Dell OEM disc

[selimexotic]

Hi guys, I searched the forums but couldn't find anything that directly dealt with my problems so if this has been answered i apologize.

I just built my first build and used a Dell OEM windows 7 disc I bought brand new from Software Supply Group. Everything installed fine and works great until a few days ago im getting a message saying this copy of windows is not genuine build 7601. When i enter my product key it says it has been blocked. I know its not a pirated version what can i do. I tried activating it on the phone they also said it was counterfeit . What can i do ? My motherboard by the way is Asrock 970 Extreme 3.
Thanks for any help you can give me!

 

[Pinhedd]

Return it to the place that you bought it from. That name sounds sketchy and they should not be selling Dell OEM disks, those are sold only from Dell.

 

[mbarnes86]

Hi

With Dell XP recovery CD it would work on most Dell Motherboard PC's

When Vista came out Dell Vista recovery disk was tied to info embedded on motherboard
so only worked on Dells with particular motherboard .

in both cases on correct motherboard they are pre activated

On wrong motherboard they are Not Genuine and Microsoft will not activate for you unless you can convince them you Dell motherboard died
and a replacement in no longer available.
Since Dell & dealers have spares going back several years this will be difficult.

The same applies to Vista & 7 Manufacturers OEM & recovery DVDs from other companies, Toshiba, Compaq HP, ...........

I suspect the seller has picked up a job lot of recovery DVD's supplied with a batch of Dell PC's to a company which was sitting in a cupboard until someone borrowed them

Dell does not make all its own motherboards but they are specially modified for them.

Sometimes flashing the wrong bios can prevent Windows being detected as genuine

eg I have an Advent Netbook manufactured for them by MSI
some people used the MSI BIOS as it was updated before the Advent BIOS with more over clocking features but after flashing the MSI BIOS their Windows reported 'Not Genuine'


regards

Mike Barnes

 

[Dark Lord of Tech]

Refund!

 

[weaselman]

Oh but it is a pirate version, because the windows key has been black listed. They are very naughty boys.

 

[das_stig]

Refund and report them to trading standards and the F.A.S.T organisation.

 

[JDFan]

Dell OEM branded disks can only be used on DELL branded Mobos since they have code in the BIOS to activate the product - so unless you have a DELL MOBO the branded OEM version will be seen as not Genuine !! (this is why those copies are sold at a lower price since the company is selling copies of the OS that should not be sold in the manner they are selling them !)

Best option is to get a refund but chances are you will not be able to do that as these companies usually explain the terms of use somewhere on their site and refuse to give refunds since it was sold as advertised " DELL OEM BRANDED" so if you as a end user bought it without knowing the technical meaning of Branded it is your problem -- IE. "Buyer be ware" - so chances are you got an expensive paper weight and will need to purchase a "Genuine" product in order to get it activated.

 

[selimexotic]

Any advice on convincing micrisoft i have a dell computer? What type of info do they ask for? Im really broke and just had a daughter so this computer was kind of the last big thing i bought for myself before the baby was born so dropping another 100.00 on windows is not an option. Thanks guys.

 

[chugot9218]

Don't work on convincing them, if you were truly sold an illegitimate copy from a legitimate store, your case is with the store, and I would also contact an entity such as the BBB, or at least threaten to to the store.

 

[ex_bubblehead]

I think Dell would be quite interested in a company selling discs plainly marked "For distribution only with a new Dell PC". Think I'll ring up my Dell sales rep.

 

[JDFan]

I think Dell would be quite interested in a company selling discs plainly marked "For distribution only with a new Dell PC". Think I'll ring up my Dell sales rep.

In many cases they have bought the disks from DELL as surplus or Returned product that Dell sells off instead of taking a loss on the entire product after a warranty return (rather than spend to have someone try and repair the system they replace it and sell of the defective system to a refurbisher\salvage company that turns around and resells the parts including the Dell branded OS -- So technically they are not doing anything illegal since they also mention in the sales info that it is DELL branded.

