I purchased my Dell Inspiron M5040 with AMD Processor in 2012 with Windows 7 Home pre-installed. I purchased a new Dell Inspiron in 2014 with Windows 8.1. I registered for Windows Insider Beta for Windows 10 on both Machines. The Product Key is located on
a label on the bottom of each machine and the laptops are registered for personal use with Dell. I started the Windows 10 Beta on the machine with Windows 8.1 and now have a fully activated working laptop. I had a number of problems with conflicts on the older
2012 Inspiron with Windows 7 Home and ultimately lost my monitor. Using the task Manager I was able to download the final full version of Windows 10 for the Windows 7 machine and do a complete install (deleting what I had saved on my drive).
My newer machine is Activated and is working great but the older Machine informs me that I must enter the Product Key. I assume this is the 5x5 digit numbers on the label adhered to the bottom of my Dell Inspiron and I further assume this is the original
Key that Microsoft is asking me to enter. After I enter it (it automatically enters the dashes) it tells me that my Product Key is invalid. The laptop did not come with an install DVD to the best of my memory and when I called Dell they refered me to Microsoft.
I read the information on the policy changes made since I purchased the laptop but I can not access the virtual drive that most likely contains the backup of the Windows 7 Home operating system. I am also good at upgrading when updates occur and if there was
a major upgrade it would have been made through 2014 until I purchased the new machine.
There use to be a phone number I could call to obtain an authorization code if I had made a change in the hardware that prevented me from accessing my operating system but I used this once on Windows Office for my old office tower before I retired.
What are the steps I must take in order to activate Windows 10 on my older Dell Laptop that had Windows 7 Home if it will not accept the Product Key indicated on the bottom of my laptop. I know this is genuine as I purchased it myself from Dell who still
has a record of the sale. I have Windows 10 final version installed on the machine and it tells me that I must Activate it from the menu but will not accept the Product Key for Windows 7 Home. Am I suppose to be notified of an upgrade with a new Product Key
sent automatically to all registered Dell Customers or will Microsoft notify all registered users of Windows 7 within a given period of time with a new Product Key?
