Windows7 Pro Sp1 - Could Installing It Automatically Activate It?

Have you purchased a Windows 7 upgrade/license for this laptop?  Even though Dell OEM media will auto-activate Windows 7 on this machine, if your machine has a Vista license, you cannot legally use OEM Windows 7 on it.

TheFlash1932:

That's interesting information.  Assuming your information is correct, could I buy (from Microsoft or elsewhere) a license for the OEM DVD Product Key that I installed, instead of a new DVD?  If a legitimate license comes only with a new DVD, I will have to do a complete wipe of my current installation and start all over again.  Even if I saved my currrent beginning Win7 setup to an external hard disk I couldn't restore store what I saved because it would somewhere have the OEM product key and conflict with the product key that came with the new DVD.

If a new DVD accompanied a new license, I would want it to be a clean install license and DVD, not an upgrade license and DVD.  It's too late for me to upgrade from Vista to Windows 7, because I wouldn't really be upgrading since the Vista content on the computer is completely gone.  A true upgrade would require me to buy a Vista license and DVD, re-install Vista, and then buy a Windows 7 upgrade license and DVD.

As a relatively minor issue, if the license came with a new DVD, I would have to trash the OEM DVD, which I purchased from a large U.S. website that sells all sorts of software, and which knew that I was replacing Vista with Windows 7.  Since it's already been activated, it couldn't be used again.

I would very much appreciate the following:

a) A link to some documentation so that I can verify what you say.  When installing my brand new Dell OEM DVD, the installation included a very long Microsoft license document, and I didn't see any statement that OEM DVD's for my situation were illegal.  (Of course, in a very long document I could have missed or misinterpreted something that supports what you say.). The writing on the top of the physical DVD itself says that it is a Reinstallation DVD.  That can be interpreted as supporting what you say, but on the other hand it does not say explicitly say that the DVD is for reinstalling the exact same operating system that is already on the computer.  On the other other hand, my experience over many years is that Microsoft documentation is lousy (e.g. its website frequently refers to networks without including the needed adjective of workgroup (or peer-to-peer) or domain).

b) A link --- or at least a clue to where I would find a link --- about where I would get the license that you say I need.  I don't want to buy dozens of licenses with DVDs until I find one that complies with what you say.

Thanks for alerting me to this issue.

R.N. (Roger) Folsom

http://www.microsoft.com/oem/en/licensing/sblicensing/pages/licensing_faq.aspx#fbid=tSUdDaz4Xux

A Certificate of Authenticity (COA) label helps you and your customers identify genuine Microsoft Windows software. Without it, your customers will not have a legal license to run their Windows software.

After an OEM software license has been installed on a PC, the license may not be installed on or transferred to another PC. However, the entire PC may be transferred to another end user along with the software license rights. When transferring the PC to the new end user, the software media, manuals (if applicable), and Certificate of Authenticity label must be included. It is also advisable to include the original purchase invoice or receipt. The original end user cannot keep any copies of the software.

The OEM license will work on your Dell but it is not legal unless you purchase a license. Dell Reinstallation DVDs automatically unlock when installed via a Dell BIOs with a System Locked Preinstallation Key (see here). This key is found on all Dells with that license.

You said that you installed Windows 7, from a Dell DVD, on a system that came with Vista.  Check your license sticker ... if it says Vista, that gives you the right to run that version of Windows - or less - on that system only.  Say your machine came with a Vista Business license - that license give you the right to run Vista Business or XP Pro, but not Vista Ultimate or any version of Windows 7.

To run Windows 7 on a machine that has a Vista license, an upgrade license of some kind must be purchased.  Upgrade licenses cost as little as half as much as a full Retail license and is all that is required to upgrade Vista to 7.

If you want to reinstall the OS on this machine without purchasing any extra licenses, and your license sticker says Vista, then you need to obtain Vista installation media and install Vista.

If you want to upgrade to Windows 7, then you need to purchase an Upgrade.  Your existing Vista license qualifies you to purchase Windows 7 at Upgrade pricing.  You can boot to this media and do a fresh install.  You will not be able to activate an OEM install with a Retail key (the reverse is true, however).

