scotstech Posted January 30, 2018 Posted January 30, 2018 Hi there, I was wondering if there's anyone that can help me access the dell recovery image for Windows 8.1 PRO please. It's for a Dell Venue 11 pro model 7130/T07G. It had an SSD failure, and of course, no backup USB was created. It's owner does not want win 10, as there were issues with it, (auto installed for a start), and they're convinced that W10 caused this failure.... . Any advice/assistance greatly appreciated. Kind Regards, ST
noelmm Posted January 30, 2018 Posted January 30, 2018 (edited) Hi, Can you not use any windows 8.1 pro installation media and then use the key oem key provided to activate it and get the drivers from the dell website? I have had to do this with several of our Lenovo machines and it always works. I use a vbscript I downloaded to get the oem key from the machine (I got the script originally from here https://www.eightforums.com/attachments/showkey-vbs.44406/) Edited January 30, 2018 by noelmm 1
MYK-IT Posted January 30, 2018 Posted January 30, 2018 @scotstech, I was going to suggest the same as @noelmm. if you haven't (or didn't make a USB Recovery Backup before changing to Windows 10, as per https://www.dell.com/support/article/us/en/19/sln287188/dell-venue-8-10-and-11-pro-system-recovery-options-in-windows-81?lang=en) then hopefully you have MS OVS-ES (or similar licensing rights) and can obtain the Windows 8.1 ISO and install from fresh (and get drivers from Dell's website). I have Dell Venue 11 7130 with Windows 10, and works fine with this OS. Imaging Recommendations for the Dell Venue 11 Pro 7130/7139 | Dell Ireland 1
scotstech Posted January 30, 2018 Author Posted January 30, 2018 Thanks to Noelmm and MYK-IT. Don't have access to MS-OVS-ES, but I can download the ISO's from microsoft's website. The biggest problem with this though is it's looking for an install key - and I don't have that because the original drive was dead (not being recognised in BIOS, replacement m.2 device is now seen in BIOS). I know that you can use keys that allow install only, but I'd prefer to use the official dell media for this one, because the user is "particular" about that sort of thing. Regards ST
noelmm Posted January 30, 2018 Posted January 30, 2018 Hi, You should be able to skip the key requirement during installation and then using something like the vbs tool I linked to obtain the oem key and use this for activation as the key should be linked to the motherboard in the system. I would explain to the user that this gives you the advantage of removing any bloat ware that may come installed by dell and hopefully giving him a better user experience, most users in my experience would rather have the better experience than using the original restore media as long as everything functions as it should. Failing this if the user still insists on using official Dell restore media you may have to contact Dell which may incur a charge. Hope you get it resolved. Noel
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