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No operating system, but have Dell USB media
Ok, so I made a bad choice and decided after all else had failed to force the bios update with less then 10% battery left. This was because it would not charge, ordered three new chargers from Dell and battery tests at 92% health . anyways my issue is, the puppy disinfected the cord while doing so and now I have the NO OPERATING SYSTEM screen, I have a USB restore media from Dell off of my previous Inspiron 11 3147. Which is also the same model I have now. I place the usb in and get to recovery, but it cannot reset nor restore. I go to command prompt and I reach the Adminstrative X:windows\system32\cms.exe . I have done diskpart to search for disk drive C: however while doing so I noticed I have 465GB drive with 462GB free. So (and I'm assuming this because I'm not tech savvy at all) I assume my drive got wiped somehow. Under the X:windows\system32> I did the( dir ) and see that everything there looks good. My question is, can I copy this to a new vol and make it my C: or can I somehow get the USB to a really install my operating system somehow? Any help would be greatly appreciated. I am no longer under warranty although this was a rent to own laptop brand new and only paid it off as of April so would figure it would still be in warranty.
ieee488
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January 4th, 2018 07:00
alicesonbell
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January 3rd, 2018 15:00
At current, there is no operating system. At least that's what it says when I try to boot in legacy mode.
alicesonbell
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January 3rd, 2018 15:00
I am sorry, this has left me so frazzled for a month now. I am just now able to ask the question here.
The laptop came with windows 8
As stated in first post model is : Inspiron 11 3000 3147
I have Dell media for reinstall, but its asking me for a product key. I have tried all the generic install keys (as mine is not listed on labels) and they all state that the product key does not match the images available for installation.
I can access the cms.exe but only in admistrative X:windows\system32> . is there a way to reinstall with this media that will not need a product key?
ieee488
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January 3rd, 2018 15:00
It would help if you told us the OS and PC model.
Try to clean up your original post. It is like stream of thought and very hard to understand what is going on. PARAGRAPHS are good.
ieee488
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January 3rd, 2018 16:00
If you re-install Windows, you will be effectively saying goodbye to any data files that may be on the hard drive.
Are you prepared to do that?
If so, go to www.dell.com/.../how-to-create-and-use-the-dell-windows-recovery-image
and skip to the step called Installing Microsoft Windows 8.1 or 7
This is what Dell says about product keys ----
For Windows 8 and Windows 10, the Product Key is "injected" onto the computer motherboard at the factory, and the installation and activation processes refer to the BIOS of the computer to verify authenticity and activate Windows. No Windows Product Key is otherwise provided or needed by the customer.
Philip_Yip
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January 4th, 2018 02:00
There were multiple issues with Windows 8.x Installation Media...
Windows 8.0 installation media does not accept Windows 8.1 Product Keys. Windows 8.1 or Windows 8.1 with Update 1 Installation Media does not accept Windows 8.0 Product Keys. Windows 8.1 with Update 2 Installation Media accepts both Windows 8.0 and Windows 8.1 Product Keys. However Windows 8.1 with Update 2 Installation Media is still Edition specific...
Microsoft followed our feedback on Windows Installation Media with Windows 10. Windows 10 Installation Media is multi-edition automatically inputs and accepts all Windows 8.0, Windows 8.1 and Windows 10 OEM SLP keys. I would therefore advise downloading a Windows 10 Version 1709 .iso using another computer and then making a Bootable USB (using the GPT partition scheme for UEFI BIOS and FAT32 format). Then changing your UEFI BIOS setup to use a UEFI Boot with Secure Boot and clean installing Windows 10 Version 1709. I have a detailed guide on these steps here:
http://dellwindowsreinstallationguide.com/download-windows-1709/
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL1RkaknDn7v-Ucth4gt0U3BHVSY7oNkWr
alicesonbell
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January 4th, 2018 03:00
so what is this X:windows\system32 that it keeps taking me to when I go into command prompt from the recovery options? And if all my info is on that drive, why can I not just copy it and make a C: drive? I know this is all sounding pretty stupid but hey, how else can ya learn?
Also, any ideas on how to reformat my USB? it somehow is write protected now and it wont let me change the attributes.
Thanks again for all your help, I really appreciate it!
alicesonbell
9 Posts
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January 4th, 2018 03:00
This I tried already, it told me that there was not an image available for my service tag.
alicesonbell
9 Posts
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January 4th, 2018 19:00
Ok. Ill try getting a data-sub. And no I was talking about a least 8Gb, but I got it. Used a low level HDD format tool. It worked and Ian is no longer write protected and I am able to format now.