Hi there! I just bought a Dell Optiplex on which I'd like to do a fresh install of the included OS. I have no media, no restore partition, just the sticker which says: I can't find any meaningful information about the mysterious "OA" edition or the X16-96076 ISO. Do you know what they are? Anyway can I download a Windows 7 Pro ISO and then use this product key. Does the 32 or 64-bit edition matter? Do I need to download a specific language? Thank you!
Ok you confirm what I was thinking of. But looking for an ISO, which is way more difficult (if not impossible) now that Digitalriver is down, I found a specific Dell OEM ISO, which I downloaded. So with this ISO, I've been able to just install it and don't do anything else. I even have been able to install it on another Dell PC which has a Windows Vista sticker. But the "Information" window says that it's genuine and activated. Is it really activated? How is it possible? Anyway thank you for your help! PS: I can't post links because I haven't 20 messages yet, even those which I quote. It's a shame.
Where did you get the Dell ISo from? Can you PM me the link? I'm in the same situation with a lenovo that badly needs a fresh OS and my COA states X16-96076...
The Dell dvd will be useless to you it will install the os but it will not pre-activate via oem:slp and it will also have dell branding. @ man0ir, the only way dell windows 7 dvd would activate a dell vista machine would be if it has slic2.1 in bios.
Unfortunately I can't share the link with you. I would have definitely rehosted a Lenovo OEM ISO with you if I'd have found one there, but there's none. Is there a simple way to have a look at the SLIC? I think the sticky topic about this has been deleted?
After Windows 7 was released, MS permitted manufacturers to use the newer SLIC 2.1 table on machines that were still being shipped with previous MS operating systems, Vista will activate against a SLIC 2.1 table and XP doesn't care.
Very nice thread indeed. I've been able to confirm that my Windows 7 is permanently activated, so I'm done with this, thank you. Is there a way to mark the thread solved?
Sorry for the bump, but I have several OptiPlex 980 machines, all with genuine Win 7 Pro OA key (sticker). I tried to do a clean install of the OS on one machine, but it failed. Windows told me the key didn't match the installation or something like that. I do not have the original installation media, so I used an AIO Windows 7 SP1 ISO. Could you link me to the ISO you used to do your installation? In the end, did you use the key from the sticker?
You would need to install the version of Windows that is listed on the COA sticker to use that key. ie; 32bit or 64bit and Home or Pro or Ultimate etc.... Then you will need to find a ISO of that version. I personally would not use a AIO ISO, but find the original ISO for the version that you want to reinstall.
I tried to do that, but I can't find it anywhere. Maybe I'm not looking in the right places. It's the same ISO as the OP: X16-96076 I phoned Microsoft and they also told me I had to use the right installation disc. When I have the time, I'll try and contact Dell, but I don't get this... Why can't Microsoft just quickly activate it?! They checked and the key is genuine. The only problem is the PID does not match. Dell will probably ask money too... Do you think ABR will work without using the original installation disc?
Thanks Wazoo. I came across the DellWindowsReinstall... website earlier today. I'll look into it a bit more. But, another (important) question: Do I use my OA key? I want this to be perfectly genuine so I can (eventually) receive an update to W10 this summer.
I am hoping that the Windows 7 PRO that I installed using a HP OEM key and cert will be genuine so I can upgrade to Windows 10. In the third link they say that using an OEM key in this way is genuine but only time (after 29 July 2015) will tell. The choice is yours.
You are right with this just a slight correction COA key is edition/hardware dependent but architecture independent. So you can use either 32bit or 64bit.
So, I finally phoned Dell on the matter. It seems that you have to use the same Windows version AND bit version for the OA key to work. So, if the device came with Windows 7 Pro 32-bit, the key will not work with Windows 7 Pro 64-bit.