Welcome to BleepingComputer, a free community where people like yourself come together to discuss and learn how to use their computers. Using the site is easy and fun. As a guest, you can browse and view the various discussions in the forums, but can not create a new topic or reply to an existing one unless you are logged in. Other benefits of registering an account are subscribing to topics and forums, creating a blog, and having no ads shown anywhere on the site.
Or read our to learn how to use this site. Please download, save it to your desktop and run it. Checkmark the following checkboxes: List last 10 Event Viewer log List Installed Programs List Users, Partitions and Memory size. Click Go and paste the content into your next post. Also.please Publish a Snapshot using Speccy, taking care to post the link of the snapshot in your next post.
Go to, and download the free version on the left. Click (the FileHippo link requires an extra click). Or if you want to use a portable version of Speccy (which doesn't require installation), click the link and download the. You will now be asked where you want to save the file. The best place to put it is the Desktop, as it will be easy to find later.
After the file finishes downloading, you are ready to run Speccy. If you downloaded the installer, simply double-click on it and follow the prompts until installation is complete.
If you downloaded the portable version, you will need to unzip it before use. Right-click the ZIP file and click Extract all. Open up the extracted folder and double-click on Speccy.
Once inside Speccy, it will look similar to this (with your computer's specifications, of course): Now, at the top, click File Publish Snapshot. Click Yes then Copy to Clipboard Now, once you are back in the forum topic you are posting in, click the ADD REPLY or REPLY TO THIS TOPIC button. Right-click in the empty space of the Reply box and click Paste. Then, click Add Reply below the Reply box. Speccy reflects only an ethernet connection (working).which is faster than any wifi network.
Why are you worrying about wifi connectivity? Killer e2200 Gigabit Ethernet Controller (NDIS 6.30) Is wifi enabled in the BIOS? Seems to be known problem, see.
Louis I have an ethernet cable temporarily connected to my computer because of this problem, but it can't be a permanent solution though since I mostly use the computer outside of the house. Will check if it's enabled in the BIOS. Anyhow, thanks for your help!
Microsoft Code of Authencity – Windows XP OEM, Windows Vista OEM and Windows 7 OEM For systems shipped with Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7 a Code of Authenticity (COA) with a 25 digit product key was shipped affixed to the system. There was a change in print quality of the COA when Windows Vista was released which made the COA prone to fading. As a consequence for most Windows 7 systems the COA was Placed in the Battery Compartments of Laptops to Reduce the Problem of Fading. What is Original Equipment Manufacturer System Locked Preinstallation Activation? Examples of Microsoft’s Major Partner Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEMs) are:. Alienware/Dell. Lenovo/IBM.
HP/Compaq. ASUS. Acer. Samsung. Sony. Toshiba.
MSI. Fujitsu Microsoft Major Partner OEMs preinstalled Windows 7 on millions of machines. In order to save production time these Major OEM licenses utilised a BIOS based activation mechanism and as a consequence the key on the COA is typically not used for Windows Installation. The system BIOS of Windows 7 OEM will contain a SLIC of version 2.1. Microsoft’s Minor OEMs are small scale OEMs that sell a low volume of machines. These licenses known as Commercial OEMs do not apply OEM System Locked Preinstallation. Motherboards with Commercial OEM Licenses will not contain a SLIC.
The conventional activation mechanism (using the key on the COA) would have required the OEM to input a unique 25 digit product key and call Microsoft for every single machine they made For Windows 7 OEM installation the 25 Digit Product Key on the COA is hence typically unused. Instead OEM System Locked Preinstallation is applied:. Instead of using this unique 25 digit product key on the COA for installation an OEM System Locked Preinstallation (SLP) Key is input by Dell Branded Reinstallation Media. In essence the System Locked Preinstallation (SLP) Key must match up to the System License Internal Code (SLIC) incorporated in the systems BIOS for System Locked Preinstallation (which is automatic offline Product Activation) to be applied. This means you can still use OEM SLP to activate Windows 7 OEM even if your COA has Faded. Windows 7 Pro OEM SLP can also be used for Downgrade Rights from Windows 10 Pro or Windows 8.1 Pro.
