Question Is there a way to boot into Windows 10 Without a Dell Service Tag?

[volker231]

tl;dr My computer has become an amnesiac and no longer knows its own service code. I'm now stuck in a boot loop where Dell's firmware is refusing to allow the O.S. to install itself on a factory reset.


I own a Dell XPS 9365 13" and have had it for close to 3 years now. Its warranty expired about a year ago.

Over the last couple of weeks, I started to see some rather bizarre behavior. Sometimes when I tried to open a pdf or an image file, windows would return an error message saying that it was missing the appropriate "classes." Simply waiting or restarting the computer would fix the issue. Occasionally, the hidden icon tray wouldn't open and the sidebar wouldn't come out. Purchased Windows Store programs would fail to recognize that my computer was authorized when I tried to open them and Windows Explorer would hang or return an error.

These were infrequent and rarely persisted. But errors like missing classes seemed rather unorthodox and the symptoms my computer was presenting didn't seem localized.

Then, I began receiving a notice after POST from Dell's SupportAssist | Pre-Boot System Performance Check informing me

WARNING: The Service Tag has not been programmed. This system will not function properly without a Service Tag. The setup utility will launch the Service Tag installer.

I backed up any files that weren't already synced through the cloud and began to look into what was causing this issue. Every time I booted the computer up, I would be presented with this warning, but the OS would always boot perfectly fine, and sometimes I wouldn't have any weird errors while using the computer.

I noticed that in settings menus, the Service Tag and some other fields were left blank (and I could type in a new service tag - it hadn't occurred to me yet to look at the bottom of my machine and enter it manually)

But some other things were weird. Dell's update program worked fine. But their settings program - the one with the gear and wrench - gave me an error and wouldn't open.

-----------

I looked at the BIOS System Information:

Service Tag =!
Asset Tag = {None}
Ownership Tag = {None}
Manufacture Date = <String not set>
Ownership Date = <String not set>
Express Service Code = 00000
Signed Firmware Update = Enabled
...
Pass Through MAC Address = {None}

Loading either the Factory Defaults or the BIOS Defaults failed to update the information.

I had all the information off, so I figured I would go ahead and restore the computer to factory defaults (a process that has never failed before) and if there were issues remaining, I would at least know the problem was deeply rooted and persistent.

So i tried to reset. My first attempt was forwarded through Dell's factory reset menus before loading the OS. After allowing me to backup data, preparing the reset, and all that jazz, it informed me that my device "wasn't compatible with the service." What computer is "not compatible" with its own factory reset protocol?

So I used the other options available under the advanced menu and tried using Windows' native factory reset. After preparing, it told me "something went wrong" and wouldn't even give me an error code.

So I went back into windows and double checked to make sure there wasn't some update waiting in the wings to install (At the time I figured, why bother updating if I was planning on wiping the update anyway).

I let both Dell and Windows install any updates they needed to and tried to reset to factory default again.

It worked. Except now I'm stuck in a boot-loop. I get the same warning I had already been getting:

WARNING: The Service Tag has not been programmed. This system will not function properly without a Service Tag. The setup utility will launch the Service Tag installer.

I click continue, Windows allows me to pick my language and time zone and click next. I get the following screen:

There's a problem that's keeping us from getting your PC ready to use, but we think an update will help get things working again. Here's how to get the update:

1. Make sure your PC is plugged in.
2. If this PC used Wi-Fi select Next to follow Instructions to connect to a WiFi network.
3. If this PC does not use WiFi, insert a network cable to connect to a wired network and select Next.
4. Once you're connected select Next, and the update will install.

I give it my WiFI instructions, I get the spinning circles and "Just a moment...", the computer resets and I'm back at WARNING: No Service Tag.

Dell won't offer any support without renewing my warranty, which they want me to spend several hundred dollars on. To speak to someone to get support on this one-time issue will cost over a hundred dollars.

All of the diagnostic/troubleshooting tests that I have run through Dell's software, or Windows itself has all returned a perfect bill of health for the laptop's components.

Does anybody know of a way for me to get the BIOS to remember its service code, or for me to manually enter it myself?

Have I run afoul of some kind of DRM which has Dell intervening in Windows OS functionality?

Should I suspect something actually wrong with the motherboard itself?

Would it even be cost effective to renew my warranty and fight with IT, RMA processes, just to have it crap out at the end of the warranty again, or just buy another computer?

Any advice would be much appreciated.

 

[Colif]

Does it have a sticker on the actual case? that should have the service tag code on it - https://forums.tomsguide.com/faq/how-to-find-the-dell-xps-13-2-in-1-aio-service-tag.412881/
from what i can tell, it might be blank by default.

but getting it into system is another matter, i found some results suggesting that field is blank and others saying it should have been entered when PC was created. There was a program that would do it, but it doesn't work on the XPS 9 series.

I will move thread into laptop area as people who look there may know an answer

 

[volker231]

There is a panel in the bottom of the laptop that flips out to reveal the service number and express service code. But I can't find any place in the BIOS that will allow me to set those fields.

Under Maintenance>Service Tag, it says:

this field displays the system's service tag.

If, for some reason, the service tag was not already set, you would be able to use this field to set it.

But the field is not editable, and it appears the tag is set to "!". Being "set" I can't change it.

Under Maintenance>Asset Tag, I get the same "!" and

this field allows you to create a system asset tag. The field can only be updated if the asset tag is not already set.

I'm certain these fields used to be populated appropriately. And I know at least one location (in the dell support software) allowed me to edit the service tag field. (in the software the field was blank, not "!".

Whatever the problem is doesn't prevent me from booting into an operative Windows 10, but does prevent the installation of Windows 10. As it turns out, restoring to factory default was probably the worst thing I could have done.

Also, I've noticed:

Pass Through MAC Address = {None}