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March 30th, 2018 16:00

No boot device available Inspiron 531

I was trying to get my parents computer fixed and a IT guy told us it was the hard drive that wasn’t working so I bought a new one and when I put it in and loaded the computer it says “ No boot device available “ listing the following
Sata 0: installed
Sata 1: none
Sata 2: installed
Sata 3: none
Can someone please help me out thanks

9 Legend

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16K Posts

March 31st, 2018 04:00

You need to install Windows onto the new HDD. The versions of Windows this machine shipped with (Windows XP and Windows Vista) have reached End of Life and are hence not available for download.

This system will run Windows 10 64 Bit without issue however you need to pay for a new Windows License (unless you already have a Windows 7, Windows 8.x or Windows 10 Retail Product Key). Note the system is an older system so has a Legacy BIOS only (so use the MBR partition scheme when making your Bootable USB). More details here:

http://dellwindowsreinstallationguide.com/download-windows-1709/

April 10th, 2018 21:00

Hey so I formatted the hard drive to the right windows and then I bought a recovery disk thinking it would help but I still have the same problem it still says no boot device available

8 Wizard

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17K Posts

April 10th, 2018 22:00


@Elianolvera12wrote:
Hey so I formatted the hard drive to the right windows and then I bought a recovery disk thinking it would help but I still have the same problem it still says no boot device available

That usually just means that a copy of Windows isn't installed properly (where the BIOS can find it, and boot it).

It's too hard to try to troubleshoot the problem (with your special way of installing Windows) ... in a forum. But you know what works ? ... following one of the guides like @Philip_Yip above .

That machine sounds old, so an exact guide (at the beginning) would talk about (Legacy) BIOS ... one designed before UEFI ... a NON-UEFI system.

IIRC, you just make your C: drive the first boot-able candidate. It might also help to only connect (for now) the one HDD that you want to be C: ... to SATA-Port:0

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