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I used some Windows tool, which I presume downloaded a new ISO (it downloaded long enough anyway).
But perhaps it still took something from a restore disk anyway?
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I would try the following:
- Go into the BIOS, and ensure that it has no odd settings (BIOS password, device boot order, etc.)
- Get a thumb drive (8 GB or more)
- Go to another Windows 10 computer and download the Windows Media Creator
- Run this, and create a Windows 10 installation thumb drive
Make sure that you download a version for which you have a license (e.g. don't download Windows Pro if your license is for Windows Home) - Use this to boot your computer
- Install Windows from scratch (including a format and repartition of the hard drive)
- Open File Explorer, Right-click on "This PC" in the left-hand window, and select "Properties".
- Scroll to the bottom of the window. On the right, you will see an option to change the product key. Click this, and enter your new product key
This should overwrite your employer's record of Windows in the BIOS and in Microsoft's servers. - Lastly, go to Dell's site, download their tool that updates all Dell drivers, and run that to get their latest stuff.
Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows.
-- 6079 Smith W.
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Sander Rossel wrote: I mean, how would a fresh install know this is a laptop from my ex-employer?
Some sort of bios password?
Suggest a reset - remove the CMOS battery for a bit to reset. Might also check for Dell bios updates while you're at it - I've had good results (er, with desktops anyway) with their updates.
[edit] And since you're investing some time here, strongly suggest swapping in an SSD before the next install [/edit]
modified 1-Sep-19 18:17pm.
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On laptops' hard drives, there are often hidden partitions; could it be possible that you only wiped partition(s) which could be seen?
I'm using Ultimate Boot CD when I want to have a rather precise clue about how a disk has been partitioned. Maybe you could gain some knowledge about your issue from it?
while (!(success = Try()));
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Hi,
Sander Rossel wrote: The first thing that I thought was really weird is that the installer told me to sign in with my ex-employers work account
Are you using a corporate volume license or an OEM key when you install Windows 10?
Windows 10 Professional or Enterprise?
Best Wishes,
-David Delaune
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Been there done that - bought a grey market licence to get around w10s draconian licencing. I'd bet the hard disk id is registered with MS somewhere and it references that to determine the owner. I would consider getting a new SSD as your primary drive, that may allow you to do a clean install.
Never underestimate the power of human stupidity -
RAH
I'm old. I know stuff - JSOP
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Sander Rossel wrote: The ultimate question, of course, what's wrong
The computer takes two minutes to boot.Sander Rossel wrote: and how can I solve it?
Don't shut it down.
Or press the "Go" button, then go and start making coffee/grab a newspaper and read a paragraph and a half of a story that interests you/look at a Rubik's cube, twist it twice, then put it down/anything else that will keep you busy for this Huge amount of time.
It's two minutes. I imagine that you might have somewhat more pressing issues to spend your time on.
I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!
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The problem isn't those two minutes, it's that it first fails booting at all twice and then takes about six times longer to boot than it should.
I could ignore it now and wait until it completely fails on me when I'm doing a demo for a potential customer or I could spend some time now to solve this issue and save me a lot of frustration and haul in that customer later.
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OK, having taken the time to read all the details (which takes longer than two minutes -- I could boot a computer in that time!) I'm now wondering why you are hoping that reinstalling windows will fix a problem that is arising before windows loads.
Take a look at your BIOS settings.
In particular, check the BIOS version, and download and flash the latest if it's not.
If it is the latest version, just go through all the settings (with a guide open on another machine), paying special attention to HDD and memory settings.
There's also the possibility that you might need an older version of the BIOS, but let's leave that until last.
I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!
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I believe you're looking at a combo of what Phil and David writes about.
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I assume you've checked the boot device sequence in the BIOS..? Maybe it's trying to boot over a network interface rather than from a local device. That (might?) explain the prompt for your employer's credentials. It would also explain a long delay at boot while it tries to find and/or download boot data from the network. I've never tried a network boot but googling gives plenty of experiences...
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Hmm, if you are using UEFI check whether the Secure Boot option is enabled. If it is then try disabling it. It is the only thing I can think of, so it is probably wrong 
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Have you tried doing a UEFI reset? UEFI is waaaaay more complicated than the BIOS used to be, and remembers more stateful data than BIOSes ever did. This Dell support page might help...
