How to find out what original operating systems was

Question

I purchased a Dell Dimension 5150/E510 from an ebay seller, came preinstalled with Windows 7 Ultimate. After a week of updates, get the message that Windows 7 is not Genuine. I contacted the seller, he claims the copy is genuine, that he upgraded from Windows XP, sent me a CD to reinstall, long story short, this did not work and I am sure it must be a counterfiet copy. I need to purchase a legitimate copy. How can I tell what the original operating system was? If it did come originally with Windows XP, can I purchase a upgrade to Windows 7 or do I need to purchase the full version?

Thanks for your help.

theflash1932 · Accepted Answer

Does the computer have a sticker on it anywhere with a 25-character alpha numeric code?  What operating system does it say?  You can also go to support.dell.com, enter your Service Tag, click on Warranty Status (left menu), and Original Configuration tab to see what it originally shipped with.

PudgyOne · Answer

tinmonkey,

Did the owner transfer the ownership over to you? Dell - Ownership Transfers or International Ownership Transfer Form

Go to Drivers & Downloads and allow it to find your service tag number. Do NOT post it here. It should take you to download drivers for the operating system. The drivers look like it might be XP or could be Vista 32-bit. If a Windows 7 disk was used, there should be a product key provided on the disk.

Unless the seller provides you with a new disk that the product key was never used, then you will need to purchase Windows 7. There are different versions of Windows 7 so you have different options. If the computer was working correctly, then you can click on the links provided by Windows 7 and purchase a p[roduct key that way but I'd prefer having disks for my computers in case there are problems.

http://www.microsoft.com/genuine/

Rick

dpg-lgt · Answer

I had searched for this same topic header as my question in the support bot, with no luck, but found this answer here, which is: 'You can also go to support.dell.com, enter your Service Tag, click on Warranty Status (left menu), and Original Configuration tab to see what it originally shipped with.'

kompilci · Answer

You can learn the active operating system (OS) you use here https://whatismy.tech/os. You can find out if it is original from the official manufacturer's page.

Windows General

How to find out what original operating systems was

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