SLIC Version:. Version 2.1 – Eligible for Windows 7 OEM System Locked Preinstallation.
Version 2.0 – Eligible for Windows Vista OEM System Locked Preinstallation. Version 1.0 – Eligible for Windows XP OEM System Locked Preinstallation This means that one may Clean Install Windows 7 OEM on systems that have faded COAs: It also means one may exhibit Downgrade Rights to Windows 7 Pro without a Windows 7 Pro Product Key: A SLIC version of 2.1 is required for Windows 7 OEM SLP. To determine your SLIC launch RW-Everything and select Access → ACPI Tables: Select the SLIC Tab: Scroll down until you get the SLIC Marker Structure. You are interested in 2 fields:. OEM ID.
SLIC Version In this case the OEM is Dell and the SLIC Version is 2.1. The example I used was from a Dell Latitude 7350 shipped with Windows 8.1 Pro. It doesn’t have a Windows 7 Pro COA but is eligible to run Windows 7 Pro using OEM Downgrade Rights. An Inspiron 7347 shipped with Windows 8.1 (Home) and hence doesn’t have any OEM downgrade rights.
It has no SLIC tab and hence Windows 7 cannot be activated by use of OEM SLP. Systems sold with Windows Vista OEM in the period of 6 months before the release of Windows 7 may have an SMBIOS of 2.5 with an original SLIC version of 2.0. The latest BIOS update won’t change the SMBIOS which will remain at 2.5 however it may update the SLIC version to 2.1. The OptiPlex 760 for example has a SLIC version of 2.1 with its latest BIOS Update so the Free Upgrade to Windows 7 may be taken (documented in detail ) but the OptiPlex 755 was sold just a wee bit earlier and retains a SLIC version of 2.0 even with its latest BIOS Update. I have listed the latest BIOS Update for systems with an SMBIOS of 2.5 (please comment to let me know what SLIC version your system has with its latest BIOS update as it may help others).
Note RWEverything doesn’t state the Edition of Windows 7 to be installed. In testing the SLIC seems not to be Edition specific. To be licensed correctly you should match the Edition on the Windows Vista/Windows 7 COA. System Locked Preinstallation Key and Product ID List One can check the Product ID and Activation status in system (go to Start, Right Click Computer and Select Properties). If it contains OEM-899 (Windows 7) or OEM-733 (Windows Vista) then it is activated using OEM-SLP: The SLP keys and Product IDs are generic every single Dell system shipped with Windows 7 Pro OEM will have the Product Key 00371-OEM-894. The SLP key associated with this is 32KD2-K9CTF-M3DJT-4J3WC-733WD.
This Product Key can only be used for OEM SLP and cannot be used for conventional activation. If Windows 7 has been activated by the 25 Digit Product Key on the COA the Product ID will contain OEM but not 899. One should verify whether a SLIC exists in the system BIOS or not.
Installation Media Major OEM Installation Media e.g. A Dell Windows 7 Reinstallation DVD will automatically Apply OEM SLP Activation without asking for a Product Key. Windows 7 Retail Installation Media and Windows 7 Commercial (Minor) OEM Installation Media won’t automatically apply OEM SLP Activation and instead ask for a Product Key. Unfortunately Major OEM Installation Media was not Downloadable while Windows 7 Retail Installation Media and Windows 7 Commercial OEM Installation is Made Readily Available to Download. OEM customers are hence forced to Download the Retail Installation Media or Commercial OEM Installation Media, Install Windows 7 by Skipping Input of their Product Key and Manually Apply OEM SLP.
If the EI.cfg file is deleted from the sources folder of your Bootable USB you will get the option to install all the Editions of Windows 7 present on the.iso if not you will automatically install the Edition the EI.cfg file is locked to: Accept the license agreement: Uncheck “Automatically Activate when I’m online”. Select skip: This will install Windows 7 without a Product Key allowing a 30 day trial. One can check the Product ID and Activation status in system (go to Start, Right Click Computer and Select Properties).