The only exception to this is if you have a Windows 7 license on your computer.  When Windows 7 first launched, for several months, OEM's could build computers with Vista (at a customer's request), which could include a Windows 7 license sticker (COA).  Using Microsoft's "downgrade rights", they can run Vista for as long as needed with their Windows 7 license and install/run Windows 7 when they were ready to do so with the Windows 7 license affixed to the system.  The reverse is NOT true ... a Windows Vista license gives a user no more right to run Windows 7 with that license than does a Windows 7 allow a user to run Windows 8 with a Windows 7 license.

So, first:  What does your COA give you a license for - Vista or 7?

If Vista and you want to upgrade, you need to purchase an upgrade:

Windows 7 Upgrade

If Vista and you don't want to purchase an upgrade, then you need to obtain a Dell-branded Vista Business installation DVD.

If Windows 7, then you need to obtain a Dell-branded Windows 7 installation DVD.

To obtain Windows media from Dell, you can request replacement disks using this form here:
https://support.dell.com/support/topics/global.aspx/support/dellcare/en/backupcd_form

With Vista and 7, as mentioned, it is possible to install using Retail media, then activate using the OEM Product Key (license) on the COA (often phone activation is required):

http://www.mydigitallife.info/download-windows-7-iso-official-32-bit-and-64-bit-direct-download-links/

Some reading on the subject:

http://www.microsoft.com/oem/en/licensing/sblicensing/pages/transfer_oem_licenses.aspx#fbid=MNfZO1XkRK1
http://www.microsoft.com/oem/en/licensing/sblicensing/pages/downgrade_rights.aspx#fbid=MNfZO1XkRK1

Hi Roger

If you have the 25 digit product key for Windows Vista on the Windows Vista COA at the base of the laptop then you could reinstall Windows Vista. See Vista Downloads and A Clean Install of Windows Vista. The Dell System Locked Preinstallation Key is the key you will have currently on the Dell Latitude with Windows 7. This is the key that will be automatically input and activated when installed on a Dell system with a Dell Windows DVD. See here for more information on SLP keys.

With regards to using a Windows 7 Upgrade DVD you may actually perform a clean install using upgrade media see my wiki A Clean Install of Windows 7 for full details.

Also if you purchase a Windows 7 Ultimate Upgrade Key you can probably directly use Windows 7 Anytime Upgrade to change the product key from the Dell SLP key to the one you purchased.

To all the recent respondents:

I am writing this on a Dell Latitude C840 WinXPsp3, but my issues concern a recently acquired (eBay) Dell Latitude E6500 with a UXGA screen (which is why I bought it).  It came with Vista Business installed, and the product key label on the bottom is for Vista.  It is now running Windows 7 Sp1 installed by a Dell OEM DVD that automatically activated it, as explained above by Ravi Chandra BC.

But the Dell OEM DVD that I bought includes a product key label with a top line that says Windows 7 Pro OA (I have no idea what the OA stands for), followed by a Dell barcode, and below that a Product Key.  Below that is a barcode, and various numbers.

But it now looks like I probably won't be able to keep my new-to-me computer legally.  If so, I will give it to a local charity that takes used computers and refurbishes them (including new operating systems) and sells or even gives them to low income people (which doesn't include me).  Microsoft supports that charity by granting it operating system installation rights at very low cost.

I appreciate everyone's efforts, but the result is that I'm drowning in links that take me to places that I don't understand and that don't give me a solution for my allegedly illegal installation.

What I needed was a FEW links that applied directly to my situation, together with what to do with the information or products on the links.

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To natatuk-4:

I understood everything you wrote except for your last paragraph:

"The OEM license will work on your Dell but it is not legal unless you purchase a license. Dell Reinstallation DVDs automatically unlock when installed via a Dell BIOs with a System Locked Preinstallation Key (see here). This key is found on all Dells with that license."

