Hi malakai13,

Were any hardware or software changes made?

Refer the following link which has steps to resolve/isolate the issue:

http://dell.to/16YSfQb

Let me know how it goes.

Hi Rajesh,

well, yes there was a hardware change! my son's hd was failing and i ordered a replacement hd through dell (which specifically said it was compatible with his N4110). of course the new hd is BLANK but I can't install win 7 or drivers. i have already tried f2 f8 f12 none respond. the dell logo comes on at boot and bar fills up so i believe it passes POST however after that it goes to a black screen with 'operation system not found' and blinking line under that. the optical drive starts spinning like it's reading the cd no problem but stops not long after and is not loading the cd. i have already removed the battery & ac adapter & discharged it multiple times.

Try gently cleaning the lens of the DVD drive.  If that doesn't work, replace the drive.

ejn63 why do you keep assuming it's the optical drive? that is irrelevant to what is actually CAUSING the problem! I would start with checking keyboard since no F keys are responding, then check HD since the MOTHERBOARD is either not recgonizeing it OR the HD is bad, then motherboard. the optical drive is not causing the OPERATION SYSTEM NOT FOUND error message therefore irrelevant to loading the OS until the hardware causing the problem is fixed.  either way its either HD or motherboard problems preventing the OS to load off the optical drive in the first place.

Does the BIOS see both the hard drive and the optical drive?   Your posts seem to indicate it does.  If it does, and the DVD you received won't boot (you said it starts to spin up and then stops), the optical drive is likely bad.  If the BIOS doesn't see either drive, that's another matter - that suggests a bad mainboard.  

If the drives are seen, but the disc still won't spin up, the cheapest first option is to replace the drive ($30).  If that doesn't solve the problem, you likely have a mainboard issue (easily $250-350+).

I can't get into BIOS or boot order F2 F8 F12 are non responsive and do nothing so I'm troubleshooting blind. Whoever designed the layout on this model wasn't THINKING whatsoever and this was the most ridiculous hd swap out of hundreds of systems I've built/fixed. I'm going to gut it again tonight & put the orig hd back in since i know that was functioning just starting to fail which is why i replaced it. Optical drive was working perfect before I went in to swap drive which is why I'm not even thinking that would be the issue more like the hd or motherboard. it does seem to past POST since the Dell logo and bar fill up before it goes to black screen with OPERATION SYSTEM NOT FOUND and cursor blinking on line under it.

so i just stripped it down again and put in original HD and everything is fine.. optical drive no probs BUT the keyboard is unresponsive still.. any ideas? looks like dell is going to have to replace my new hd since the laptop just booted up no problems with the failing one in it.

Hi malakai13,

Kindly private message me the service tag of the computer. To private message the service tag click my User name and click Start conversation.

Awaiting your response!

Did you try reformatting the hard drive before you tried to re-install 7?

it was a brand new blank drive. exchanged for a new one and was finally recgonized and was able to load OS. laptop back up 100%

Thanks everyone for the replies.