Installing full OEM W7 on Dell which is currently XP

bigmck · 17 May 2016

Have you ran the Win 7 Upgrade Advisor as of yet? It will tell you if your PC is capable of running Win 7.
Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor

alphanumeric · 17 May 2016

pawz7 said:

alphanumeric, it is a new, unused Dell disk as first stated in my post. The box is a Dell box which shipped with XP. we want to upgrade it for my daughter as the machine recently became unstable and needed the system re-installed. I have put XP back on but it needs to be upgraded to SP3 from SP2 and so far I have not found any MS site from where I can do that via Firefox, and IE7 is not working. Putting Windows Seven on seems the way to go.

Fireberd it is a Dimension 3100

I'll ask again, how did you come by this "unused" disk? Does it have a COA sticker with it, with a product code on it? OEM branded install media usually ships with a PC, or is ordered for a specific model PC. Just because its a Dell branded disk doesn't necessarily mean it can be used on any Dell PC. That's not how it works. If there is no COA sticker, it can only be used on a Dell PC that is already licensed for that version of Windows. You could end up with an unlicensed, unactuated Windows 7 install. Just so you know.

AddRAM · 18 May 2016

This unused disc you`re using has to have its own Windows 7 activation key, the bios on the Dell pc will not activate it.

torchwood · 18 May 2016

If and when you get to W7, run the Mgadiag tool,
If its an upgrade, a couple of extra data lines are created, as an identifier.

Roy

pawz7 · 20 May 2016

the new system is on - but not without drama. The disk came, with a new PID - except the disk was not 'new' as described by the seller; the packet had been unsealed and the disk was clearly second-hand, with a slight scuff and marks of usage. The PID was new however.. I did a clean install on an empty drive and that all went as it should, but when we got to the activation bit, the PID was rejected. I had to do an automated telphone call to MS to get the system activated. All the original drivers for chipset, graphics, sound and network went on fine, and we are now in the process of getting system updates and putting the apps, security software and personal stuff on for daughter. I think I am getting too old for this - I have worked on repairing and refurbishing computers since Windows 98 days but it seems more stress than fun now - me brain ain't up to it anymore. Thank you for all your help fellas.

alphanumeric · 20 May 2016

I'd chalk that one up to being lucky. That should not have activated, even with phone activation. Contrary to what some might think though, Microsoft is pretty lenient with system activations. With the PC being a Dell and the install Media being Dell they gave you the benefit of the doubt. You should be all set now though, so enjoy.

AddRAM · 20 May 2016

Be sure not to install any Windows 10 updates if you do not want Windows 10