Windows 7: Windows 7 OEM won't install on new HD?

My HD crashed so I got a new one, I put in the OS CD that came with my Dell laptop but it just won't boot? I pop in a xp cd and it boots, there is nothing wrong with the CD as I have tried a few different dell CDs with win 7 and they just won't boot, boot order is correct. Please help me!

Have you tried choosing a one-time boot drive from a menu? That's normally done with an F key, but I'm not sure what F key on a Dell. It's F12 on my PC.

Or did you set the boot order in the BIOS?

Will this Dell disk boot any other PC?

Yes the boot order is correct and it is f12.

Will this Dell disc boot any other PC?

Yes it does, someone said I may have to extract the ISO off the disc.

I haven't used a Dell in years and anything is possible.

What exactly are your choices in the F12 menu? I just looked at mine, and there are 2 choices that might make sense when wanting to boot from my sole DVD drive----but only one of them will work.


Have you manually changed the boot order in the BIOS, rather than relying on the F12 menu?

I have no idea whether Dell supplies full-fledged installation discs as opposed to recovery disks or repair disks.

What Dell provides is a full reinstallation DVD which has Dell branding and COA-SLP activation baked in.

Give it a good cleaning and if it still won't boot you can use the installer provided in Clean Reinstall - Factory OEM Windows 7 which can be activated using the product key on the COA sticker. All it will lack is Dell branding on the Properties page.

So if I get a windows copy it will install?

Did you read Clean Reinstall - Factory OEM Windows 7?

Everything you need is in the blue link. Follow it closely then if there are any problems with installation post back exactly what happens with any error message text and we will work through it with you.

There is a way to keep the branding and OEM slic activation. Download the matching ISO for your currently installed version. Then us a program like ultra ISO to add the $OEM$ folder that's on the Dell disk to the sources folder in the ISO you downloaded. You can also copy over and replace the ei.cfg file, that will guaranty the correct version is installed. Then burn a disk from that ISO image. If its done correctly the burned ISO will not ask for a product code and activation will be automatic. Just like the Dell disk would do if it actually worked.
Another way to do it is to use the windows 7 DVD download tool to make a bootable USB thumb drive from the downloaded ISO. Then just copy the ei.cfg file and $OEM$ folder over from the Dell disk to the sources folder on the thumb drive.