They should see that Windows 7 is not activated. OEM Cert Collection To activate using OEM SLP download the OEM cert collection: Select save: Right click to Extract the Folder: Select Extract: Open the extracted folder: Select your OEM: Select your Edition of Windows 7: Copy the OEM folder: Ensure the OEM folder is placed directly on your C: Drive: Right click the slp.bat and select Run as Administrator: Accept the UAC prompt: Press OK: Press Ok again: Press any key to continue (this will close the command prompt): One can check the Product ID and Activation status in system (go to Start, Right Click Computer and Select Properties). Windows 7 should be activated using OEM SLP: Legacy Guide In the past I used to recommend the use of the ABR program to apply OEM SLP. However one had to use ABR to backup their cert files from their old installation (requires pre-planning thats not always possible) or alternatively download the SLP certs and the ABR program separately then copy the SLP certs to the correct folder making the process look more complex than it ought to be.
Contents. What is the Activation Backup and Recovery Program?
OEM system locked preinstallation keys cannot be used in the traditional manner If one uses OEM SLP will not be applied. If one attempts to input the OEM System Locked Preinstallation Key during installation: Or via Change your Product Key: It will result in an unactivated Windows Edition.
The Activation Backup and Recovery (ABR) Program is a third party utility which allows one to Backup and Reapply OEM System Locked Preinstallation. The backup procedure obtains the OEM cert file and OEM SLP key in text form however because the cert file files are in mass circulation e.g. Every single Dell Windows 7 Professional OEM install has the same cert file and same OEM SLP key, in most cases the Backup feature is not required. The use of the ABR Recovery utility alongside the cert file means one can install Windows 7 Retail without a Product Key to initiate a 30 day trial and then apply OEM System Locked Preinstallation. As ABR only applies OEM System Locked Preinstallation it will only work on eligible systems. If the cert file and OEM SLP key is used on an illegal system you will be given. This tool is useful if there is a product activation issue and Dell/HP OEM SLP needs to be reapplied without reinstallation or if one has a Retail Installation DVD.
Download Links and System Locked Preinstallation Keys. ABR-beta.exe:. Windows 7 backup-cert.XrML and backup-key.txt collection: Most major OEMs are supported with this collection:. Alienware/Dell. Lenovo/IBM. HP/Compaq. ASUS.
Acer. Samsung. Sony. Toshiba. MSI. Fujitsu These were obtained from which covers a few more less common major OEMs. Restore Download ABRbeta (Windows 7) and the Activation Files.
The following steps may look a bit more complicated than they actually are. Essentially all you are doing is extracting two folders. One has two programs activationbackup.exe and activationrestore.exe. The cert and product key files must be copied to this extracted folder so the activationrestore.exe can be launched. Extraction Right click the “Dell/HP ABR Activation Files Vista and 7” and select extract all. Opt for the extracted files to be in downloads. Select to open the folder and snap it to the right.
Next snap downloads to the left. Extract ABRbeta.exe (Windows 7) or ABR.exe (Windows Vista) by double clicking it. Accept the warnings to run it Again select the default location of downloads and select extract You will now have a folder called ABR, open it to the left and open the ABR activation files to the right. Activation-Restore.exe Select your version of Windows. I will use Professional as an example.
Move the backup-cert.XrML and backup-key.txt file to the ABR folder. Once these files are copied across run activation-restore.exe by double clicking it and accept any user-account control.
It will input the Major OEM SLP key from the backup-key.txt and use this with the backup-cert.XrML to activate Windows Vista or Windows 7. Note: You may be prompted to continue press y and enter if asked (usually you are asked this only if you entered a product key during installation which was not recommended). Product Activation Check Restart your computer and check your activation status by pressing Windows and Pause Break. Windows 7 should be activated in the exact same manner as the OEM factory install. The rest of this guide is just additional information and won’t be required in most cases Backup In the rare cases where the Cert file is not downloadable or you wish to backup your own one. Check to see if your computer is running an OEM license by looking at the product ID in System Properties (press Windows and Pause Break: Look at your Product ID; the product ID of a major Windows 7 OEM license with OEM SLP will have the form of xxxxx- OEM-899xxxx-xxxxx and for a major Windows Vista OEM license the SLP will have the form xxxxx- OEM-733xxxx-xxxxx.
