Inspiron 1545 Windows 7 64-bit Reinstallation

First thing I would do is power down your computer. Press and hold F12, power up, run the diagnostics, particularly on the harddrive, just to check that you don't have a faulty harddrive (hence failing to proceed/hangs).

Have you tried using the Dell Quick Restore to factory settings?

This will remove all files from your computer however. Do you have everything backed up?

What is the "Dell for Windows Reinstallation" Disc? Is it the Windows 7 disc?

The Windows 7 disc should look something like this:

What version of 7 is it Home Premium 64 bit, Home Premium 32 bit, Professional 64 bit, Professional 32 bit, Ultimate 64 bit or Ultimate 32 bit?

Thanks for your help!  

The F12 diagnostics have already been run, everything passed!  Unable to reach Dell Quick Restore and there are no important files to backup, other than the Drivers folder.

The disk I have is as shown above, Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit.  

I have formatted the C: partition and rebooted using the disk.  The screen showed "Windows is loading files" and now shows "Starting Windows".  It may in fact be re-formatting so I will leave it running until something further occurs!

Hi, I do the F12 boot as described.  However, after the "press any key to boot from the installation DVD" it goes directly to  "Windows is loading files" and then shows "Starting Windows".   No other prompts occur!

It won't be formatting, "Starting Windows" shouldn't take a very long time. I would say 5 minutes at most.

What you need to do is the following. Power down the computer, hold F12 select boot from CD/DVD. Start with the Windows install. See here for detailed instructions. When selecting the drive on which you want to install Windows on. You will need to look at the drive options and select format. This may remove any conflicting files with your windows installation.

As soon as Windows 7 is installed I recommend installing the standalone service pack 1 (second from bottom) and standalone internet explorer 9 (Windows 7 x64). This will save alot of grief with Windows update later on. I recommend installing these before installing the drivers (save these in a folder on an external harddrive).

Don't worry about the drivers folder, you may find all you need on the Dell Drivers and Download Page.

Save the drivers in folders on the external harddrive so you know what is what (e.g. the headings I have given). Otherwise you will have a bundle of Rxxxxx and you don't know what is what. Again inputting the service tag will narrow the number of drivers down to those that are specific to your system.

1. Dell Notebook Software (Under System Utilities)

2. Chipset Drivers Intel, then Realtek

3. ATI/Intel Video Drivers

4. Ethernet (Under Network)

5. Wifi (Under Network)

6. Audio

7. Touchpad (Under Mouse and Keyboard)

8. TV Tuners (If you have under Video)

9. Bluetooth (If You have)

10. Dell Quickset Under Applications.

11. Intel Matrix Storage Manager Drivers then Application (Under SATA Drives)

12. Dell Support Centre

13. Dell Webcam Centre (If you have a Webcam)

14. Dell Dock (Optional)

15. My Dell Downloads (A new feature where you can download preinstalled software such as Roxio Creator Starter for your system, up to 3 times, so again back up - it requires use of internet explorer 32 bit, some of this software you may not want to install).

Install everything in the order I have given.

Some mainly free/useful software I recommend is also available here.

When booting from the Reinstallation DVD, the "Windows is loading files" progress bar and CD activity indicate reading of files.  Why there are no subsequent options is a puzzler.  Would there be anything particular in the BIOS?  For example, the existing SATA drive setting is AHCI.  There is also an option for ATA, which I have not tried.

The connector I use CoolMax.  The laptop owner could not clearly provide an explaination of what originally caused this issue.

The drive has already been formatted prior to above attempt to use the Reinstallation DVD.

Ah okay there is no options? There is also no "Windows is copying over files"?

Can I ask, how did this problem start. It is a bit strange you cannot access the Dell Quick Restore Either.

Do you think you have some virus/spyware stopping you from installing windows?

You mentioned removing the harddrive to format it, do you have the connector such as here?

It could be useful to extract over all your data if you need any. I suspect either virus/spyware causing the problem or the drive failing (diagnostics should detect the latter but maybe not always). Run a virus scan of the drive when connected to the other computer with Malwarebytes' Antimalware (free version make sure its updated) see if it finds anything.

Make sure the computer you connect the drive to has sufficient security. If you don't have anything I recommend Microsoft Security Essentials, Malwarebytes' Antimalware and Windows 7 Firewall Control.

Use the HP format tool to format the drive (requires to be right clicked and run as an administrator in Vista/7).

Also your Windows 7 DVD could be damaged or DVD lense need cleaned, but doubt this as you are experiencing unrelated problems. 

Thanks! I tried ATA but same results.  Also reran disk diagnostics and no issues.  Let me do some more research.

Try changing the BIOs settings, its worth a shot. If you do have another harddrive kicking about though, I would try using that.

Yes but you will need to use another computer to read the DVD in order to make the bootable USB.

Follow my instructions Convert your Dell Windows 7 Reinstallation DVD into a Dell Reinstallation USB. Use this Dell Reinstallation USB in conjunction with my wiki A Clean Install of Windows 7 for best results.

If it is Vista instead follow Convert your Dell Windows Vista Reinstallation DVD into a Dell Reinstallation USB. Use the USB in conjunction with my wiki A Clean Install of Windows Vista.

Hi,

i have a question, i have the dell pc, and my windows is kinda corrupted, i wished to reinstall from the original DVD but unfortunately the DVD rom doesn't work, is there any other way i can format the existing windows and reinstall a new one using the same reinstallation DVD, or if i use a bootable flash drive will it work without losing the genuine version of windows.

kindly advise.

Thanks & Regards

Percy

Thank you very much...will try it and let you know Mr. Philip.