I have a Dell Inspiron 1545 that crashed a couple months ago. I posted several times on these forums trying to fix/ repair/ etc.. It ended up being a toasted HD. So I bought a new 320 GB HD. I just installed the new HD and when I put the flash stick in that has the latest Win 7 Home Premium with SP1 on it to try and do a reinstall, it comes up with the following. I must be missing a step or three. Please advise.
It's not booting the flash stick but trying to boot the unformatted internal HD.
At boot immediately start tapping the F12 key to get a boot menu. The flash stick should be listed under USB, REmovable or HD's - you may need to expand an entry to see it listed. Choose it and it should load files and install.
If not then rewrite your flash stick with the latest official ISO and tool in Steps 1 and 2 of Clean Reinstall - Factory OEM Windows 7
Gregrocker-
I started from scratch.
I visited the microsoft support website. I downloaded (to my desktop) the ISO file from here. Then I sent it to a writable dvd (I just right-clicked the file, send to...DVD drive).
When I put the DVD in the broken laptop (remember, new HD) and boot from DVD, it beeps and says:
No boot sector on internal hard drive.
No bootable devices. Strike the F1 key, etc etc.
Also, I tried it another way, using a different source for the latest Windows 7 ISO..
I downloaded (to my desktop) the latest Windows 7 ISO file from here. I then drag it onto the usb flash stick (formatted the stick first). When I put this into the broken laptop, and boot from usb, it says:
Missing operating system_
One thing I have noticed. In the BIOS, I set it up to boot from dvd or flash. When I turn it on I still have to press the f12 key to chooses to boot from dvd or flash stick.
UPDATE: It's actually working now. Don't know how or why. However, it has been stuck on 5% for an hour. Is this normal?
Last edited by thomis; 28 Aug 2012 at 18:14. Reason: update
That MS download link point to the Service Pack 1 installer, not the full Operating System install disk image.
Try Official Windows 7 SP1 ISO from Digital River « My Digital Life for the correct .iso
OK. I used the tool in step 2 to burn to usb stick the correct, downloaded ISO file from Digital River. The stick booted just fine and installation went well until the end when it asked for the product key. I had already written the Dell product key down from underneath the laptop. After entering the Dell product key, it took almost half an hour "processing" or working.. but came back with the same screen with the boxes blank, as if asking for the product key again. So I thought it didn't like the product key, so I hit "skip" this time. It went to a black screen. In the bottom right of the screen it read:
build 7601
this copy of windows is not genuine
Do you have the exact same version as you got from Dell? The Product Key is for a specific version. e.g. if it was delivered with Windows 7 64 bit Home Premium then make sure you are reinstalling that version. I used to do a lot of support on the Dell forums and we didn't have any problems with users using the ISO download and the Dell supplied product key.
After what I did last night (Install Win 7 using the usb then failed after the product key problem), I tried turning the computer on. It has the same problem that began the whole thing. I basically have to start from scrath, boot from usb, re-install windows, to get to the product key page, and then have it fail again. I am using the correct product key, that came with the Win 7 home premium 32-bit which is what the download is.
All I know to do now is call the number and try to activate it over the phone like bare foot kid suggests, but if its not connected to the internet, how will the laptop know it was registered?
Honestly, I'm beginning to think there is something wrong with the laptop other than the HD, which is a brand new one I just replaced.
What else could be wrong with he laptop? I mean, the installation is seriously a slow process.
Instead of reinstalling to access Product Key box why don't you ask us how to attempt reactivation, which is accessed at the Computer>Properties activation link?
Installation failure is almost always caused a wrong character typed into the box, if you know for sure you're installing the correct version on the Dell COA sticker.
Sometimes a number and letter can appear nearly identical. Use a magnifying glass if necessary. After you're certain of the key, triple check each character that you type in.
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