Windows 10: Windows Suddenly unactivated on Dell Latitude E7270

This laptop has served me well for almost a year without any issues. However, out of nowhere, the "Activate Windows" watermark has appeared on my screen. I attempted to resolve the issue using the built-in troubleshooting option, but to no avail. Since the laptop came with Windows pre-installed, I don't have a separate activation key. For reference, my system is running Windows 10 Pro.

:)

 

Shutdown Problem with Dell Latitude E7270 Laptop

I have a Dell Latitude E7270 Laptop I got from a guy. The hardware is like new. Shortly after starting to use, it, it started the shutdown sequence randomly. I might get one minute or 10. I restored BIOS to factory settings several times. I reset Windows 11 once and clean-installed it twice. During installation and updates, the shutdown sequence didn't appear. But after everything installed and updated and I went to a normal Windows login, the sequence started again.

I looked at the BIOS logs. There were no thermal log entries. The only logs that had error entries was the power management (can't remember the exact title). It said ACPI Power management. I'm assuming that's an error. I researched this and several articles said to adjust/turn off the acpi controls. But this laptop does not have an acpi settings control anywhere.

How do I fix this? Is it fixable?

 

No drive found on my internal hard disk on Dell Latitude E5430.

Hello,My laptop (Dell Latitude E5430) was working perfectly till yesterday. But yesterday night, it restarted on its own and ever since, it's stuck at this screen:



Also, inside the BIOS, no UEFI bootable hard disk drive is being listed.



The UEFI flash disk option shown above is that of my bootable pen drive with Windows 10 installation copy.I googled this issue a bit and the results were as follows:

1. one thread suggested that I should run Dell's internal diagnostics to see if there anything wrong with hard disk. I did that but every component, including the hard disk one, passed these internal test.
   
   
2. a second thread suggested that I should try to remove and reseat the hard disk. I did that following Dell's user manual.
3. another thread suggested that I should reinstall my windows 10 afresh. But when I try to do so, the windows installation wizard doesn't list any drive in the hard disk. It's as if it doesn't detect hard disk at all.
   
   

In a nutshell, while the hard disk is being detected, but none of its drives is. However, the hard disk consisted of 3 drives:

1. C: with the windows' and applications' installations,
2. D: with all of my data,
3. E: which was recovery drive.

Any troubleshooting suggestions?I'm sorry I am not able to help you guys with any logs and stuff because I don't know how to get them when I can't get my Windows to boot. I'm not even sure if this is the correct section where I should be posting this thread.. I'm just so confused right now. *cry

A few weeks ago, I had upgraded (not fresh installation) from windows 10 version 1607 to 20H2. The version 1607 installation was a clean one (from scratch, after formatting the hard disk and creating new partitions).

 

Dying laptop

Agreed, they're built like tanks. Though you can get them for less if you get a refurbished one. Dell for example sell a Latitude E7270 in the UK for £659 ($875 at current rates).

Dell Refurbished Dell Latitude 12 7000 Series (E7270)

Though if you are prepared to risk buying used, you can pick up real bargains. I recently bought a higher spec E7270 from CashConverters (16GB, i7, full HD touch screen) for around £320 ($425). Mind you, I had to clean-install Windows 10 myself (easy, as it had the 10 Pro key in its bios).