I understand the first sentence quoted, but the remainder is a complete mystery to me.  What does "unlock" mean?  What is a Preinstallation Key? (Whatever it is, I can't use it because, as noted at the beginning of this thread, I already replaced Vista Business with a Dell OEM Windows7 Sp1.)  And the "see here" link (forums.mydigitallife.info/.../10370-Windows-7-OEM-SLP-Key-Collection) took me to an unintelligible website (Windows 7 OEM SLP Key Collection) with tables that are mostly empty, including a table for PROFESSIONAL (OEM-8992671).

But that website did include he following:

"To check keys use online PID checker by Freestyler:

Of course, I have no idea what PID stands for, but I used the E6500's MSIE to go to

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To Philip Yip:

Your links were interesting, but none told me what to do to get a legal license for a laptop that already has a Dell OEM Windows 7 sp1 installed.

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To: Theflash1932:

Your message included the following:  "If you want to upgrade to Windows 7, then you need to purchase an Upgrade.  Your existing Vista license qualifies you to purchase Windows 7 at Upgrade pricing.  You can boot to this media and do a fresh install.  You will not be able to activate an OEM install with a Retail key (the reverse is true, however)."

Understood.

Farther down you included a link to Windows 7 Upgrade, which took me to Amazon (www.amazon.com/.../ref=as_li_ss_tl)

which is selling a Microsoft Windows 7 Professional Upgrade (apparently without Sp1).  BUT I DON'T WANT AN UPGRADE, because I want a clean install.  When I upgraded (literally) my Dell C840 from Win2kSp4 to WinXPsp2 (since upgraded to sp3) I used a special Microsoft CD designed for that purpose (because I had a lot of software that I didn't want to re-install)  But there were a lot of glitches that I gradually fixed over more than a year.

So for my Dell E6500, I took time looking for a Dell OEM DVD Win7Sp1 that was NOT an upgrade.  An upgrade made no sense because although the E6500 came with the Vista Business operating system, there was absolutely no application software installed.

Still farther down you wrote:

"If Windows 7, then you need to obtain a Dell-branded Windows 7 installation DVD.

"To obtain Windows media from Dell, you can request replacement disks using this form here:

At that location, the first itemm is "Request Backup Disks" but that isn't a link.

The opening statement says "If you recently purchased a Dell computer with the Windows 7 operating system and have DataSafe Local 2.0 on your system, you can create a set of Recovery Discs that contain a complete copy of all software installed on your Dell computer."

But I can't see the relevance of that to my situation.  I've never heard of DataSafe;  apparently it is newer than my E6500 is.

And on that webpage, I can't find anything that IS relevant to my situation.

On your post, your digitallife.info link (

Your last "reading" links were interesting, but didn't solve my problem.

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Thanks again to everyone who has responded.  But it looks like I am stuck with giving this computer to charity, and then seeing if I can find another modern Dell Latitude Matte UXGA screen pointing-stick laptop that already has Windows 7 installed.  Meanwhile, my Dell C840 meets my needs until April 2014.  (Unfortunately, Dell's last UXGA Matte laptop screen laptop apparently was the E6500, no longer produced.)

R.N. (Roger) Folsom

"BUT I DON'T WANT AN UPGRADE, because I want a clean install."

As I said, Upgrade Media allows you to do EITHER ... a clean install or an upgrade install.  It is called "upgrade" when offered at a discount for a user currently using a qualifying operating system.

"You can  perform a custom installation using either the upgrade or full version of Windows 7."

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/upgrading-to-windows-7-frequently-asked-questions

You don't have to give away your new computer, you just have to either install Vista or purchase Windows 7.

Forget DataSafe.  DataSafe is what Dell (and similar on other OEM PC's) installs on a PC to restore a PC quickly to factory-installed condition.  Alternately to using DataSafe, a clean install can be done from any Windows media.  Dell-branded media can be requested by using the form at the link I provided.  Dell doesn't want to send you the media, so they tell you what they would like you to do, which is why they installed DataSafe in the first place, however, on that form:

"To proceed with requesting these backup discs, please fill out the request form below and click Submit to continue."

