sinners4saints

1 Message

7410

May 10th, 2019 11:00

Dell G7 15 7588 Hard drive change

There's no specific sub category for the G7 series that I can see, but the issue is the 120GB SSD that the OS is installed on is too small and I'm constantly running out of disk space even though all my apps and data are stored on the secondary drive so I ordered a 1TB SSD and it arrives in 3 days. My question is how do I reinstall the OS since the image is stored on the primary drive that I'm replacing.

Thanks in advance,

Jason

Responses(5)

Saltgrass

3 Apprentice

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4.3K Posts

1

May 11th, 2019 06:00

One way, if you wanted to get it back to factory specifications is to use a Recovery Drive made using the Win 10 process. It asks for a 16 GB drive but it might be best to use a 32 GB drive.

Once you have that, you can boot into the recovery options and use the Recover from a drive option to get the original configuration on the new drive.

Other ways are using a third party imaging software or cloning software.

The drive may come with cloning software to move the OS over.

Or, you could use the Windows Media Creation Tool to create a bootable USB drive you could do a clean install on the new drive.

U2CAMEB4ME

4 Operator

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6.2K Posts

0

May 11th, 2019 07:00

Welcome to the Dell Community @sinners4saints

Do you copy everything to your "Secondary Drive" or do you have your "Secondary Drive" set as your "Default Drive for Storage" where your Apps, Documents, Music, Pictures, Videos and Maps are saved by default.

Best regards,

U2

speedstep

9 Legend

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47K Posts

1

May 11th, 2019 09:00

Easiest fix is to remove the SSD stick and install windows clean onto the hard drive.

I got my G7 7588 feb 22, 2019.

First thing I did was to remove the 120 SSD.

Then I purchased an OEM System builder Windows 10 DVD disk.

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832350238

You do not need a key thats in bios. The media is the same for home or Pro. Pro DVD is purple and Home DVD is blue.

Then I got a USB 2.0 Blueray Drive.

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/lg-8x-external-usb-2-0-blu-ray-disc-double-layer-dvdrw-cd-rw-disc-rewriter-black/9243009.p?skuId=9243009

I turned Secure Boot OFF.

I deleted all of the Boot entries in Bios.

I then F12 booted from the DVD and installed windows 10 Clean onto the hard drive.

Then I bought a samsung 970 EVO M2 PCI-E stick and installed.

I then Formatted it as a storage Drive.

I then removed the NVME Stick

I then removed the hard drive.

I then Installed the 970 EVO as the only drive and put windows 10 back on it

I then Put the hard drive back.

So Now I quickly boot from the 970 EVO 1TB stick

But all my games are installed on the hard drive.

You can keep the 120 SSD in a usb enclosure and in a pinch use it as a boot drive.

SSD's need to be kept in cool dry place and have power at least once a month so that they don't detrap and become blank.

U2CAMEB4ME

4 Operator

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6.2K Posts

1

May 11th, 2019 10:00

@sinners4saints

If you do decide to do a clean W10 install???

You can make a W10 USB flash drive installer with the Microsoft Media Creation Tool, using an 8 GB flash drive using another Windows PC, if your PC is not working.

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10

If you are asked to enter a product key during the installation process, select the 'I don't have a product key' option, and W10 will install and automatically activate once you are connected to the internet.

Here are the steps to create the W10 USB flash drive installer...

Select Download tool now, and select Run. If you agree to the license terms, select Accept.

On the What do you want to do? page, select Create installation media for another PC, and then select Next.

Select the language, edition, and architecture (64-bit or 32-bit) for Windows 10.

Select which media you want to use:

USB flash drive.

Plug in a blank USB flash drive with at least 8GB of space. Any content on the flash drive will be deleted.

After W10 installs, you can install the drivers and available software from your notebook's support page.

Driver & Download Support for Dell G7 15 7588:

https://www.dell.com/support/home/us/en/04/product-support/product/g-series-15-7588-laptop/drivers

Best of luck,

U2

speedstep

9 Legend

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47K Posts

0

September 10th, 2019 03:00

Dell images require USB 2.0 device and at LEAST 16 gigs but no more than 32 gigs.

It must be a FAT32 device not EXFAT.

https://www.dell.com/support/article/us/en/04/sln299044/how-to-download-and-use-the-dell-os-recovery-image-in-microsoft-windows?lang=en

What you will need

Service Tag of the Dell PC on which you want to install Microsoft Windows or Linux
Download and install Dell OS Recovery Tool (runs in Microsoft Windows only)
Blank USB flash drive with at least 16GB of free space
Microsoft .Net Framework 4.5.2 or higher
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4054530/microsoft-net-framework-4-7-2-offline-installer-for-windows
Administrator user rights and at least 16GB of available storage space to download the Dell ISO recovery image

OEM System builder DVD is a better way to go with USB 2.0 Optical Drive

because.

1. You need cyberlogic Power DVD as this is removed from windows.

2. You do not need access to the internet to format and install an NVME stick or 2.5 SSD or hard drive.

3. Non Burned OEM system builder DVD media does not go bad over time like flash drives or burned DVD media.

https://www.neweggbusiness.com/product/product.aspx?item=9b-32-350-238

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/lg-8x-external-usb-2-0-blu-ray-disc-double-layer-dvdrw-cd-rw-disc-rewriter-black/9243009.p?skuId=9243009

The cost of the DVD and the Optical Drive is almost the same as buying the software stand alone.

The media and drive above works with ALL DELLS all models from 2006 to 2019 and I suspect beyond.

You can also buy Ubuntu 18.04 LTS on media with a book.

Or make your own DVD or flash drive.

https://www.ubuntuunleashed.com/