The ABR backup will not work for a system without such a product ID. Download ABRbeta (Windows 7) or ABR (Windows Vista). Extract ABRbeta.exe (Windows 7) or ABR.exe (Windows Vista) by double clicking it. Accept the warnings to run it Select the default location to extract. This will extract to an ABR folder, open it. Launch the activationbackup.exe Accept any UAC prompts, you will now have a backup-cert.XrML file and backup-key.txt file created. Copy the ABR Folder to a safe place for later use.
These can be used later to restore your OEM product activation. If you have the cert file for any OEM thats not Dell or HP you may add the files to a zip file and save this to OneDrive and share it in the comments section.
It can help other users with Vista or 7 from your OEM which wish to clean install and whose hard drive or installation has failed and have no recovery media. Ineligible System Example Test This is just a demonstration to show that the Activation Backup Recovery program or Dell Windows 7 Reinstallation DVD won’t work on ineligible systems. A Dell Latitude D820 was used with an Vista Business COA in this test. It has a genuine Windows 7 Upgrade license and was later activated using it. This system was only sold by Dell with Windows XP and Windows Vista, hence the latest BIOS revision only has markers for Windows XP and Windows Vista. If one tries installing with a Dell Windows 7 Professional Reinstallation DVD or using the ABR files for Windows 7 which mimic the activation mechanism of the Reinstallation DVD on this system, Windows 7 will not activate.
Instead you will get a 9 days until automatic activation as shown below. When you click to activate now you will be unable to activate with the Dell SLP key and will be prompted to enter another product key. M5040 is an AMD system and not an Intel one. I am less experienced with AMD than Intel systems as I prefer Intel. According to WD you shouldn’t need a driver for AMD: Obviously you are finding that you do. Its the AMD A50M Chipset family so you need the AMD AHCI drivers.
They might be obtained within the Chipset driver listed by Dell R313347. Once extracted with 7zip there is a folder called packages and within it a folder called drivers. I would try selecting this folder to load during the Windows setup. However I am not sure if the Dell driver will cover an AF HDD so I would go for the one direct from AMD: Try the top one. Once extracted with 7zip select the drivers folder: 13-4vistawin7win832-64sb $OUTDIR Packages Drivers. I have completed a hardware upgrade on a Dimension E510 and purchased a Dell reinstallation DVD for Windows 7 Pro.
The installation went fast and smooth but the Product Activation Code I’ve purchased from a noted online software retailer is not working. I wrote them and they sent a second PAC which did not work either. I’m a bit confused right now about the article above but is it possible that I need to buy the PAC from Dell to activate the copy of W7 Pro or will the procedures outlined in your article above work for me?
Thanks for your answer. Neither the Reinstallation DVD or the ABR program (which mimics the activation mechanism of the Reinstallation DVD) will work on your system. The Dimension 5100 was sold by Dell with only Windows XP and maybe in some cases Windows Vista. Thus Dell have only placed the markers for Windows XP and possibly Windows Vista in the system BIOS. They have not placed the Windows 7 markers in the BIOS and the activation mechanism will therefore sees an invalid BIOS and hence will not activate.
See notes on ineligible systems: A retail license should activate directly. See here for details describing the differences between OEM and Retail: In your case you have purchased a Reinstallation DVD and a COA so phone activation may work: In reality a Dell Windows 7 COA should not be sold separately from a Dell system so it is also possible you were sold a non-genuine license.
Theres lots of piracy of fake Windows 7 COAs and for these reasons COAs are removed in Windows 8 and later. The system builder OEM license is usually just Microsoft branded. This is pretty frustrating since I had upgraded my wife’s PC at her office which was from the same era as this one but was of the OptiPlex variety, I think.
