it in any way.
You're not getting the point here. I am the legal owner of a computer with a legal Windows 7 label on it. I want to re-install Windows 7 on a blank HD, but while Win7 is still supported by MS, Dell doesn't want to give me an ISO to do a clean and legal re-install. What am I supposed to do? I am trying not to do anything drastic. I don't want a physical DVD either. Just a file. But I do want to re-install this computer with Windows 7. What are my options?