Dell Inspiron 3647 won't activate

Bought 5 of these about 14 mo ago. One wouldn't activate. Dell sent a MB and still wouldn't activate. Couldn't reimage the PC at the time and now I'm out of warranty. Showkeyplus shows Windows 7 OEM marker present in firmware. This came from Dell with Win8 reinstalled. Do I have any resort at this point in getting this to activate without purchasing a new license?

musictoo said:

Bought 5 of these about 14 mo ago. One wouldn't activate. Dell sent a MB and still wouldn't activate. Couldn't reimage the PC at the time and now I'm out of warranty. Showkeyplus shows Windows 7 OEM marker present in firmware. This came from Dell with Win8 reinstalled. Do I have any resort at this point in getting this to activate without purchasing a new license?

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Dell is responsible for replacing the licence during the warranty period. I assume that RMA was during that period?

What happens is that replacement motherboards do not come from the factory (rather a servicing centre), so it will not have an enbedded Win 8 key - but in those instances - during warranty - they should supply you with a Win 8 key - it usually comes in a small envelope with the motherboard.
The fact that the bios has a Windows 7 marker, merely means that it's a generic bios for that PC and does not necessary mean it was built for Windows 7. We can get you an activated windows 7 based on that marker if you want, but Dell needs to honour their warranty obligations if that PC was bought with Win 8 and RMA'd during the warranty period.

Unfortunately Dell Tech support sent me packing since it is now out of warranty.

Give the Dell "Community" form a shot May get it resolved.
Dell Community

Best bet? ... get Windows 7 activated - upgrade to Win 10 - gotta happen before 29 Jules...(hey, sticking with Win 7 is not such a bad thing... if only MS did not send their GWX henchmen)

Will the key that does show up with showkeyplus activate Win7?

musictoo said:

Will the key that does show up with showkeyplus activate Win7?

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It depends on the type of key - if it's an OEM:SLP, then it will need a certificate to match the marker in the bios as those keys are generic.. An OEM:COA will activate on it's own.

There is no certificate, just the installed key.

I'm inbetween and betwixt - I can give you Win 7 OEM (the key and certificate are generic) - if that PC already had such a licence and it would be legit - yet it had Windows 8 which Dell refuses to honour - so dunno...you certainly do not deserve to have to purchase a new key, as with Windows 7, merely re-installing from recovery media would suffice.

Post a screenshot of ShowKey so we can get an idea what Dell gave you. Remember to click the key to mask it.

BTW: Did you check the key with the Check product key link to see what type it is?

For what it's worth I did this based on a response from the Dell forums:

Converting your Dell Windows 7 SP1 Reinstallation DVD into a Dell Windows 7 SP2 Reinstallation USB 3.0 Flash Drive ? The Unofficial Windows 10 Reinstallation Guide

Cool...