Reformat Dell Laptop without CD

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KillerHulk

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#1870090 21-Sep-2017 11:01

Batman: Did you create a bootable usb drive?

I'm surprised Windows 7 device has UEFI. I thought it only started with Windows 8.

Yes i did create a bootable usb drive

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Batman

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#1870113 21-Sep-2017 11:20

Try using Windows 10 media creation tool to recreate the bootable usb

KillerHulk

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#1870231 21-Sep-2017 13:09

Batman: Try using Windows 10 media creation tool to recreate the bootable usb

This time i created a bootable drive, then repeated the process again.

went further this time, got to window "install now"

Where do you want to install Windows?

Cannot select any options out of 3.

an error,

Windows cannot be installed to Disk 0 partition 2 (show details), when i click on it following popup shows.

Windows cannot be installed to this disk. The selected disk has a MBR partition table. On EFI systems, windows can only be installed to GPT disks.

What now ?

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coffeebaron

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#1870238 21-Sep-2017 13:15

You could try installing Windows 10. When it asked which partition to install to; make sure you first delete each partition.

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Batman

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#1870251 21-Sep-2017 13:35

Does anyone know if it's advisable to change bios from uefi to the other type? Sounds like the original os was not on uefi anyway.

trig42

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#1870254 21-Sep-2017 13:42

Sounds like it is getting Messy.

If the Dell image is expecting UEFI and GPT, has your laptop at some point been reinstalled with a non-Dell image or a blank Windows Install (eg., by an IT department/School?).

It sounds like the Hard Disk has been formatted as MBR. You need to convert it to GPT - there are various articles on how to do this.

The following is what we use when reformatting (Dell) laptops to reinstall with an OSD image over a network:

DISKPART

select disk 0
clean
convert gpt
create partition efi size=200
assign letter=z
format quick fs=fat32
create partition msr size=128
create partition primary
assign letter=c
format quick fs=ntfs
active
exit

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trig42

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#1870255 21-Sep-2017 13:44

Batman: Does anyone know if it's advisable to change bios from uefi to the other type? Sounds like the original os was not on uefi anyway.

You can change back to the other type - it will depend on the Image that the OP has downloaded from Dell though I think - if that is expecting GPT it may cause issues.

OP: if you can get hold of an OEM windows ISO/Image you could install that then just grab the drivers from Dell.