Bios License

**Zonie** · August 7th, 2012, 07:23 PM

Long story short, couple months ago, reinstalled OS on Dell Vostro laptop with Windows 7 Home Premium which is what was on there. System had contracted a bad virus. Today the system is asking to be reactivated after I had alredy done this. When I tried to activate it, an error comes up stating a required license is missing in the bios.

What the???? Everything I have read concerning this pertains to an OEM cd used in a non OEM hardware. Can anyone help and clear this mud up? TIA

**Niclo Iste** · August 7th, 2012, 08:02 PM

Whoever set up the pc previously could have done an exploit to get past the tatooing. If's fairly easy to accomplish if you know what to do. I of course will not divulge thet information but that probably what is causing the confusion. Might want to look into who set this up for the user previously. If this is a brand name PC and the OS isn't recognizing the bios there could be a wrong CD/DVD involved and it's not recognizing it as the series that should be associated with the disks.

**Zonie** · August 7th, 2012, 10:03 PM

Actually, the laptop came from dell. It was one of several ordered for the Doctor's office. The cd I used was the one from Dell. Maybe I need to check the warranty status and if it is still in, I could get them to rectify the problem. Thank you for your input.

**Niclo Iste** · August 7th, 2012, 10:24 PM

Odd, usually Dell disks are backwards/forwards compatible. Have you checked the website for a bios update and have you also checked the bios to see if the identifying information is enabled? This may help as well.

**Zonie** · August 8th, 2012, 08:07 AM

Originally Posted by Niclo Iste

Odd, usually Dell disks are backwards/forwards compatible. Have you checked the website for a bios update and have you also checked the bios to see if the identifying information is enabled? This may help as well.

Have not checked either one of those yet. The PA is still able to use the laptop however. I will go there next week as they are located some distance away.

**Guts3d** · August 8th, 2012, 08:22 AM

Might try resetting the BIOS to default settings and reboot. Also, Dell® usually has the serial number of the unit in the BIOS, ensure that they match. And as always, Niclo is right about Dell® operating system CD's and DVD's being compatible, but after reloading the unit I always check Hardware Manager to ensure that all of the drivers are present. Good luck!

**Zonie** · August 18th, 2012, 09:10 AM

Originally Posted by Guts3d

Might try resetting the BIOS to default settings and reboot. Also, Dell® usually has the serial number of the unit in the BIOS, ensure that they match. And as always, Niclo is right about Dell® operating system CD's and DVD's being compatible, but after reloading the unit I always check Hardware Manager to ensure that all of the drivers are present. Good luck!

Did try that and no luck. To expedite and solve the problem, I had them purchase another Win 7 and used the key for that one.

Everything is good now. Thanks for all the help.