Java, Basic, who cares - it's all a bunch of tree-hugging hippy cr*p
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My guess would be that they re-wrote the Computer's BIOS chip. You might be able to wipe that by downloading a tool made for your motherboard by the manufacturer or possibly a 3rd party. Then you can update the BIOS chip from their site and use it to over-write the existing one.
Keep in mind, some computers use a software form of BIOS, so you first have to figure out which type. Then you will know which type of tool you need (in the event that the manufacturer can't or won't help). To get the ball rolling, get the model number and manufacturer of the computer then google those and keep the serial number written down just in case you need that too.
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One other bit if advice as well as all the software stuff.
I've been reconditioning dell's for years and one thing I've always found is they misbehave strangely when clogged up with dust and crap.
Get a can of compressed air and give the fans/vents a quick blast, or if you can get in at the motherboard give the whole lot a blast with the air cannon.
Most dell's that I've come across over the year's are custom built and have all sorts of weird ass sensors in them that you don't normally find on generic pc's, when they get even a little bit of dust on some of them they frequently go stupid.
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So I wrote a wrapper for The Movie DB (tmdb.org) so you can easily and efficiently query for tv show and movie data. It wraps pretty much the entire, very mature REST/json API as an object model so it's enormous.
Anyway, the neat thing about it is how it caches.
The entire object model backs its state on a normalized graph that maps directly to JSON.
it queries tmdb.org as necessary to fill in the bits of the graph it doesn't already have.
so it keeps the entire cache as one large (normalized) "JSON" object graph.
The normalization just means parsing the json into (null),string,bool, int,long,bigint, double, IList<object> and IDictionary<string,object> types and then nesting those to make the graphs.
I say graphs because the way the cache works, everything is connected, and you might have a node connected by more than one "parent" so that data isn't so duplicated.
Anyway, that caching and state backing thing could use its own article.
But it's a technique, not a separate code library.
Should I publish a Tip & Trick entry with just the caching aspect of the TmdbApi explored, or do you have better ideas?
Object graph: Simply objects nested inside objects using dictionaries and lists.
(Apparently graph databases are a thing. I did not know that.)
When I was growin' up, I was the smartest kid I knew. Maybe that was just because I didn't know that many kids. All I know is now I feel the opposite.
modified 1-Sep-19 14:29pm.
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I think most people here don't even have a clue what a graph database is and probably think it has to do with graphics, so it would be a good thing to explain that first 
Here some Graph databases are mentioned: best-graph-databases-suited-for-big-data[^]
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i didn't know a graph database was a thing as such. i'll edit my comment.
i was just talking about an object graph. but i suppose that's what a graph DB would hold.
When I was growin' up, I was the smartest kid I knew. Maybe that was just because I didn't know that many kids. All I know is now I feel the opposite.
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I've used neo4j and would recommend it if you use Java. They have a really good intro article to the topic too - What is a Graph Database?[^] 
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this one is all in C#. It's not really a full fledged DB.
It's simplistic but good for what i needed it to do.
Literally all the "indexers" are are just thinly wrapped Dictionary<string,object> instances.
Each Dictionary<string,object> is a JSON object. Each List<object> is a JSON array. The scalar values for object can be numeric, string, boolean or null, just like JSON, but they can also be more lists and dictionaries.
It all maps directly. It's so easy it's stupid, but smart enough to work.
When I was growin' up, I was the smartest kid I knew. Maybe that was just because I didn't know that many kids. All I know is now I feel the opposite.
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I've heard of it, but it's overkill for this. If this was serving json rather than consuming it I'd consider it, but all i need is simple caching.
When I was growin' up, I was the smartest kid I knew. Maybe that was just because I didn't know that many kids. All I know is now I feel the opposite.
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Neo4j is quite interesting: it runs on Java. The free book is very well-written.
«Where is the Life we have lost in living? Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge? Where is the knowledge we have lost in information?» T. S. Elliot
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honey the codewitch wrote: Anyway, that caching and state backing thing could use its own article.
But it's a technique, not a separate code library.
Should I publish a Tip & Trick entry with just the caching aspect of the TmdbApi explored, or do you have better ideas?
It sounds like it would fit better as an Article than as a Tip (unless I'm overestimating the amount you can write about it). But it doesn't matter that it's a technique instead of a code library... there's no problem whatsoever with writing an article about a technique.
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