Fill it out to request a Windows Vista installation DVD.

To be clear ... ANY Dell installation DVD MUST match the version of Windows that the license (COA) is for.

The links to the ISO's work in standard browsers - use Firefox or Chrome.  They are only useful if you have a Windows 7 license, and since you have a Vista license, they won't help you.

In Summary:
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Installing Vista is free, since you already have a license for it.
Installing 7 costs money, as you need to purchase a license (comes with a new Product Key).
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Legally, you can install Vista on this at no cost, by requesting the installation DVD from Dell or obtaining the Retail DVD ISO from Digital River (I believe nat has some links to Vista ISO's in his wikis - or Google it).

Legally, you can install Windows 7 on this machine by purchasing a Windows 7 license.  The full version of Windows 7 is around $300 and is for users whose computer has no existing qualifying version of Windows.  The upgrade version of Windows 7 Pro (again, you qualify if your existing license is or Vista) can be had for well under $200.

Look at the 'i' next to the pricing:
http://www.microsoftstore.com/store/msstore/pd/Windows-7-Professional/productID.216645600/vip.true&WT.mc_id=WOL_shop

natakuc4:

You wrote:  "The Dell System Locked Preinstallation Key is the key you will [already] have currently on the Dell Latitude with Windows 7. This is the key that will be [has been] automatically input and activated when installed on a Dell system with a Dell Windows DVD."

A comment, no need to reply:

In Square brackets I have corrected your statement to fit my situation, which is that Windows7 Sp1 has already replaced Vista Business, and has already been activated.

New topic:

The argument against me here is that I should not have installed Win7sp1 by using a Dell OEM DVD, even though Microsoft let it activate despite the computer's previous Vista Business Product Key, which should have been somewhere electronic on this E6500 laptop (it is on a label underneath the battery) and accessible to Microsoft and/or Dell.  After buying and using a Dell OEM Win7sp1 DVD with no intention to defraud anybody (including Microsoft), I'm being held responsible for Microsoft's sloppy installation security practices.

That last sentence is the result of your inviting my attention to a very interesting Wikipedia article at en.wikipedia.org/.../System_Locked_Pre-installation, which includes the following statement (the . . . ellipses leave out seven lines of text so I hope my revision is accurate):

"System Locked Pre-installation . . . effectively 'locks' the operating system to the qualified motherboard. In addition, if an end user feels the need to perform a 'clean install' of Windows and if the manufacturer supplies the user with an installation disc (not a 'System Recovery' disc that is a hard drive image), the user will not be prompted to activate the copy, GIVEN THAT THE INSTALLATION IS PERFORMED ON THE SAME MOTHERBOARD."

But since the new-to-me Dell Latitude E6500 came to me with Vista Business installed on it, and I used a Dell OEM DVD to install Win7sp1, to me the Wikipedia article implies that when the Dell OEM DVD tried to activate Win7sp1, the activation should have failed, because the motherboard should have had a Vista Product Key that should have conflicted with the Dell OEM Win7sp1 product key.  (Based on the labels, their product keys are entirely different.)

Clearly either Microsoft and/or Dell blew it, or --- more likely --- there's something here that I do not understand about product keys.

Thanks for your inviting my attention to your A Clean Install of Windows 7 wiki.  I have saved the link.  I'll stay away from Windows 7 Ultimate because when I viewed Microsoft's list of features for its various Windows 7 versions, the difference (whatever it was) between Professional and Ultimate persuaded me to go for Professional.  (It wasn't the price that persuaded me.)

R.N. (Roger) Folsom

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P.S. The Wikipedia site continues my quotation above with the following:  "Furthermore, because the check only involves the BIOS and not hardware, a user is allowed to change virtually all hardware components within the machine except motherboard, a procedure that would normally trigger re-activation in retail Windows copies."  That's a huge advantage of installing an operating system using an OEM DVD instead of a Retail DVD.

