A friend with a Dell XPS 8700 i5 that was running Windows 7 had the OS crash. Recovery media is no longer available and a Microsoft Windows 7 disk isn't a solution because it requires inputting a license key; apparently Dell PCs have the license key embedded in the bios. The question is will the XPS 8700 support an upgrade to Windows 10 if we get a retail copy? TIA for any help.
Does it have a Windows 7 COA sticker with a product key printed on it?
Dell clearly supports Win10 X64 on that model. Access Denied (The link works, even though it is listed as "access denied".)
I doubt that you'd need to buy a retail license. I have never personally dealt with a system with a license imbedded in the BIOS, but I think that you could create a USB installer: Create Bootable USB Flash Drive to Install Windows 10 and do it for free.
according to your specs it will handle Windows 10 very well.
the sata 6.0 will handle an upgrade to a SSD.
If it is a Windows 7 system, the "license" embedded in the BIOS is not the actual Windows 7 product key like it would be for Windows 8 or 10. It is only a SLIC key that cannot activate Windows by itself. It requires a specific OEM Windows 7 disc with the matching activation key in the image to activate.
However, computers that came with Windows 7 preloaded from the factory also had a COA sticker attached with a product key that could be used to activate Windows.
I purchased an XPS 8700 back in 2013 with Windows 7 Pro and when Windows 10 came out the Dell computer upgraded to Windows 10 Pro without issue. I since ran all versions of Windows 10 and various Insider builds without issue. One of the best running and fastest computers I've ever owned.
YES, I have a XPS8700 - i7
Came with Windows 8 Product Key Embedded in BIOS
No Problem running with Windows 10
You can run ShowKeyPlus and by using Win10XPE - Build Your Own Rescue Media
To try and retrieve (if needed) the Windows 7 Product key
Windows 7 doesn't have a key embedded in the bios, that only started with machines built for Windows 8 and above.
The Dell XPS 8700 appears to have been built for Windows 8, but was available with Windows 7 as a downgrade option. In this case there would be no CoA sticker for W7. If this machine had Windows 7 installed when supplied then the key in the bios would still be one for Windows 8. Type the service tag of your friend's XPS 8700 in the Dell Support site here and the System Configuration section will tell you exactly what this particular machine was originally supplied with.
Dell Support - XPS 8700
Assuming it has a Windows 8 key in the bios then a clean install of Windows 10 will find this key. Setup will use it to choose the correct edition to install, Home or (more likely for this model) Pro. The installed Windows 10 will be activated because this PC has a qualifying Windows 8 license based on the embedded key.
PS: I actually bought a second hand Dell Latitude laptop that was built for Win10 but supplied by Dell with Windows 7 pre-installed, so I am speaking from personal experience.
Thanks for the reply. Entering the service tag shows that the PC originally came with Windows 8, and as you say must have been downgraded to Windows 7 as an option. Regarding installing Windows 10, is it possible that it would pick up the license if we did an upgrade of Windows 7? Currently the system has an unactivated copy of 7 on it - we're in the 30 grace period - and a lot of work went into configuring it which would be lost with a clean install. TIA
An upgrade is unlikely to pick up on the embedded key, I'm not even sure if the Windows 10 Setup will allow you to upgrade an unactivated Windows 7. @Superfly, @Kari or @Brink may be able to comment on that. If it does, then once upgraded you should be able to activate it by changing the key to the embedded W8 key. Use ShowKeyPlus to read that before you start.
An alternative may be to make a system image of the Windows 7 that you have spent time configuring (or swap in a spare HDD), then clean install Windows 10 to get this machine a Digital Licence for W10 stored on the activation servers. Then restore the Win7 system and try upgrading it to Win10. It should activate from the existing Digital License.
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