@selimexotic - Did the disk ask for a product key during installation (chances are it did not since it is DELL branded and they use a universal key in addition to the modified BIOS that activates the product) -- Also did the purchase come with a label that has the product key printed on it ? (this key is issued by MS and is supposed to be attached to the system case too show it does actually have an individual license )

If it did and you never entered that key try running the activation wizard and when it fails (if it does) - select the option to change the key and enter the key off of that sticker and retry the activation and see if that works. (could be the OEM key that is included on the install disk needs to be changed using the individual key in order to activate properly on a non dell system.)

Iff that still does not work - use the phone number that it will give you when it fails and talk directly to a CS agent and explain the situation to them and when you give them the info on where it was bought etc. they may give you an activation code. (figure they are pretty lenient at giving them to individuals that tried to purchase a legitimate product in most cases - so doesn't hurt to try !!)

 

[JDFan]

Here is a post from the MS forums that explains the issue you are having and offers a bit of information on how to proceed : (though in this case it is on a DELL system that has been upgraded to a different version of windows the problem is still what you are encountering since the BIOS code is missing\not matching thus the server is seeing the install as non-genuine so the fix listed may also work for you !)

Just a little background so you can better understand the issue at play here.

When a computer comes with Windows Pre-installed on a computer from a Large Manufacturer (Dell, HP , so on) they use a specal kind of Product Key. The key is called a OEM SLP key. When the key was entered into Windows (at the factory) Windows see the specal key and then looks at the Bios of that computer for a OEM Bios Flag. If the proper Flag is present, Windows will Self-Activate (I.e. it activates without connecting to Microsoft's Activation servers)

Now, each OEM SLP key and OEM Bios Flag combination is Manufacturer and Windows version specific. This means each Manufacturer has it's own sets of OEM SLP/Bios Flags and each OEM SLP/Bios Flag pair is only good for one type of Windows.

What this means is that your Dell computer originally came with Vista, so, from the factory, it had the Dell OEM SLP/Bios Flag for Vista.

Later you installed the Dell copy of Windows 7 which contained the Dell OEM SLP key for Windows 7 Professional. However, the computer still has the OEM Bios Flag for Vista. The OEM SLP key and OEM Bios Flag do not match so Windows fails to self-activate.

At this point, for your Windows 7 to work, one of two things needs to happen.

a) You get a Bios your model of PC that includes the Dell OEM Bios Flag for Windows 7 Professional, so that Windows can match up the OEM SLP Key with the proper OEM Bios Flag that enables it to Self-Activate. The only place to obtain this Bios would be thru Dell.

or

b) You can change out the OEM SLP key with the Windows 7 Professional COA SLP key from the Certificate of Authenticity that came with the Windows 7 upgrade disk, from Dell. A COA SLP key is Always included with an OEM SLP key. This is a backup key just in case the OEM SLP/Bios Flag connection fails for some reason. You just us the Chage Product key function in Windows 7 to enter in the COA SLP key. The COA SLP key must be Activated manually using the Activate by Phone method. (Note: If Dell did not include a Certificate of Authenticity with the Windows 7 upgrade disk, then you do not have a Licensed copy of Windows 7 and would need to contact Dell for the Certificate of Authenticity.)

So as suggested in my post aboove try runningg the activation wizard and changing the product key to the one that came on the COA label with your purchase and then use the Phone Activation process to activate it !

 

[selimexotic]

Ive tried re-entering the product key does not work. Also called microsoft and tried activating that way and they said it was blocked. It is because the disc is for a Dell PC and the BIOS dont mtach up. I think the manufacturer is going to send me another disc but does this mean i have to reinstall windows and lose everything i have saved?

 

[JDFan]

Ive tried re-entering the product key does not work. Also called microsoft and tried activating that way and they said it was blocked. It is because the disc is for a Dell PC and the BIOS dont mtach up. I think the manufacturer is going to send me another disc but does this mean i have to reinstall windows and lose everything i have saved?

