My Friend received a copy of windows 7 upgrade disk from dell, He does not even run run windows on the laptop (MAC/Linux) so he said he would give me the key/disk to use. Will this key work if I mod my bios or use a loader (remember this is not a SLIP OEM key its one of the keys dell gave away when you purchased a laptop/desktop in the last 6 month for a free upgrade to windows 7) Should I use the dell media (might not work as it will be for a dell build) or download one of the standard builds? Thanks for your help /
I would find an untouched disk, and then just use the key. Hopefully it's not old style upgrade only keys like MS use to do.
The Dell disk should work fine, you may have to install Vista first as it is an upgrade serial number. But then there should be an option to do a clean install anyways...
Looking at Dell's X64 upgrade disk it is a standard installation disk, the extra drivers/software is all on a second disk. There is no $OEM$ folder and therefore I suspect no branding of any sort
Yer the old "upgrade disks would first search for a current install before allowing you to install" in 3.11 you use to be able to put I think one of the lasts disks in and it tell the install that it was installed on to A: and it allow you to install the full version with out having to upgrade. I dont know how win7 works if I try and install on non dell hardware, will it work right up until I activate or will it fail when I enter the OEM key. Would It mean that I have to mod my bios before I install.
If the Vista upgrade disks were the same, as long as the key is accepted at the install routine, you will be fine. You will need to allow it to do an "online activation" is all, no check for SLIC or manufacturer's name. The disk, etc is the same as a Hp or Sony customer would recieve, except the label of course. The serial number is not brand specific
I believe the Dell upgrade discs indeed aren't branded, nor do they require a prior install like normal upgrade discs. They're (non-SLP) OEM discs with OEM keys though. The key may well not work on a "normal" install since those go in as Retail instead of OEM.
With Vista OEM Disks, these include the Key/Cert built in to the DVD itself. And rely on Slic activation. So I really doubt you can use that DVD and Serial in a NON Dell (with SLCI 2.1) PC, and have it activate with the serial you got. Let us know when you find out =)
I googled and found someone was able to install it on a gateway laptop will have to test and let you guys know.
CSI is right, you can install it on a non Dell pc but then you'll have to activate it. No automatic activation will work.
But it should activate as its a real key ? (I know it will need to be activated as it not a SLIP OEM Key)
yup, i've done the same thing. got a free win7 upgrade from dell, and used it on a generic computer. put the key and activated
you don't need a vista installation to use an update dvd just install the update dvd without a key. make all updates. if all updates are done HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Setup\OOBE Chance MediaBootInstall 1 to 0. now start a cmd (probably as admin) and type slmgr /rearm now reboot. after the reboot you can activate your windows with the key.