Clean Install Windows 7 On Dell Inspiron 14z

Just to report, that thing was getting me nuts, and cleaning the metadata with Live Ubuntu worked for me. Pretty easy solution.

Thanks for this, questions;

1 - do you install to the 500g drive or the 32g drive?

2 - I tried this and installed on the 500g, got the "windows cannot install to this system's hardware"  error 3 times in a row.. any suggestions?

Hi DELL-Rakesh Ro, 

	I tried to access the BIOS, but didn't got successfull. So, I initiate reinstallation of windows with sata mode as AHCI. Installed the OS on HDD normal. 
	So, could you help me now to install and configure de IRST?

Thank you.
Best Regards,
Alexandre Abdala Jr.

I also had this problem once. I called dell customer care and they gave me a driver (size: 8 MB) ,which can use at the time of installation. You have to write the driver on a DVD and insert it (take the Windows 7 disc and place the driver disc, browse and select the driver, then you have to insert the windows 7 disc to complete the installation)  when getting the message.

Good evening everyone.

I was able to sucessfully re-install Windows 7 on a inspiron 14z once. I've got another one and I tried to re-format it differently and it didn't work. Here's both scenarios.

First Inspiron 14z I got, I switched from "Intel Smart Response" to SATA (yup, i didn't choose AHCI) and the Windows 7 Professional installation  ran smooth. After installing the drivers and updates, I decided to switch back to iRST (because I want to take advantage of SSD) and the computer booted into Windows 7 Home Premium(the one that was pre-installed). I was like "what the heck?" but then the screen turned black when it tried to load explorer.exe and the desktop. So, I thought maybe, if I re-install to SATA as I did before, it might work again and I will try to figure what to do from there. So I changed the configuration back to SATA again and the installation didn't procede as expected. It stated that it couldn't locate /boot/en-en or even the MBR. I tried to repair start up but nope, the repair option couldn't fix it. I then, decided to download the drivers for the hard disk to try to format on "Intel Smart Response". SO , PAY ATTENTION NOW. I switched back to iRST in another attempt to install windows 7 Professional. The problem most of you are having is that you can't see the partitions. Well, go to the dell support page and download the drivers for AHCI. Place them in a pen drive (doesn't need to be a CD-rom). The driver from the x86 folder will let you see the partitions and eventually let you install Windows with the bios configured to iRST. Now here's the deal.

To solve the MBR and /boot/en-en issue, It was simple. It was cleared to me that I messed the master boot record by switching to SATA and iRST the first time. I tried typing in the cmd : BootRec.exe /fixmbr and /fixboot, nothing happened. I called Dell customer support and I was asked to DELETE the partition and create a new one and install windows again. From this point on, I didn't receive errors related to the MBR, however, when it hit 100% and was about to restart to proceed with the installation, another error showed up, saying that I would have to re-install Windows because it wouldn't be able to restart and proceed with the installation. I went to repair computer and was then able to fix start up and proceed with the installation of Windows 7 Professional. (PS: when I chose to repair the computer, the MBR , /boot/en-en erros showed up in this screen) but I was still able to get it fixed.

Remember to REMOVE the pen drive after you load the driver. Some people assume that the cause of this type of error is unused devices attached to you computer/notebook.  

Second Inspiron 14z.

I thought that the whole problem I had with the first inspiron, had to do with installing first in SATA and switching it to iRST, which ended up messing with the Master boot record. Some people argue that the whole problem is the UEFI that can be turned on and off in Bios, but in this particular machine , UEFI is off and the boot type is set to LEGACY. If it was on, I would have agreed and turn this option off this time around, but that's not the case here. I simply kept the bios with default settings, put the windows DVD, let it boot. It won't find the partitions again so load the drivers from the pen drive. I chose my partition, deleted it, created a new one and hit advance. The installation ran smooth with NO ERROS BUT, when the computer is loading windows, a blue screen ( YES, a BLUE SCREEN OF DEATH ) shows up real quick and the computer reboots by itself.

I almost thought about installing into SATA mode and go through the same steps in the first inspiron that I was able to re-format but no. That's not the right way.

By the way, the ubuntu explanation above might seem to work, but I don't want to lose any features from this laptop so I won't even consider these steps.

If anyone tries to follow the steps I made in the first inspiron or the steps from the second one and if it works, please let me know.