Solved Replaced hard drive with new one, "Reboot and select proper boot..."

[huttdawg]

Replaced hard drive with new one, "Reboot and select proper boot..."

I have a Toshiba Satellite L770. My hard drive crashed, so I went and bought a new one. I replaced it, and once I did I started up the laptop and came to a black screen which states:

"Reboot and Select proper Boot device
or Insert Boot Media in selected Boot device and press a key"

I figured a new hard drive would involve a "clean install", so I inserted my Windows 7 Home Premium OEM 64-bit software DVD, with the same black screen popping up.

I, then, went into the BiOS and switched the boot order so that the CD/DVD drive would boot first, but the same thing is popping up.

Would I need some sort of Toshiba Recovery CD instead of the Microsoft one for this to work? I should mention that prior to replacing the hard drive, my brother wiped everything completely from the computer, so maybe I'm answering my own question about the Toshiba Recovery software. Would just like a second opinion and to see if maybe I'm skipping a step or missing something to get this to work properly as it's a good laptop, and I really do not want to have to buy a new one.

 

[crawfish]

ISTR the Windows Installer pauses while still at the BIOS level and asks you to press a key to boot from the DVD. If you miss this, the PC will try to boot from the next device, and since the hard drive is blank, you would end up at the error screen you described. If you're not getting this Windows prompt, double-check the BIOS boot settings, and maybe try another bootable CD or DVD, and see if you can get it to work.

 

[huttdawg]

When I boot up the laptop, the first screen it shows is the Toshiba logo and at the bottom gives you two options: F2 for Setup, or F12 for Boot Menu. I first tried pressing F2 and switching the boot order in there, with the black screen showing up afterwards, and I tried going into the Boot Menu and selecting the disc drive alone, but the black screen still shows up.

 

[gregrocker]

Work through the steps for Overcoming Windows 7 Installation Failures - Windows 7 Help Forums

 

[AddRAM]

If you are using the 1 time boot key to choose your optical drive, and you don`t see the words "Press any key to boot from CD/DVD, then something is wrong with your install media.

 

[huttdawg]

Let me give you all an update:

1. Hard drive crashed
2. Bought a generic new hard drive (not a Toshiba one)
3. Bought the Windows 7 Setup CD
4. Downloaded all Toshiba Recovery files and Drivers on a USB Flash drive
5. I start up the computer, go to BIOS, it shows on first page that my hard drive is recognized. Mind you it's all greyed out, but it shows the model number and everything.
6. I go to Boot Order, make it so the USB drive boots first since that's where all Toshiba Recovery and Driver files are and since everything was completely erased from my previous hard drive, I need to do a "clean install" on EVERYTHING. Straight from scratch, not just the Windows software.
7. The error screen still pops up saying "Reboot and Select proper Boot Device or Insert Boot Media in selected Boot device and press a key"
8. So I insert the USB drive, AND the Windows 7 Setup CD, but keep the boot order as: 1. USB, 2. HDD, 3. CD/DVD drive, 4. Realtek LAN (or whatever)
9. Still shows the error screen
10. Changed boot order so the disc boots before the HDD, still shows error screen.

Those are 10 steps I have taken to resolve this issue and still keep getting that damn error screen. Any other suggestions? And use non-technical terms as I am computer savvy but not when you're talking in lingo and acronyms.

 

[gregrocker]

You didn't need to buy the Win7 disk because if you'd read the installation troubleshooting tutorial provided in my last post it is provided there along with tool to burn to DVD or stick.

You also wasted a lot of time downloading a bunch of Toshiba drivers for an OS which provides its own drivers, and reinstalling the Toshiba bloatware defeats the purpose of a Clean Reinstall.

The tutorial in my signature pic below will help you
Get and keep a perfect install.

You only need your wireless driver in the backup in case it doesn't start up ready to connect. Then enable Hardware Auto updating from tutorial and run all Important and Optional Updates until there are no more. Any drivers still missing in Dev Mgr can then be imported from Toshiba's webpage for your model.

The driver error during install always means a bad installer.

Let us know how it goes. Use the two tutorials and you'll have the best install possible.

 

[Britton30]

Do you have any other type of bootable CD/DVD you can try? Maybe the optical drive is bad.

Try this to get a fresh installer, there are links for downloads and instructions to make you own bootable install disk or USB stick.
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/219487-clean-reinstall-factory-oem-windows-7-a.html#post1839164

 

[huttdawg]

Maybe we're misunderstanding each other, but my laptop currently has nothing but BIOS on it that I can access. It has no Toshiba drivers, it has no Windows drivers, it has no option to do anything but whatever that black error screen says. All drivers and partitions were deleted, so the laptop is completely blank. Therefore, I would need some sort of Toshiba driver or software on there in order to even get to the point of installing Windows 7 wouldn't I? You're not able to install an OS without first having some components of the laptops manufacturers files, drivers, or whatever else are you? Everything this laptop used to have is gone, and I mean EVERYTHING, so I would need some sort of Toshiba software or driver installed first before I can proceed to installing any OS wouldn't I?

 

[gregrocker]

No you do not need any more than the drivers in the installer to install Win7.

Follow the steps in the Clean Reinstall tutorial.

If install fails then use the Overcoming Installation Failures tutorial step by step.

Ask back any questions to get the steps done.

 

[Britton30]

Also you should test the laptop with some bootable disk, anything will do, such as a Linux live CD, just to test the operation of the CD drive.

 

[huttdawg]

What .iso file am I looking for when I use that tool?

 

[Britton30]

It's a bootable OS on a optical disk. HEre's one: http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorial...dvd-usb-use-emergency-backup.html#post2121339
This is to simply see if your optical drive is functioning, it seems to be bad.

 

[huttdawg]

Ok, so I'm trying to find the .iso file from another computer that I can use in this tool. I'm asking where I can locate that .iso file or whatever.

 

[Britton30]

Did you see the blue font in my last post? it is a link. The link is to a tutorial that explains how to make a bootable Linux Live CD.
Unless I misunderstand what "tool" you refer to.

 

[huttdawg]

I see it now, skipped over that part. It's downloading now. And I was referring to greg's tool in his post.

 

[huttdawg]

Britton30 that did not help out at all and I don't see the point of that program...

 

[gregrocker]

Gary thought you were asking about a disk that can test your hardware. This is a good idea so save that disk if you made it so he can help you test your hardware as you go.

The ISO file you want for reinstall I believe is Win7 Home Premium x64 SP1 English Official ISO download if you have 4gb of RAM or more. I would use 32 bit for less.

 

[huttdawg]

Work through the steps for Overcoming Windows 7 Installation Failures - Windows 7 Help Forums

gregrocks, it worked! You're an effin saint! Thanks bud!