They're here! More Muvipix.com Guides by Steve Grisetti!
The Muvipix.com Guides to Premiere & Photoshop Elements 2024
As well as The Muvipix.com Guide to CyberLink PowerDirector 21
Because there are stories to tell
muvipix.com

Question re restoring a system image from an Acronis backup

Talk about computer software/hardware problems, related to digital video or otherwise.

Question re restoring a system image from an Acronis backup

Postby George Tyndall » Sun Jun 04, 2017 9:23 pm

OS: Win7 Professional, two new machines

Goal: Create a disk backup with one machine and then restore it to the other so that I have two identical machines to work with.

With my four XP machines, I was able to create one backup and then restore to the other three identical machines—and then use all four simultaneously without ever being asked to supply the OS product keys for those three machines.

Fry’s says with Win7 the installed OS is paired with each machine’s motherboard, therefore, if I try the same with Win7, I will definitely, sooner or later, be asked to prove that the OS on the second machine is authentic.

Problem: neither Dell machine has the usual sticker. Instead, there is a sticker to be used to register the machines with Dell.

Question: Assuming that registering the machines will allow Dell to give me the Win7 OS product keys for each machine, what is the procedure for using a memory stick instead of CDs/DVDs to boot a machine after restoring an image to the C drive? The reason I ask is that merely mounting the memory stick when asked to insert an installation disk accomplishes nothing.*

Thank you.

*My attempt to create System Repair Disk (SRD) with each new machine failed. I was advised to instead create WIN7 installation software on specifically a memory stick, and if ever there is a need for a SRD, such as when booting from an image backup, the memory stick can be used to boot the system.
HP h8-1360t Win7 Home Premium 64-bit/Intel i7-3770@3.40GHz/8GB RAM/NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050/LG BH10LS30 Blu-ray RW+SD DVD/CD RW+LightScribe/52" Samsung LCD HDTV (ancient 1080p)/PRE & PSE & ORGANIZER 2018/CS 5.1 & 5.5 (rare use) ::wav::
User avatar
George Tyndall
Super Contributor
Super Contributor
 
Posts: 2570
Joined: Thu May 29, 2008 12:50 am
Location: Los Angeles, California

Re: Question re restoring a system image from an Acronis bac

Postby Chris B » Mon Jun 05, 2017 1:57 am

A quick Google implies that windows installations on Dell machines are "Bios locked" to remove the need for product keys. As such you may struggle to get keys out of Dell. It may however mean that they won't ask for product keys but I think the only way to tell is use it for a bit and see. :(

In any case here's Dell's page on generating/downloading recovery media:
https://www.dell.com/support/contents/u ... dia-backup
Not what you were looking for but at the very least you should be able to generate media for the machines in question recover it if it fails.

Final thought - does the standard Windows 7 backup and restore tools not work for creating a system image and recovery disk?
https://support.microsoft.com/en-gb/hel ... up-restore
Intel Core i7 8700 - 32GB DDR4 - 500GB Evo 970 SSD - 3+2 TB HDD - GTX 1080- MSI Z370 Pro - Win10 64 bit - Cannon HV30 (PAL) - Sony A6000 - GoPro 3 Black
User avatar
Chris B
Moderator
Moderator
 
Posts: 819
Joined: Tue Apr 24, 2007 6:04 pm
Location: UK

Re: Question re restoring a system image from an Acronis bac

Postby George Tyndall » Mon Jun 05, 2017 9:17 pm

Chris B wrote:A quick Google implies that windows installations on Dell machines are "Bios locked" to remove the need for product keys.

That is exactly what I told the rep at Fry's but he insisted there should be a tag for Win7. May I ask what search terms you used to find this information?

As such you may struggle to get keys out of Dell. It may however mean that they won't ask for product keys but I think the only way to tell is use it for a bit and see. :(

Yes, now that I've got--thanks to you from the link blow :TU: --the system repair USB, I'm going to proceed to try on an internal drive other than the one that came with the second machine.

In any case here's Dell's page on generating/downloading recovery media:
https://www.dell.com/support/contents/u ... dia-backup
Not what you were looking for but at the very least you should be able to generate media for the machines in question recover it if it fails.

Actually, this is exactly what I am looking for as I wouldn't try without first having a system repair device.

Final thought - does the standard Windows 7 backup and restore tools not work for creating a system image and recovery disk?
https://support.microsoft.com/en-gb/hel ... up-restore

I tried that first, but the backup would repeatedly time out, so I gave up and used Acronis.


Thanks again for taking the time to offer your advice. I'll return with follow-up ASAP.

BTW, I'm very impressed with the Dell instructions.
HP h8-1360t Win7 Home Premium 64-bit/Intel i7-3770@3.40GHz/8GB RAM/NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050/LG BH10LS30 Blu-ray RW+SD DVD/CD RW+LightScribe/52" Samsung LCD HDTV (ancient 1080p)/PRE & PSE & ORGANIZER 2018/CS 5.1 & 5.5 (rare use) ::wav::
User avatar
George Tyndall
Super Contributor
Super Contributor
 
Posts: 2570
Joined: Thu May 29, 2008 12:50 am
Location: Los Angeles, California

Re: Question re restoring a system image from an Acronis bac

Postby Chris B » Tue Jun 06, 2017 1:20 am

The original search was "dell windows 7 key" The first result it presented was here:

http://en.community.dell.com/support-fo ... t/19545179

Lots of discussion about installation keys and a link to here:
http://dellwindowsreinstallationguide.c ... -download/

The comment I notes particularly was
If it is the Dell preinstalled version of Windows 7, the key finder will give you the BIOS embedded system locked pre-installation key which is generic for all Dells with that version of Windows 7 and cannot be used for manual product activation. There is a unique key on the systems Code Of Authenticity (COA). Dell started placing the COA under the battery compartment to prevent them from being faded because Microsoft provided them with low quality stickers. This can be input and manually activated however may in some instances need a call to Microsoft.

Before doing this I would advise using the Activation Backup and Recovery Program using the Dell Files:

http://dellwindowsreinstallationguide.c ... 7-version/

This will reset the BIOS embedded system locked preinstallation key and should reactivate your Windows using the same mechanism as the Reinstallation DVD/Factory Reinstall without any need to phone Microsoft.
Intel Core i7 8700 - 32GB DDR4 - 500GB Evo 970 SSD - 3+2 TB HDD - GTX 1080- MSI Z370 Pro - Win10 64 bit - Cannon HV30 (PAL) - Sony A6000 - GoPro 3 Black
User avatar
Chris B
Moderator
Moderator
 
Posts: 819
Joined: Tue Apr 24, 2007 6:04 pm
Location: UK


Return to Computer Issues 


Similar topics


Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 4 guests

cron