Upgrading a hard drive to Windows 7 Pro


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I'm putting a new Western Digital 7200 rpm hard drive in my Asus laptop, to replace the slower 5400 drive.

The older drive has Win 7 Premium on it.

I bought a 'Dell' branded OEM version of Win 7 Pro, which I want to install on the new, blank hard drive.

I do not see any sort of Product Key with this Dell dvd.

The websites claim that these 'branded' Windows version can be installed on any computer.

Can I use my previous Key, or do I need to call Microsoft, or ... ?

(Yes, I should probably leave a healthy, working computer alone. ;) )

Any help is appreciated.

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It can be installed on any computer, provided you have a OEM key to go with it. Otherwise, it would have to be a newer dell system for the install to auto activate (one that would have been release after windows 7 was released to OEM's, basically one that has been coded for the windows install to release a code to). If yours has/had a XP or Vista sticker on it, it probably won't be able to auto activate.

You can try it and see what happens (no harm there), but if it auto activates and it isn't a dell computer (using a dell os install on a non dell computer) then it is not a genuine dell install image. If it auto activates on any system other than a dell it is not a genuine install image.

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Looking over the files on the Dell dvd, I don't see anything identifying it as Dell branded.

My Asus laptop came with a 'refurbished' sticker with a newer Product Key, Win 7 Premium.

This OEM says to use that Key after Install.

There won't be any great harm in trying -- I'm saving the Premium drive, as is, in case of whatever.

And I can always zero out the new WD and start again.

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You're saying you bought a Dell branded, then you're saying you don't have a Dell branded..? Dell branded discs do have Dell's logo on them so they're usually pretty obvious.

Assuming you have a Dell OEM disc there, by default the Dell disc will install an un-activated OEM copy of Win 7 Pro, which would expire in 3 days (I think). Your Asus laptop has a OEM key for Win 7 Home Premium so it would not work with a Win 7 Pro install.. not sure why the person you bought it from would say otherwise?

The Dell disc does not need a key or activation if used on a Dell machine.

The correct way to go about it:

A. Get a generic retail or OEM Win 7 disc, install Win 7 Home Premium on it, then enter the Home Premium key from your Asus laptop.

B. Buy a copy of Win 7 Pro w/ key (either retail or generic OEM would work fine) & install that

or

C. Maybe buy a Win 7 Pro upgrade to install on top of your Win 7 Home Premium

You might also accomplish A by changing your current Win 7 OEM disc to one that can install all Win 7 versions (by removing the ei.cfg file, e.g. like this). That would work fine as long as your goal is just to re-install Win 7 Home Premium. I can't remember if Dell makes any changes to their OEM discs to remove the other Win 7 versions, but could be worth a try.

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btw, scroll down to about the center of the page and you will find the US/English iso's. They are clean, I have used these in the past. No need to purchase anything as long as you have a legit oem key that has never been activated or has been activated previously on the same hardware you are installing on.

http://www.heidoc.ne...-download-links

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^ Trying to move from Premium to Professional -- and a faster drive.

And laptop is Asus -- dvd is Dell branded.

Well, we are going to find out .... New drive in, OEM is installing Windows 7 Pro ...

This is fun to watch. :p

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As far as I know, OEM licensing is tied to specific hardware. If your Asus product key on the laptop works with that disc, then it's fine, otherwise, it's not legitimate, even if it does activate automatically from being a custom Dell disc.

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It wont activate, I can be certain with that, it looks in the bios for a dell string to auto-activate, but as your laptop isn't dell, it wont find it. It will ask you for a key to use.

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It wont activate, I can be certain with that, it looks in the bios for a dell string to auto-activate, but as your laptop isn't dell, it wont find it. It will ask you for a key to use.

There are ways to trick Windows into finding this information. Not sure if that's where Hum is going to go next, but it's against the rules. Just heading that off ;)

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Key Cert Branding Tool is what I use to recreate the OEM activation when I re-install Windows 7 on an OEM PC.

Tool works as long as the BIOS is SLIC 2.1 enabled.

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I am stuck, due to the Network Controller driver not being installed.

None of the drivers from Asus Support seem to work.

Can not connect to the internet.

Is there any generic I can use ... ?

