TR Forums

toki wrote:

http://www.dell.com/us/dfh/p/inspiron-14/pd this is the laptop

Turns out the CPU in that laptop isn't as old you thought (based on Core 2 Duo but the Pentium version from that family.)
Mobile Intel® GM45 Express Chipset

CPU Upgrade lists the supported CPU's compatible with that GM45 chipset.

I suggest making an image of the drive to another drive. Keep the original as backup then play around with the image. If you mess up you can re-image from the original. This way you will always have a working backup.

Could someone recommend me a good program to make a clone of the complete hard drive? I have done it before and it's been awhile and I do remember having issues with some of the programs when trying to do it. Also, never having done it on a laptop before I am unsure of how to connect the drive to the laptop.

If you have a external enclosure or one of these adapters Sabrent USB 3.0 to SSD / 2.5-Inch SATA Hard Drive Adapter. Otherwise you likely will have to pull the drive, and plug in off a SATA connector on a Desktop. If you had that adapter I linked you to would of been able to run Macrim Reflect on your desktop with the drive plugged in to create a backup image of the drive. Wouldn't hurt to have auto play turned off so nothing funny makes it off the drive to your desktop, and just be careful not to launch any executable. Or you could go the other way drive plugged into USB while booted up on the laptop, and run Macrim Reflect.

Sabrent USB 3.0 to SATA 2.5-Inch/3.5-Inch/5.25-Inch Hard Drive Converter (USB-DSC7) so this would be a good choice then? There are no ssd involved.

toki wrote:

Sabrent USB 3.0 to SATA 2.5-Inch/3.5-Inch/5.25-Inch Hard Drive Converter (USB-DSC7) so this would be a good choice then? There are no ssd involved.

Is this the one? Sabrent USB 3.0 to SATA 2.5-Inch/3.5-Inch/5.25-Inch Hard Drive Converter
It'll work with either a Solid State Drive or Hard Drive (Hard Drive size 2.5 inch to 3.5 inch.) You could still remove the hard drive from the laptop and connect it to your desktop as a temporary work around. Just be careful with the drive since the last thing you want have happen is infect your desktop drive or any other drive.

Don't know if the OP solved his problem. Saw this on shell shocker today. I think I see a switch on the back where you can clone a drive without it needing to go through a pc so this might work. Never owned this myself so I can't say how good it will be but reviews seems to suggest it's good. Perhaps I should find and read the manual for it but don't have time right now. Rather than wait for the shell shocker to end, I'll just post it here and advise the OP to search and read the online manual. I'll do this later tonight and see if it's something I might want for myself. If this can truly clone from drive A to drive B without going through the PC then this would be wonderful if you suspect the drive has more viruses than a street walker.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA1DS3CG5700

CoA should have been on the bottom or the inside of the battery compartment. Also check the inside of the memory cover. But, on an old unit it wouldn't surprise me if it just plain wore away.

It's also possible that someone in the company pilfered it when Enterprise was installed. They shouldn't have, since (a) the CoA is linked to the machine per EULA, and (b) Win7 Enterprise licensing normally required a valid CoA for some other version of Windows to be present on the machine, but it's possible.

For $50, there's also this option but for just three times that, he would be far better off with a refurbished Lattitude E6420.

Simplest solution is to run the Win 10 compatibility app. If its compatible:
Run in place upgrade to Win 10. Make sure Settings-Update&Security->Activation says it is fully/cleanly activated with a license. Than just do a clean install from a USB stick you imaged on a clean machine.

Seems like the user wont know or care what version of Windows it is.

What does online dell support say?

I have finished what I could do with their laptop. I just cleaned it out and got rid of corrupted files. I told them they needed to upgrade to windows 10.

my guess would be he rubbed it off with use (common issue before they started putting it under the battery) or they pulled it off to clean it up.

On a shipped laptop the sticker was guaranteed to be there.

blahsaysblah wrote:

Simplest solution is to run the Win 10 compatibility app. If its compatible:
Run in place upgrade to Win 10. Make sure Settings-Update&Security->Activation says it is fully/cleanly activated with a license. Than just do a clean install from a USB stick you imaged on a clean machine.

Seems like the user wont know or care what version of Windows it is.

What does online dell support say?

Nope - the free upgrade specifically excludes the enterprise versions. After all, the idea is enterprise customers have software assurance and will have IT deploy the upgraded OS (if they go there).

Sorry to keep bursting your bubbles, but that's the world of Microsoft licensing for ya.

Captain Ned wrote:

toki wrote:

ok. The deal with this thing upon inspection is....... I will have to find the key. He bought this laptop for his work and they installed this on his laptop. He has windows enterprise on it. Should I just try to clean it? find the key and reinstall like he would like? I am unsure of what to do here.

That changes everything. He doesn't own the Win7 Enterprise VLK key. Best bet is to find a boxed retail version of 7 in some remainder store.

I've picked up several copies of Win7 Pro 64bit on amazon. My most recent purchase cost only $50. Its been going down as Win10 became more popular.