A required drive partition is missing / inaccessible boot device?? Inspiron 7520

Question

I have a DELL Inspiron 7520(service tag 4fb1gs1).  Originaly supplied with win7(sp1) home premium 64bit, Intel core i7-3612 QM @ 2.10 ghz, 8gb ram.  I can't pull up any other specs due to my current laptops lack of operation. The issues-- I decided to take advantage of the win10 upgrade.  Microsofts tool checked and approved my device for the upgrade.  The initial upgrade worked and my laptop was now win10 home.  After a check to see if my Win10 has been correctly key activated, I decided to do a pc reset (clear files, apps and settings) via MS tool in settings.  After finishing reset and rebooting to desktop I get the error 'inaccessible boot device' and than proceeds to go in a loop of restarts. Figured I would try now a clean install via USB boot using the MS creation tool.  Using the repair and fresh install options and after completing some intial start settings I get the error 'unable to reset your pc. A required drive partition is missing' So I am now officially stuck with no pc.  I searched for hours online for an answer to this problem to no avail.  Even this message was done frustratingly through a cell phone.   I am the family resident service tech and I assumed I was tech savy.  Before I swallow my pride and goto geeksquad...... Is my laptop bricked? Anyone know of a solution? I will be checking my cell phone for any replies......

extacy1375 · Accepted Answer

Well low and behold, I decided to give the install one more chance and it worked.  I really have no clue as to why that happened.  But I am up and running. Thank you for the assist!

ejn63 · Answer

Start with a hard drive diagnostic - F12 at powerup.  Choose Dell diagnostics, and run an extended test on the hard drive.

extacy1375 · Answer

I am currently using Dell ePSA preboot system assessment. Build 4220.10 UEFI ROM.

All devices passed intial test.

After looking at the configuration tag I have - drive 0 - ata, sata 1tb. And - drive 1 SSD 32gb. Also it showed boot path-MBR of drive 0. File system-NTFS.

I am now running a thorough test and seem to be stuck or lagging at 10% on drive 0 for 40 min. Its not frozen I believe due to thermostats temp keeps changing in system health tab.

Not sure if I should abort and start over?

ejn63 · Answer

See what happens, but it sounds like your cache drive is OK, but your hard drive has developed bad sectors - meaning it needs to be replaced.

extacy1375 · Answer

Thorough Test is still going, just really slow.  I'm at 50% now.  I will post final results when done.  Most likely by tomm morning.

extacy1375 · Answer

Thorough/long test has completed....all devices have passed test. Any ideas on where to go next? If this a partition issue, cant they all be wiped and start fresh?

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