Windows 7 certificate of authenticity

alanjuk

I bought my daughter a new laptop for Christmas, it is running Windows 7 home premium but no where on the laptop is there a Windows 7 certificate of authenticity with the licence number on it. It is a Dell that was bought brand new from Tesco, so not some dodgy outlet, should it have one, nothing in the paper work that came with it either.

free4440273

Should be on the bottom case / mine is on all my laptops/desktops./ -- or side of desktop //

free4440273

http://www.microsoft.com/howtotell/content.aspx?pg=coa

davb

Sometimes they are underneath the battery, which you have to remove to see it.

poppy10_2

davb wrote: »

Sometimes they are underneath the battery, which you have to remove to see it.

Yep, my Dell CoA is under the battery

wearside_2

I have just looked all over my new PC a Packard Bell OneTwo but cannot find any sticker except one saying Windows 7. I purchased from PC World. Should I be concerned or have I looked in the wrong place?

santer_2

Have you got the serial number for Windows? If not, speccy will tell you what it is as the serial number is essential if you need to re-install

http://filehippo.com/download_speccy/

GunJack

I think this is a worrying trend.....no COA, always doubt about the windows install. Even if speccy (or jellybean, belarc, etc) come up with the keyused to install, how do you really know it's genuine ?? Has windows been authenticated online/over the phone?? Even then, that key could have been nicked from a display machine.

Any new machine SHOULD have the COA sticker on it somewhere...if it was me, I'd be back on to wherever I got it from demanding a COA.

[Deleted User]

And while we're talking about stickers there are a lot out there, mainly newer machines, which don't have any coating. Over time they'll likely rub off. Get some normal sticky tape on it now while you can still read it!

GunJack

Deleted_User wrote: »

And while we're talking about stickers there are a lot out there, mainly newer machines, which don't have any coating. Over time they'll likely rub off. Get some normal sticky tape on it now while you can still read it!

Yup, did that recently on my 4.5 yr old pc, when the first signs of curling corners were spotted - better safe than sorry

Hammyman

Thngs have changed and MS moved the goalposts. From Win7, as long as you have the original recovery media with an OEM like Dell, you no longer need a CoA. Remove the battery and check under there as some have moved to putting them there as well.