The cases were shaped the same except my wife’s was taller. It runs W7 with no problems at all and validated itself. The little E510, so far, runs W7 just fine, too.
The PAC was purchased from buycheapsoftware.com, not one of those on ebay that I looked at prior to the purchase and didn’t trust in the slightest. I can’t see them selling fake licenses but they may not know about the markers you speak of. So phone activation through Microsoft is the only possible way you see to activation?
Your link above points to a page that is no longer there but it is one of the options available after the activation attempts I’ve made have failed. Thanks again. Sorry I updated that link, it should work: If your wifes was an OptiPlex 760, Dell sold it with Windows 7 so the latest BIOS does have the markers for Windows 7 Dell OEM activation. The OptiPlex 745 and 755 do not similar to the Dimension E510. I would be very cautious of buying software like this: “When buying Microsoft software as a digital download, we recommend that you avoid auction sites and peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing sites.
At the moment there are a limited number of sites where you can legally purchase digital downloads of Microsoft software. One example is the online Microsoft Store, where you can buy a wide variety of genuine software and hardware directly from Microsoft (in select markets). Additionally, you can purchase a digital download of Windows. With the exception of Product Key Cards distributed with Certificates of Authenticity (COA’s), Microsoft does not distribute products keys as standalone products. If you see a listing on an auction site, online classified ad, or other online page advertising product keys, it’s a good indication that these keys are likely stolen or counterfeit.” i.e. Microsoft don’t simply allow giving out of product keys via telephone. We were in town today and I looked at my wife’s old computer again and it’s actually a Dimension 9200.
The PAC I bought for the E510 was this one:. They’ve been around for a long time and we’ve purchased a lot of software from them personally as well as for my wife’s office an the plaice I used to work as well. The PAC was sent via e-mail and they attached this to the reply I got when I asked them the first time about the first PAC not working: Product Key: XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-RJ3PX (my X’s) Validity: Valid Product ID: XXXXX-OEM-931 Activation ID: da22eadd-46dc-4056-a287-f5041c852470 Edition Type: Professional Description: Windows 7 Professional OEM:COA Edition ID: X15-37341 Key Type: OEM:COA Crypto ID: 186 I’ve finally arrived at a point where I can try the phone activation. If it doesn’t work I guess I’m just out of luck on the upgrades and whatever. Just hope I can get my money back on the W7 Pro license.
Thanks again. Philip – great site. Thank you for putting this together. Unfortunately I am stuck. I feel like I have been going in circles trying to activate Windows 7 on this Machine. Inspiron 545s Desktop came with Vista Home Premium with a free Upgrade to Windows 7. This worked well for years.
After heavy use I was advised to reinstall Windows. I have gone through reinstalling several times and always find Windows 7 needs to be activated with a product key. No product key given with the Dell upgrade disks. I am back at this same spot now. I installed Vista first which showed as authentic and activated. Then I used the Dell upgrade disks that were provided originally to upgrade, then installed all of the Windows updates. The machine is working great.
But I am stuck with 29 days left and I can not figure out how to activate. I am going nuts. I considered staying with Vista but cant use Office 365Can you point me in the right direction? Hi Philip, I have a Dell latitude laptop on which I fully erased the Windows 7 with an Arch Linux for two years.
I now want to switch back to Windows 7 but I have nothing backed up from the original Dell install. I also could have flashed the BIOS before even if I don’t remember doing it (does it erase the OEM license?).
Do you think it could be a problem for reactivation? Should I prefer the dell installation media over the retail one when following your “clean install of windows” guide? By the way, thanks for these awesome guides.
