Refurbished Windows 7 Pro Operating System.....

NorPlan · 21 Sep 2013

Just curious if any Pros Or Cons ?? I'm about to Reboot my Computer in my quest clear out whatever is preventing me from taking Updates without Failure or Error Codes...I just recently purchased a Refurbished Dell that came with the Windows 7 Pro Operating System...The label on the CD that came with the Dell has the Microsoft Logo and Refurbished Windows 7 Pro printed on it as well...

Pardon my Computer Illiteracy but I just want to make sure that I can Safely Reboot my Computer with this CD ?? Thanks :)

gregrocker · 21 Sep 2013

As long as the Product Key on the COA sticker is still readable you can use the latest Win7 installer with SP1 for your licensed version provided here to get a perfect Clean Reinstall - Factory OEM Windows 7

Pay close attention to how drivers are handled in Win7 and the Special Note for Dell Owners at the end of the tutorial. I would run the Delll bootable Diagnostics now to check over the hardware first, then if it runs only save that partition since Recovery won't run after reinstall. Dell Diagnostics Utility - How to Run the . If Diagnostics won't run the delete all partitions during the install.

Ask back any questons you have.

alphanumeric · 21 Sep 2013

By "reboot" you mean reinstall windows? Refurbished in this case refers to the PC, not Windows. There is no Windows 7 Refurbished edition. Not as far as I know anyway. It likely uses OEM SLP activation so it should be just as legal as it was before and auto activate against the BIOS SLIC table. I'd back up any files you want to save to external media before hand though. This "reboot" may wipe out everything and restore your PC to the factory state. It will be the way it was the first time you turned it on.

Layback Bear · 21 Sep 2013

Where did you get the Refurbished Dell computer?
The reason I ask is just because it's a Dell and it indicates Refurbished doesn't necessarily mean it came from Dell's Refurbish center.

cjmarshall · 21 Sep 2013

Running Windows on more than one system with the same activation code could cause problems.
Microsoft could possibly take notice and flag one of them as a pirated version or stolen activation code.
They are pretty keen on wanting to sell a unique product code for each and every computer.
If you install multiple copies of windows with the same activation code you would need to either not have them both online at the same time (that might not even work, just guessing), never connect one of them to the internet again or jump through some questionable hoops the likes of which should not be discussed here.

cjmarshall · 21 Sep 2013

Perhaps I read that wrong, if you are trying to just reinstall the Windows OS on the computer that came with the disc it should be ok, but there is always the driver thing mentioned above.
It may be possible to get the proper drivers from the computer manufacturer's website.

gregrocker · 21 Sep 2013

Win7 is driver complete in the installer and then quickly updated when you enable Automatically deliver drivers via Windows Update (Step 3) and run all rounds of Important and Optional Windows Updates to completion, with reboots.

So pay attention to these and other steps to assure a perfect install in Clean Reinstall - Factory OEM Windows 7 based on tens of thousands of installs we have helped with here since before beta.

SandeepP · 26 Sep 2013

NorPlan said:

Just curious if any Pros Or Cons ?? I'm about to Reboot my Computer in my quest clear out whatever is preventing me from taking Updates without Failure or Error Codes...I just recently purchased a Refurbished Dell that came with the Windows 7 Pro Operating System...The label on the CD that came with the Dell has the Microsoft Logo and Refurbished Windows 7 Pro printed on it as well...

Pardon my Computer Illiteracy but I just want to make sure that I can Safely Reboot my Computer with this CD ?? Thanks :)

Hi NorPlan,

If the system has Windows 7 Pro logo then you can install Windows 7 Pro either from the disc provided with the system or any iso image that can be downloaded online as well.

Make sure you follow the instructions in the tutorial below to do a clean install of windows :

Clean Install Windows 7

Once the windows is installed you can download and install the relevant drivers for your system. Check this video for performing the same:

Updating Dell Drivers

Once windows and drivers are installed you can also take a image backup which takes lesser time than re-installing windows. Check this video to make a backup image:

Creating Backup

Keep us posted with the results so we can advise you further.

SandeepP · 27 Sep 2013

NorPlan
SandeepP, I had a friend ( Retired Cannon Tech ) help me with the CD that came with the Refurbished Dell PC...Apart from the time consuming wait while the CD ran it's course..We got er done...Just a few things to tweak for personal taste & appearance and were as good as new..Had approximately 112 Updates in total...lol...Cheers

Hi NorPlan,

Its great to hear that it worked fine and windows has been installed on the system. You can update the drivers and softwares at your convenience and let us know if you require further assistance.

Please mark the thread as solved once the issue has been resolved to your satisfaction.

If you have any further queries, please feel free to contact us.