Non-booting Win 7; need version and serial key.

Hello, I just joined.

We have an office Dell Inspiron N5010 with Windows 7 that doesn't boot. I booted from a Ubuntu DVD and copied some of the important files, but Ubuntu shows only two of the four partitions; the other two it seems have become corrupted.

I have the Service Tag and the Express Service Code of the laptop.

What I want to find out is the Windows 7 version - whether it is Professional or Home Premium, and also whether it is x32 or x64. No one in the office knows this; all they know is that it is a Dell laptop and it runs Windows 7. I"ll also need the serial key, which I'll use later. Is it possible to do this by booting from the Ubuntu DVD? Once I come to know about this, I'll format and reinstall Windows. I already have my own Win 7 DVD; whether it can be used to install Windows in the office laptop is a different matter, as my version might be different.

Thanks.

Everything needed is here to get and keep a perfect Clean Reinstall - Factory OEM Windows 7.

The exception might be if this is activated by a volume license key for the company. This would need to be handled by your IT dept. If not then the PC should have the COA sticker which needs to have a readable Product Key.

Troubleshooting Windows 7 Failure to Boot

There is no sticker on the laptop. I also removed the battery; it has a whole lot of numbers but nothing worthwhile.

Even after booting from the Ubuntu DVD, the first two partitions, C: containing Win 7, and D:, don't show up. I think the partitions have got damaged; the message that Ubuntu gives is something like "returned with a non-zero status". I searched for a solution on the net, and tried running all those sudo commands of ntfs, but nothing happened. I also booted from Kaspersky Rescue Disk, but tried running its registry manager, but again, nothing happened. I think the partition containing Win 7 has got damaged, so nothing other than a format and reinstall will work.

On Monday, we will contact the Dell shop from where we bought this computer, and ask them about the Windows version and license key.

Thanks for all the replies you've given. :)

Why are you trying to repair a Windows operating system with Linux tools? The correct steps to try to repair unbootable Win7 are here and include everything possible that can be done for Troubleshooting Windows 7 Failure to Start.

The shop needs to explain why they installed Win7 without providing the COA sticker to prove it's Genuine. They are not allowed to resell or transfer MS software without such a sticker provided. If they refuse then contact MS Customer Service to file a case for possible piracy which may earn you a free copy if you cooperate with their investigation. If the shop charged you for an OS which you are not able to reinstall then they have also committed a theft under the law.

This is what I did earlier: Since the laptop was not booting, I thought that I would boot from Linux and get all the data we need out of it. I didn't think of the Win 7 DVD I have because I thought that is for format - reinstall. I did boot from it and did try some option, but it gave an error message.

Then I downloaded Puppy Linux, which is small sized download. I booted from it, and it showed me three of the four partitions, including the Windows partition (C:\), and I got some data out at that time. Then I used another DVD, I don't remember the name right now, but it is used for such recovery, and booting from this DVD showed only two partitions, the first two were not accessible.

Then I booted from Ubuntu, and again it shows the first two as not accessible. So I decided to format - reinstall using thw Windows DVD.

On Monday, I'll boot from the Windows 7 DVD and try the repair option.

Try with the Win7 DVD to Copy & Paste - in Windows Recovery Console

How are you going to reinstall without a Product Key? What did the shop tell you about why they illegally sold you Win7 on the PC without a COA sticker with Product Key?

If you have a Product key then follow Clean Reinstall - Factory OEM Windows 7
if you want a perfect install.