Inspiron 15r (3rd gen) not booting Windows

Hi cool_coding,

Please check if the hard drive is getting detected in BIOS (system setup:

• Restart the system and keep tapping 'F2' as soon as the Dell logo appears.
• Under 'Main', check if the hard drive is listed in front of 'Fixed HDD'.
• If so, I will recommend you to do BIOS defaults by pressing 'F9'.
• Press 'F10' to save the changes.

Exit BIOS and check if the system works fine. In case the issue persists, run the diagnostics on your system:

• Restart your system and keep tapping 'F12' as soon as the Dell logo appears.
• Highlight 'Diagnostics' using up/down arrow keys and press enter.

Please let me know if you get an error code/message.  

Keep me posted. Please reply for any further questions.

Hi cool_coding,

Since the hardware diagnostics pass, you may try doing a PC restore on your system which will bring the system back to its factory settings:

Note: PC restore will lead to data (pictures, documents, programs, music) loss. Please perform a data backup prior to this step. Please disconnect any external peripherals (printer, scanner or any USB device) as well.

1. Restart PC; keep tapping 'F8' as soon as the Dell logo appears.
2. Advanced Boot Options menu appears, ‘Repair your Computer' is highlighted, press Enter. (Use the arrow keys to highlight your choice).
3. Windows is loading files screen appears. Wait for it to load.
4. 'System Recovery Options' prompt appears. Specify the language and keyboard input that you want, and then click ‘Next’.
5. Log in as a user who has administrative credentials; select the username from the drop-down list, type the password and click OK.
6. 'Choose a Recovery Tool Window' appears, select 'Dell Data Safe Restore and Emergency Backup'.
7. The Welcome screen will show 2 options; 'Restore computer and preserve my new or changed files' and 'Select other System Backup and more options'. Select the second option (Select other System Backup and more options) and click 'Next'.
8. The next window shows these options; 'Backup Files and folders' and 'Restore my computer'. Select ‘Restore my computer’.
9. Select the 'Factory Image' and click ‘Next’.
10. The next window shows 2 options; 'Preserve new or changed files before restoring to selected System Backup' and 'Restore without preserving new or changed files'. Select the second option (Restore without preserving new or changed files) and click 'Next'.
11. A prompt appears stating that your computer is about to be restored all data currently on your computer will be deleted and replaced with your selected Full System Backup. If an Emergency File & Folder Backup was created, it will still be saved in the location you selected. Click 'Yes, continue' and click 'Next'.
12. PC restore will initiate. Once done, click 'Restart'.
13. Follow the onscreen instructions to create a user account.

In case the above steps do not work, we will try re installing the windows again. Were you trying to re install the operating system using the disk shipped along with your system?

Please reply for any clarifications.

Hello Vikram,

Thank You for the prompt reply!

Yes the hard drive was detected in BIOS. I followed your instructions but still no change.

So i ran diagnostics, no error, all tests passed successfully!

I also saved the psa.txt file.

Can you please guide me further?

Thank You.

Hello Vikram,

Currently I have 2 partitions on my hard disk.

On C: i had installed windows7 & on another drive I have all my files: pics, music, etc.

I forgot to mention in my question that during installation of windows7 from the disc i had formatted the C: drive.

Will the above mentioned procedure still work?

Also if I follow that procedure will the files on my other drive get deleted?

Currently I dont have an external hard disk & the data is huge.

So if by your procedure the data is going to be erased then I would prefer some other option if possible.

I am sorry that I am constraining you so much due to all of my faults.

But please forgive me for my ignorance & stupidity.

This is my 1st laptop & 1st time at windows7. I hope you can understand my situation.

Can you help me further?

EDIT: Yes I was trying to install the OS from the disc that came with my laptop. It has DELL over it also.

Thank You.

Hello Vikram,

I have been trying to find a solution all day & i think i found a reason for the problem here:

en.community.dell.com/.../1434.1-1-a-clean-install-of-windows-7-on-dell-systems.aspx

As mentioned we need to provide the drivers for Intel Rapid Storage. So i put the drivers in a pen drive & insert the reinstallation dvd along with the pen drive. After restarting & booting from dvd & i selected "load drivers" which is just below the list of drives on the hard disk. Which again gives the same situatio as shown in 3rd photo above. So i click browse & select the driver folder. It loads 1 driver & then clicked next. Then again it goes to the same window where a list of drives is shown. But it gives me an error that windows cant be installed in the partition, same as mentioned here:

answers.microsoft.com/.../485b0db0-e4d9-400c-9461-f5d53abf6c8d

but even if i remove the pen drive, remove disk & again insert disk, still shows same error. However doing the whole procedure again & again, sometimes it doesnt show that error. So i select a drive & select next. Then it continues till the step as shown in 2nd photo, this time it throws another error, same as explained here:

answers.microsoft.com/.../4318402b-5f67-450f-8909-07da4c6f0cca

now i am totally frustrated as i also tried to make a bootable usb win7 installation as mentioned in the clean installation guide. but this time instead of throwing the 80070015 error, it showed "windows cant install as it couldnt find install.wim" same as mentioned here:

answers.microsoft.com/.../87bf074e-c66e-4ef8-b99c-fc3a126254c5

i beg you Vikram to please sort this problem of mine as time is running out of my hands & i havnt even prepared for the presentation.

Thank You.

Hi cool_coding,

I really appreciate your patience. Please share the exact system model(Inspiron N 5110, Inspiron 5520, Inspiron N 5010); I understand your system is 15R, however, there are 2 other Dell laptops which are known with the same name.

Also, please let me know 'SATA operation/Mode' is set to which mode in BIOS:

• Restart your system and keep tapping 'F2' as soon as the Dell logo appears.
• Go to 'Advanced' tab and check what is selected in front of 'SATA Operations/Mode'.

Please reply for any clarifications.

I am on same problem and mine is Inspiron 5520 I7. Please help.