So I'm about to build a pc for the first time and I've got everything down but I keep seeing like half the people not including the price of an OS. I have a dell that I bought two years ago that brought windows 8 and I instantly deleted that and installed Ubuntu. I called dell last week to see if I could get a windows 8 disk and they sent it to me. Can I use that windows 8 recovery disk on my gaming pc?
Using a windows 8 recovery disk on a gaming pc I want to build
- Thread starter kotchbot
- Start date
Solution
- Aug 24, 2012
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No, you cannot. Dell's recovery media is locked to the Dell motherboard by a license key embedded in the motherboard firmware and will not install/activate on another system. You must purchase new media and a license for the new PC.
rulejunior
Honorable
- Jul 30, 2013
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When Windows 8 rolled out, in included a new feature built into the UEFI bios (now the standard for BIOS across all manufacturers) that locked the product key for Windows to that specific motherboard. One thing about this is if the motherboard it is tied to becomes damaged and is replaced by a MOBO of the exact same make and model (ie Hp Angelica 2 to Hp Angelica 2), the computer would boot up and work. Because you aren't using the same exact motherboard, then the recovery disk for windows from Dell will not work as a product key will not be detected and the signature left by the Dell mobo won't be detected either. The cost for a new windows license isn't much, $95 to $100, which is a real decent price compared to what it could possibly sell for IMO.
Reason for edit: Quick grammer correction and left one detail out that would have caused some confusion
Reason for edit: Quick grammer correction and left one detail out that would have caused some confusion
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