Windows 7: Deleted the partition containing the Windows 7 product key

Ok so to start off I wanted a clean install of Windows 7 Home Premium. I had everything ready and I formatted the hard drive, deleted all the partitions and started the fresh installation of Windows 7. Then I realized I didn't extract my Windows 7 product key. Now I bought this laptop from Ebay. It is a Dell XPS 15 (L502x). I tried putting in the product key that was on the little sticker on the bottom of my laptop but it said that the key was invalid. I contacted Dell and explained my situation to them and they registered me as the new laptop owner and sent me the recovery disks. Now my question is will the recovery disks work even though I don't have a product key anymore?

Have you received the disks? I believe the recovery disks will have a key provided on the contents package; if not, call Dell for additional support.

HTH

I presume what you have got is a DELL OEM Reinstall Disk. It should install and self-activate offline preserving the OEM activation. Please download all drivers or atleast the network drivers for your system from the DELL support site so that you can go online and update. ( If it is an OEM Reinstall Disk it will not have any drivers in it. I always prefer to download all drivers from the manufacturer's website for the first install.)

Please do make a backup copy of the install media and keep it safely for future use - in case you lose the media or the media gets damaged.

No I have not received them yet. Dell said I probably wouldn't get them until after Christmas. I called them yesterday. I was just wondering because I have no way to get that product key back because I've already deleted all the partitions on my hard drive and reinstalled another copy of Windows. I just didn't know if the recovery disks would work without a product key.

I'm guessing that's what Dell is sending me. All I know is the copy of Windows that came with the computer when I bought it from Ebay had a different product key then the one that is on the sticker on my computer.

Dell wouldn't send you disks unless they either have a Product Key or they self-activate. You should be OK when you get the disks. Let us know how things work out for you.

The product key on the sticker should indicate the version originally installed on the machine by the OEM. You will get the same version install disk. So do not expect that that will be same as the one you had wiped now in case the previous owner had renstalled a different version.

Just curious. -- I buy a lot of stuff on Ebay and have always had good luck. Was this a company with a lot of "Feedback" or was it just an individual?

Ya it was an individual. He seemed to have good feedback. The laptop came with no recovery disks or recovery partitions. He even told me the product key was in fact the one on the sticker. So ya hopefully these recovery disks work lol

Thanks. Ya I'll keep you guys posted