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Unable to reinstall Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit OS from OEM disk
I have a Dell Inspiron 580. Friday night the Hard Drive crashed and I had to replace it. I am attempting to use the Operating System re-installation DVD to get it back to factory condition. I have tried repeatedly to load the system and each time it begins the installation process it states "Load Driver" "A required CD/DVD drive is missing. If you have a driver floppy disk, CD DVD, or USB flash drive please insert it now".
I have the original disk and am surprised the driver is not on it. I have tried swapping out the Dell Drivers and Utilities disk at this point but the install stops and it is not able to find the needed driver. I also checked to make sure that AHCI was not being used in the BIOS but still I get the error about a missing driver.
Does anyone have any thoughts on this and if so is it really a driver that is missing or a more complex issue. Thanks in advance for any help you might be able to provide me.
theflash1932
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16.3K Posts
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December 26th, 2012 14:00
If you have created the USB stick properly (using the Microsoft tool or doing it manually), then adding driver files will not affect its bootability. Just create a "driver" folder in the root of the USB drive to put your EXTRACTED driver files (the EXE's MUST be run to extract the files and the ZIP files unzipped before use) ... IF the message is because an actual driver is needed, Dell does not have the proper driver on their website ... BECAUSE (and however) it is EXTREMELY unlikely that a driver is needed.
You should not be getting the CD driver message with this system and Windows 7, so there should not be any "gotchas" until after the OS is installed and you start loading drivers.
rich53
4 Posts
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December 26th, 2012 14:00
"theflash1932" thanks for your reply. With the Holiday I have been delayed in trying again. I have downloaded the needed 64 bit ISO file from mydigitallife and used the M$ USB tool to make my flash drive bootable. I will turn the AHCI back on.
What else needs to be on the bootable flash drive to get it to run and install properly? After posting on Sunday I went to the Dell driver site for removable device drivers and attempted to get the install DVD to see those drivers but it still failed. If there is anything else I should be aware of or watch out for before attempting the flash drive install I would appreciate a heads up. Thank you.
theflash1932
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16.3K Posts
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December 23rd, 2012 14:00
"A required CD/DVD drive is missing"
9 times out of 10, this means the DVD is bad.
You can order a new installation disc here:
support.dell.com/.../backupcd_form
Or you can download a "retail" ISO of your version of Windows, install with that, then activate over the phone with Microsoft (NOT Dell):
www.mydigitallife.info/download-windows-7-iso-official-32-bit-and-64-bit-direct-download-links
Be sure to turn AHCI back on when you install.
"I ... am surprised the driver is not on it"
Just FYI ... Dell does not put any special drivers on their installation discs - they are exactly like a generic/retail OS disc in that respect.
Philip_Yip
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December 23rd, 2012 16:00
You can try converting your DVD to a bootable USB also. Also copy the latest Intel F6Flpy SATA driver to the USB stick.
See my wiki Windows Reinstallation Guide for full instructions:
http://en.community.dell.com/support-forums/software-os/f/3524/t/19480753.aspx
This has worked in some cases with bad Reinstallation DVDs but in other cases a new one must be requested or the Digital River .iso used with phone activation.
rich53
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December 26th, 2012 14:00
NATAKUC4 thanks for your information. I have been delayed because of the holiday. I have downloaded the ISO and used the M$ tool to make it bootable on the flash drive. Will adding the SATA driver to the stick render the stick unbootable? Also in downloading the latest SATA drivers there were two listed. The "base" install for both 32 & 64 bit OS and a zipped file for the x64 system. Are both of these to be placed on the flash stick containing the bootable Win7 install? Also, while I am thinking of it are there any other "gotchas" I need to be aware of? Thank you.
rich53
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December 27th, 2012 19:00
Thanks for all of your information and help with this. I followed your instructions and the USB drive worked perfectly in loading the OS. I have since placed the Service Pack and patches on it and added all of the patches. I have also installed an AV program and am now loading the Adobe and Java utilities.
Thank you THEFLASH1932 for all of your help with this! You have solved my problem.