Inspiron 3847 desktop, corrupt recovery partition

I was told by someone today that Dell did not ship these with factory recovery partitions. My unit *has* a partition and I assumed it was a factory Win7 recovery partition since it has a Win7 sticker and COA on the case. Anyone know more?

Both assumptions are wrong.

Dell shippped them with Dell Backup and Recovery.

That software was EOL in 2016.

There is no going back to Dell windows 7 after 10 upgrade.  The "RECOVERY" partition is part of the standard windows 10 install.

The OEM DBAR Partition is encrypted and destroyed when you update to windows 10.

Windows 7 and 8 are end of life.  8.1 is good for a few more years.

Neither Dell nor microsoft allow downgrade using an OS that is END OF LIFE END OF SUPPORT.  If there isn't a WINDOWS 7 PRO COA sticker then this model came with Windows 8 not 7.

You can install 10 using the SLP key in bios if its a windows 8 model with Genuine Windows Sticker.

Only Windows PRO had downgrade.  This is gone now because 7 is gone gone gone forever.

https://download.microsoft.com/download/6/8/9/68964284-864d-4a6d-aed9-f2c1f8f23e14/downgrade_rights.pdf

Reinstall of 10 is easy and free using OEM system builder DVD.

https://www.neweggbusiness.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9B-32-350-238

Almost everything is native to windows.

However older audio and video and chipset drivers will need to be re installed. 3847 is a legacy model since its over 8 years old now.

http://downloads.dell.com/published/pages/inspiron-3847-desktop.html

Windows Vista and up WDDM drivers work fine in 10.

These models shipped with WIN8 installed

Color-Shifting Ink
The color shift on the label is designed to change from one color to another when viewed from different angles,

making it easy to determine if it is genuine.

Windows 8: magenta to green

Windows 8 Pro: blue to purple

Rather than COA key on top they have Windows Genuine Label on the back if they were shipped with PRO version of windows.

The home versions of these models have no COA and No label on the back.  All of them will install and activate windows 10 using the OEM system builder DVD.  If you have COA sticker you need to enter the key AFTER INSTALL with the "I dont have a key" option.

If you have the Genuine lable the OEM DVD will read the key from bios automatically and activate once online.

WINDOWS GENUINE LABEL ON BACK

If it has WIN7 COA then you had DBAR partition.  Changing the OS to 10 DESTROYS FOREVER the WIN7 recovery.  Its a one way trip.  There are ZERO options for user to recreate the WIN7 DBAR recovery.

DBAR is now EOL as it was in 2016

Windows 7 and 8 are EOL.

You can use OEM system builder win10 DVD and reinstall 10 on that machine.

When it asks for a Key you say "I don't have a key"

You then install HOME or PRO windows.

Once online you activate or tell it to use the COA Key from windows 7 and it will activate without needing to buy a KEY for 10.

If it has been LESS THAN 180 Days since you were online with activated windows 10 your machine will re activate automatically once online.

A Genuine Microsoft Label (GML) should be found on new devices that: Have been preinstalled with or licensed with Windows 8, Windows 8.1 and Windows 10 in BIOS.

Those systems will not have COA Key or sticker.  The OEM DVD will not ask for a key or which version of windows because it reads it from the bios. "Win 7 sticker " is NOT A COA with 25 digit serial number.

https://www.dell.com/support/article/en-us/sln289661/where-is-the-certificate-of-authenticity-coa-label-located-on-dell-laptop-computers?lang=en

WIN7 COA

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/howtotell/hardware-pc-purchase

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=odx2C_UcWMw

Understood. Thanks. I’ll save this for future reference.

This tower has both the blue Win7 badge on the front bezel as well as the Win7 COA on the top of the case. But I’m not looking to run 10 on this. If I can’t get 7 recovered, I’ll just sell it wiped or as parts.

OK, that’s good, helpful information. Thanks.

Do I understand correctly, then, that this machine (which *does* have a Win 7 sticker on the front bezel & a Win7 COA) would have come with a functional, contemporary Win7 recovery partition?  The reason for the specificity of my question is... my plan was to find an intact like machine and use it to restore my unit to factory state. 

Many, many more ppl than you would think. I refurbish Win98/2000 machines and ship them all over the world. There are tons of places that still need to run old hardware and software. A Win10 laptop from Best Buy won’t run a 20-year-old welder, phone system, fish finder, embroidery machine, etc., etc.

You could try this link, as long as you have a valid Win 7 product key.  

CAVEAT: I don't know if Microsoft is still allowing Win 7 and all its updates to be downloaded...

But who's willing to use a PC running Win 7, because there aren't any new security updates since Jan'20...?

You'd probably be better off installing Win 10 and then selling it, if you don't want/need it, for a higher price than you'd get for parts...