Cannot Boot From Recovery CD

Replacing the hd requires virtually no technical knowledge, just the ability to use a screwdriver. Your machine is a bit fiddly as there are lots of screws to undo and a few ribbon cables to unclip.

The purpose of using Dell installation media ( either your factory.wim or the appropraiate Dell recovery media ) is that it will activate automatically, and should contain any Dell specific drivers.

It is up you if you want to replace the hd yourself, or pay someone else to do it.

There are several videos showing how to replace the hd.

Dell Inspiron 15R N5010 M501R M5010 Hard Drive Removal and Installation

If you want the shop to install the OS - you don't need to buy a new license. It is included in your Dell recovery disk - give that to the guy.


Otherwise, you can install the OS yourself :

1) plug your usb into your machine and boot it.

2) use Aomei part assist or disk management to initialize (to MBR) and format ( to NTFS ) the new disk.

3) I suggest you create a partition about half the disk to install onto (about 100-110gb ) .Give it a drive letter e.g. C.

4) Use winntsetup ( it is in the start menu\programs\install folder). Browse to factory.wim, browse to the partition C you just created , then click SETUP.

You can do that from windows setup

Step 7 & 8 in the tutuorial below. Or you can let win7 setup do it automatically, but you would end up with a hidden 100mb system partition and the rest of the drive just as one partition.

Clean Install Windows 7 - Windows 7 Help Forums

Hi Diana,

It should be straightforward as you have the DELL recovery media dvd.
:)