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What`s the make and model of the lappie, you should be able (as said) to get the no probs. Could be Realtek, Athros, Intel, etc, look in Device Manager. You still probably won`t be able to activate it, sounds like you bought just a windows 7 DVD (unless you have a D

ell SLIC).

SLIC

Some BIOSes contain a "SLIC" (software licensing description table), a digital signature placed inside the BIOS by the manufacturer, for example Dell. This SLIC is inserted in the ACPI table and contains no active code. Computer manufacturers that distribute OEM versions of Microsoft Windows and Microsoft application software can use the SLIC to authenticate licensing to the OEM Windows Installation disk and/or system recovery disc containing Windows software. Systems having a SLIC can be preactivated with an OEM product key, and they verify an XML formatted OEM certificate against the SLIC in the BIOS as a means of self-activating (see System Locked Preinstallation). If a user performs a fresh install of Windows, they will need to have possession of both the OEM key and the digital certificate for their SLIC in order to bypass activation; in practice this is extremely unlikely and hence the only real way this can be achieved is if the user performs a restore using a pre-customised image provided by the OEM. Cracks for non-genuine Windows distributions usually edit the SLIC or emulate it in order to bypass Windows activation.

Good luck

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Go directly to the vendor to get the NIC drivers.

^ Which vendor ?

Asus support drivers did not get the wireless working.

Running a Performance test, identifies the motherboard as AsusTek, and the chipset as Intel, Sandybridge.

Many of the Asus site downloaded programs/drivers will not install on my Asus laptop.

At the end, it reads 'this software is only for Asus computers.'

And yes -- it did this from the first I had the computer, with the older hard drive, Windows 7 Premium.

Asus's own programs do not recognize this laptop as an Asus.

I don't know what to make of that.

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You should have downloaded the drivers before installing the OS, much easier that way. :p

What's the model? You should be able to download the drivers individually off their website (my own Asus laptop wasn't too difficult to get the drivers).

You can also get many of the drivers directly from manufacturers' websites, e.g. Intel, Realtek, Broadcom, Synaptics, etc...trick is knowing which drivers you need. Technically since you still have the old drive, you could plug it back in, boot it up, then go into Device Manager which'll list all the drivers needed for the laptop. Then download the relevant ones from Asus or manufacturer websites to a USB stick for your new Windows install.

re: the Asus software.. not sure on that one, maybe it looks to see if Windows is OEM activated against Asus & since yours isn't it thinks it's not a Asus laptop? To be honest I always just download the drivers individually rather than use the auto-install software stuff.

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You should have downloaded the drivers before installing the OS, much easier that way. :p

What's the model? You should be able to download the drivers individually off their website (my own Asus laptop wasn't too difficult to get the drivers).

^ You haven't read my posts very well.

I had the supposed drivers downloaded before, from Asus.

From the Support page for my model.

I think now, what was missing from that white envelope in the box, was the Asus installation DVD.

Several items listed refuse to even Install, from the Asus website.

I have never seen this before.

Maybe this is a 'fake' Asus ...

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I am stuck, due to the Network Controller driver not being installed.

None of the drivers from Asus Support seem to work.

Can not connect to the internet.

Is there any generic I can use ... ?

Do you not have the driver from your previous load? Windows 7 drivers are all the same across any SKU.

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^ Thanks for the info.

Oh well -- I tried -- back to safety.

I put back the original drive. I will think it over, and try another day.

If something does go really wrong if the future, it won't be easily fixed.

Not even the listed video drivers from Asus would install.

Something must be very wrong with the Support page.

I'll try e-mailing Asus and ask them what's wrong.

At least next time I sort of know what hardware, drivers are installed:

post-37120-0-99740900-1366139842.png

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From your earlier post about it coming as "refurbished" maybe the internals where changed, it`s a mystery :dontgetit:

Anyway, if you give it another go try installing this driver from Softpedia (normally a safe place to download from), then you should be able to grab the rest via windows update, possibly, probably, er maybe ;)

http://drivers.softpedia.com/progDownload/Atheros-AR813X-AR815X-LAN-Driver-10036-for-Windows-7-Download-150107.html

Good luck Hum,

Riggers

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