Is the key entered into the PC the one from the disk or the one on the COA (certificate of authenticity) that should have been in the package ? Or was no COA included ?

You say the Manufacturer is sending another disk - WHY ?? the disk worked properly and windows installed so another disk will do no good - it is the product Key off of the COA that you need - and if that key is blocked chances are you're dealing with a company selling counterfeit copies so no matter how many disks they send none are going to work -- you need them to give you a refund so you can buy from a reputable source -- They play this delay game so that the time limit for disputing the purchase with your credit card passes on the initial purchase so you can not reverse the charge by the time you ask for a refund instead !! -- Best option if you paid by credit card is ask for a full refund since they sold you a non working product and if they do not refund call the CC company and ask them to reverse the charge and explain what happened (product is flagged by MS as counterfeit) !!

 

[selimexotic]

I entered the product key on the COA that is on the disc sleeve. No other COA was given. Im guessing they want to send me a copy with a COA that is not blocked. If i have reinstall a new version does that mean i lose all the files?

 

[JDFan]

I entered the product key on the COA that is on the disc sleeve. No other COA was given. Im guessing they want to send me a copy with a COA that is not blocked. If i have reinstall a new version does that mean i lose all the files?

Problem with that is -- the reason MS blocked the first code is they are selling multiple copies using the same key - so if they send you one that works right now chances are the next time MS releases an update that checks the key again the new key will also now be blocked and it will again stop working !! -- Get a refund or have the CC company do a charge back while you still have the chance to cancel the purchase and buy from a legitimate source instead of dealing with a company that is selling counterfeit product that you will continually have problems with !! ( If they were selling legitimate copies the COA that you received would have an individual number on it that was unigue and therefore would never be Blocked by MS -- getting one that has been blocked means that it is in use by hundreds of people thus MS put a block on it -- and any new key they send you that does work will only do so until MS blocks them sometime in the near future !!

But to answer your question -- NO you will not lose any info - you would just run the activation wizard and select to change the key - enter the new key and phone activate - you would not need to reinstall anything -- Activation and installation of the OS are separate processes.

 

[selimexotic]

Best answer selected by selimexotic.

 

[selimexotic]

Okay im going to try and get a refund form the company. Thanks for all the help. Ill update you when everything is finished. In the mean time ill just have to deal with no wallpaper on the desktop which isnt too much of an inconvenience.

 

[selimexotic]

Just wanted to update you all. The company i bought from sent me a new COA product key and that one worked fine . All validated and genuine now so the company wasnt as shady as i thought.

 

[selimexotic]

Oh and with the first one it wasnt that i had activated it and then windows blocked it after updating. I had just never activated it thats why I didnt notice until after my window for activating ran out. So i dont think this key will be blocked now that its already been activated.

 

[rootxion]

Hi guys, I searched the forums but couldn't find anything that directly dealt with my problems so if this has been answered i apologize.

I just built my first build and used a Dell OEM windows 7 disc I bought brand new from Software Supply Group. Everything installed fine and works great until a few days ago im getting a message saying this copy of windows is not genuine build 7601. When i enter my product key it says it has been blocked. I know its not a pirated version what can i do. I tried activating it on the phone they also said it was counterfeit . What can i do ? My motherboard by the way is Asrock 970 Extreme 3.
Thanks for any help you can give me!

I'll let you know what worked for me.

I installed Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit from an OEM image I downloaded from the internet. You can easily find one by searching google for "Windows 7 Home Premium OEM ISO".
After installation I used the key on the label under the laptop.
When Windows tried to activate, it asked me for a new key because the one provided did not match the copy installed. So I decided to try the phone activation method. I provided the system with the generated numbers and it gave me back the freaking long activation code to validate and activate the copy.
It worked!
Now they copy is activated, downloading updates and no problems whatsoever.
I downloaded the drivers from the Dell Support website, presto!

Oh, the best thing... No bloatware since I installed from an OEM copy.

 

[FALC0N]

Thanks for the input, but you necrobumped a 3 year old thread. And your situation was a little different than his.