P.S. To my immediately preceding post:

It's odd to me that no one has responded to my pointing out the fact that the Dell OEM Win7sp1 DVD included a Certificate of Authority label, which turned out not to be needed for activation.

R.N. (Roger) Folsom

To everyone who has contributed to this thread:

Throughout this thread I have done my best (which apparently has not been good enough) to make clear THAT I HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO INTEREST IN OWNING A WINDOWS VISTA COMPUTER.  Yet everybody keeps cluttering up their responses with advice for re-installing Vista.  Frankly, I find that very distracting.

New topic:

Theflash1932 wrote: "Upgrade Media allows you to do EITHER ... a clean install or an upgrade install.  It is called upgrade' when offered at a discount for a user currently using a qualifying operating system."  Others have made similar statements.

But, given my experience that the upgrade DVD that upgraded my Dell Latitude C840's Win2kSp4 to WinXPsp2 did NOT allow for a clean install --- admittedly in that case I wanted an upgrade and NOT a clean install, so I wasn't looking for it on that upgrade DVD, and a clean intall option may have been there and I missed it --- I know that recommendations that I get an upgrade DVD are well intended.  But I'm not willing to take the time to experiment and discover whether an upgrade DVD does or does not allow clean installs, as completely clean as installs by a a DVD designed explicitly for that purpose.

As for getting and installing a "legal" copy of Windows7 Sp1, I am going to stop focusing on this issue, continue to use my Dell Latitude C840 WinXPsp3 computer (which is how I have been writing this and other threads, and how I have been visiting the tons of links that contributors here have provided), take some time off and get back to my regular life, with my Dell Latitude E6500 on a shelf.

I'll figure out what to do with the E6500 when I have time to do so.  I have saved everyone's responses, so if I decide to keep it, I'll have the patience to sort out the Vista remarks and see if the Windows7 suggestions are workable.

One remaining ambiguity is that some of the contributions to this thread seem to imply that it's possible to buy a Windows7 license without buying and installing a new DVD.  But that's probably a misunderstanding on my part, because no one has given me a link to a site that simply provides a new license and lets me retain the Dell OEM Win7sp1 that I have already purchased AND installed, even before I began this thread.

Sincerely, thanks for everyone's attempts to help.  But my life is much more than computers.  It's long past time for this thread to end.

R.N. (Roger) Folsom

"I HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO INTEREST IN OWNING A WINDOWS VISTA COMPUTER"

No, other than avoiding the topic of Vista, this was not stated clearly, which is why we kept offering it as an (no cost) option.

given my experience that the upgrade DVD that upgraded my Dell Latitude C840's Win2kSp4 to WinXPsp2 did NOT allow for a clean install

That was XP.  This is Windows 7.  Let me repeat my last post, which quotes the Microsoft Windows 7 site in regards to upgrade/clean installs, which should alleviate your doubts and eliminate the need to 'experiment':

"You can  perform a custom installation using either the upgrade or full version of Windows 7."

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/upgrading-to-windows-7-frequently-asked-questions

One remaining ambiguity is that some of the contributions to this thread seem to imply that it's possible to buy a Windows7 license without buying and installing a new DVD.

I believe nat eluded to this, but Anytime Upgrade will allow you to enter the Product Key of a valid Retail license that you purchase, even of the same version.  You can purchase a key at the Microsoft store.

visiting the tons of links that contributors here have provided

"A link to some documentation so that I can verify" and "A link --- or at least a clue to where I would find a link"

You asked for documentation.  We are trying to satisfy that request.

It's odd to me that no one has responded to my pointing out the fact that the Dell OEM Win7sp1 DVD included a Certificate of Authority label, which turned out not to be needed for activation.

Frankly, I ignored it.  Dell does not sell OEM COA's (with or without media) without a computer.  They are prohibited from doing so by Microsoft.  Whoever sold it to you did not do so legally either.

Look.  We weren't trying to rip you a new one ... just wanted to bring to your attention how OEM licensing works, in case you are the sort who tries to stay on the right side of the road.

Take care, and good luck.