Help!!!!help!!!!help!!!! Sos!!!

followed the steps...prepared the hard drive for dell mediadirect reinstallation..then removed media direct dvd...inserted OS reinstallation dvd...reboot...f12..boot from cd/dvd....then black screen....then a message comes up:
"press any key to boot from CD or DVD..."

no matter what I press it doesn't boot....then I tried boot using media direct cd and start all over again...it still doesn't work...help!!

It's M1330 and I hav home premium

WHAT SHOULD I DO???

 

if I don't press f12...then after the dell screen..it's just black screen...it seems the laptop is not recognizing the OS reinstallation DVD?? am I dead?

 

:confused2: :confused2: anybody????
'

 

Make sure the disc is clean and has no scratches, make sure you set your dvd drive as the primary bootable device in your BIOS. If problem persists I would recommend using another fresh copy of Windows. Don't call Dell or your warranty might be voided.

 

Give a few moments when u see a black screen

 

How in the world would calling Dell void your warranty? If you call Dell and tell them that you were trying to do a clean install of your OS and it wasn't install properly, they'll probably first try giving you another install disk and if that doesn't work, they may even replace your system for you under warranty. That is.. as long as you haven't tried any hardware modifications.

 

try using a different bootable cd/dvd if you have one ...

 

did u set DVD drive first in the boot sequence in BIOS?

 

thanks...it's working now...wiped the disc clean & did what u said in BIOS...maybe it was the dirty disc? whew~

another question though...anybody know how to get rid of the recovery partition and merge it with other partitions? I deleted the partition and it shows in disk management that I have 10GB unallocated...but when I tried to repartition with the media direct disc..it says I have 149GB of hard drive (I bought 160G)..so where is the 10GB?? so i heard it's a hidden partition...how do I make it ...hmm..not hidden??

 

fair enough... , i think they will void if it came preinstalled with one version of an operating system and the user installs another. ex: vista to xp.

 

In case if you still dunno, HDD manufacturers count every 1billion bytes as a gigabyte as opposed to what computer system count as a gygabyte So, 160gb is actuallly quite a bit smaller than 160gb. To double check, when u r in windows, go to drive management and see if there's any partitions left unused.

 

yay! kudos for me

You should do that while installing the OS. Windows should show you all the drives and partitions you have installed. From there you can delete them as you wish.

 

try using partition magic,in case you have finished setting up windows...

 

It only shows 3 partitions when installing the OS
C:\ 20GB
D:\ 127GB
media direct 2 GB

 

Delete the ones you don't need... i read somewhere that the 3rd partition has to do with system restoration. I recommend you wipe everything clean, first install windows and then install mediadirect within windows with your mediadirect disc.

 

149.01GB is the available space on a formatted 160GB drive. There's no hidden partition or anything, it's just a difference in the way they measure megabytes.
--Frank

 

media direct has to be installed before windows for it to work without windows (media button)

 

oh bummer... thanks for pointing that out.

Delete everything and reinstall mediadirect first, then install windows.

 

yeah..that's what I did...reinstalled media direct and vista..everything works fine except the missing 10 Gigs

really? so this is the same for everybody then? you purchase a 160GB HD but really you get 150...

 

Yup... Didn't u know that? Well, like i said, it's just the difference b/n how media manufacturers calculate capacity and how bios/OS does the same. For example, my 750gb drive is only showing 694gb or so in Windows Get used to that, it's how ALL media storage is calculated.

 

My plan is to purchase an external hard drive to store all my stuff. Anybody recommend any? it has to be more than 300gb.

 

So if I have a Vista Ultimate disc and want to replace the vista on the 1330 when I get it, do I simply just boot from the vista ultimate disc? Will that allow me to partition the HDD into a primary storage partition with the OS on it, and another partition for the mediadirect? And if I don't like how it turns out, is there a disc for a full system restore to factory settings?

 

Please stop posting this crap. Let's get most of these out of the way:

Formatting your harddrive is not going to void your warranty. Reinstalling an OS is not going to void your warranty. Installing a different OS is not going to void your warranty. Setting up dual booting on your laptop is not going to void your warranty. Installing your own ram is not going to void your own warranty.

 

Though.. if you damage anything WHILE installing your ram I'm pretty sure it isn't COVERED by your warranty . Now that I think of it, most things you do that won't be covered by warranty doesn't void it.

 

thanks for clarifying that. I never said it was a fact. thanks though.

 

Basically, yes. When you boot from the disc, you will go through the standard vista installation, and eventually it will lead you to your current partitions. You should see Dell's backup, your current OS installation, and Media Direct. Format and delete all 3 if you wish into one primary.

Depending if it is like the current Inspirons, it will go like this:
Start with booting and installing Media direct from CD.
Pull disc out and replace with Vista disc and restart.
Get through most of the screens for preliminary Vista installation and choose the option to find suitable driver for your system (I'm going from memory, you can search around for a better step by step. This is just the basic what-will-happen).
Switch back to Vista disc and install.
When windows is finally all ready and booted, reinsert the Media Direct disc and finish installation.
Tada.

 

I have talked little old ladies through installing their own ram into their notebooks. Barring the crazy placement of the 1720's second stick of ram, I doubt many will have much of an issue with that.

 

Maybe not, but Dell might refuse service because they'll attribute any problems to the changes you did to the system. So if you'll want any warranty service, you'll prolly have to revert ur system to the original config/OS

 

i am trying to do a fresh install on my 1400, tried deleting partitions but when i reinstall i only see partition 2. One is hidden. i install vista, and when in reboots get blue screen and restart. could it be cause of the hidden partition? what free utility can i use to wipe out all partitions and start from scratch?