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Attempting to reinstall Windows 7 on an Inspiron 7720- Error "Operation System not found"
Hello,
So; I have a Dell Inspiron 7720 laptop with a reformatted hard drive and I need to reinstall windows 7. I do not have the original Reinstallation DVD that came with this exact laptop but I do have one from another Dell Laptop ( a Studio 1558) and another Windows 7 disc from a desktop (the discs and the OS that was on the laptop before the HDD fail are all Windows 7 Home Premium 64Bit). When I turn on the laptop with either disc and mash F12 and then select "CD/DVD/CD-RW Drive" from the boot options the screen immediately displays "Operation System not found" and stays at this screen until restarted.
I have run a full diagnostic check and everything passed, I have made sure the CD-RW Drive is no.1 in boot priority (don't imagine that matters if I manually select it). The HDD and CD-RW Drive are detectable in BIOS too.... I have no idea what the problem is, any help will be greatly appreciated!!
Many thanks in advance,
Philip_Yip
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August 14th, 2016 03:00
Sounds like the optical drive might be defective... You should attempt clean installation via USB. At this stage I would recommend arming SecureBoot and UEFI. Then clean installing Windows 10 RS1:
http://dellwindowsreinstallationguide.com/uefi/
http://dellwindowsreinstallationguide.com/download-windows-10-oem-and-retail-iso/
Nala1712
3 Posts
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August 14th, 2016 05:00
You were right- the optical drive will read a disc for only a minute or so before magically breaking.. and I didn't set up the USB boot drive correctly- thanks for the help!
Nala1712
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August 14th, 2016 05:00
Good suggestion- I have already tried to boot from a USB drive with a windows 7 iso (and exactly the same error as above occured) but I might've mucked it up.. I didn't use the "rufus" software detailed in your guide, I'll have another go following those steps.
Two things:
does the Dell diagnostic tool thingy only detect if the optical drive is there and not if it's working correctly?
I'd like to reinstall windows 7 (I still prefer it to windows 10 and I'd like to reinstall some old software which might have compatibility issues with windows 10) and so I'm assuming doing this for windows 7 is no different for windows 10
Philip_Yip
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August 14th, 2016 07:00
The USB is made in the same way however the UEFI Settings must be modified for Windows 7 installation. You should use the WSUS Offline Update to patch Windows 7 after installation as Windows Update won't work:
http://dellwindowsreinstallationguide.com/wsus-offline-update/
Regarding the optical drive, try a lens cleaning CD/DVD it may be a spec of dust causing the issue or it may be more serious i.e. one of the lasers failing...