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#1
Missing Operating System - Booting from installation disc doesn't work
Hiya,
Firstly I should say that I am primarily a mac user, and it is not my laptop I am posting about. Although I am reasonably knowledgable about Windows, I haven't used it since XP, about four years ago, and so am pretty rusty.
Basically, my girlfriends computer randomly turned off about a week ago, she assumed it was a dead battery, plugged it in, and then when it turned back on it wouldn't boot displaying error message: missing operating system.
As it is a Dell laptop it didn't come with any installation discs, and I totally forgot to even make a repair disc when we got the laptop. I managed to get hold of a Windows 7 Installation Disc and license key for Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bit through my university. I think the laptop was previously running Windows 7 Home Premium, but that's all I know, and I'm not entirely sure of that fact.
Anyway, burnt the .iso to disc and have tried to boot several times from DVD Drive. The laptop loads the files from the DVD fine, and gets as far as the "Starting Windows" screen, where it seems to get stuck for a few minutes, until it becomes a black screen with just a cursor (the cursor still moves). This also happens with an 64 bit repair DVD I also managed to get hold of.
Any ideas on what I should or can do next?
Thanks