For that model, Dell never released Windows 7 drivers which is why I made an unofficial set: This means the latest BIOS for that model only has markers to accept the Dell Windows Vista Business SLP key and Windows XP Professional SLP key. Was not upgraded to have Windows 7 Professional markers so a Dell Windows 7 Professional Reinstallation DVD or the ABR program with Dell cert files on a Windows 7 Professional install will be rejected and hence fail to activate. If you want to run Windows 7 on it you will need a retail license (these are quite pricey as Windows 7 has stopped being sold). It will work with the Windows Vista Business. My advice is to install Windows 10 Technical Preview and use it to evaluate Windows 10 64 Bit until its finally released. At which point you should be able to purchase Windows 10 at a promotional price. The OEM disc from Best Buy will be a generic OEM disc and not a Dell OEM disc.
It therefore won’t require the SLP markers in the BIOS and will activate with its own 25 digit product key. The generic OEM is similar to the retail license however has 2 limitations; once installed on the desktop it is non-transferable (forever tied to the desktops motherboard). The second is that the product key will not work with Microsoft’s Software Recovery Tool (which is pretty non-functional anyway). The Windows 7 Generic OEM license will be eligible for the free upgrade to Windows 10 in Late Summer.
I recently purchased a new Dell Inspiron 3847 from Amazon. It came with Windows 7 Professional installed, and included a Windows 8.1 disc in the box. The listing said something about a downgrade package. Before I mess up a perfectly functioning Windows 7 system, how do I go about installing 8.1 from the disc? It has no COA numbers anywhere that I have found.
Also, I have no Windows 7 disc, but assume the restore partition currently holds that info. I have never had one of these two OS ‘downgrade’ deals before so I am more than a bit confused. Thanks for any info. For Windows 7 Professional the OEM SLP activation is used and if you need to download Windows 7 Professional Media follow the instructions here: You need the ABR program and cert files aswell as the.iso as you have no unique Windows 7 Professional product key and must use the OEM SLP. I explain whats going on in the tutorial video.
Media made from Dell Backup and Recovery will also work but it depends if you want a clean install or factory settings. If your factory settings are working well theres no need to clean install. The system should be licensed for Windows 8.1 Professional and the Windows 8.1 Professional product key resides within the system BIOS. A utility like RWEverything can readout the MSDM tab from ACPI tables to get the product key. I explain this in great detail in the tutorial video I made here: In general the key should be automatically input and there should be no need for the end user to know it.
There are the few (very rare) cases where the BIOS loses the product key so I advise taking a note of it just in case. Philip Trying to re-activate a Windows 7 Home Premuim install following the installation of SSD on a Studio 1555. Although I installed the Product Key that I recovered Using Belarc I did not notice that it had not been accepted as a valid Product ID. When I was re-installing the machine I used the Windows 7 iso image linked to from this site, but for some reason did not see the instructions for backing up the BIOS Certs. Now when I attempt to re-install I get the error 0xC004F063 Computer BIOS missing required licence. I have attempted to follow the instructions over the ABRBeta but the program failed to run windows reporting that it was not a valid Windows 32 program. (McAfee also wared me that the site was not trusted, but I continued with your directions).
I no longer seem to have the COA KEY. I do though still have the orginal OS re-installation CD. Do I have any options that to go and buy another Retail copy of Windows 7? Is there an alternative ABR program available now? Or do I risk it and go on the Windows 10 beta.
Windows Offline Activation
(but this my wifes machine not mine.) When I upgraded the same way another Dell machine ealier this year I dont recall such issues. I advise staying clear from McAfee, it is usually problematic for legitimate things and doesn’t detect actual treats in many cases. You can see negative McAfee reviews all over: I prefer Malwarebytes’ AntiMalware. McAfee has likely caused some issue with the ABR program hence it not working.
Update your BIOS to the latest version A13. I advise removal of McAfee before updating the BIOS: Then reattempt using the ABR program with the cert files I list. This will re-apply the OEM SLP.
Redownload the files once McAfee has been removed as McAfee has likely corrupted the ABR.exe. Reinstallation with the Dell OEM Reinstallation DVD will automatically apply the OEM SLP activation mechanism, so thats your alternative to the ABR program. Also your COA should be under your battery in that model. Dell put it there to prevent it from fading.
You can input that key and call Microsoft to activate but I prefer the OEM SLP activation.