[bama476]

Purchased Dell e1705 a few years ago and the hard drive just went out. I purchased a new drive and tried to reinstall Vista using the Reinstall CD from Dell. The Install starts just as the directions say but the instlaation does not go to the screen for the Serial code and when the system finishes installation, the system hangs up and the computer will not boot up.

[aka Brett]

Its an oem dell disk you dont need to enter serial numbers.

Start over
format the drive ntfs
be patient...there will be some reboots..dont power down the unit any during an install...you will eventually be greeted with a desktop

[bama476]

Sorry for the confusion, the install is suppose to ask for the key number for vista, however, it never asks for the key number and continues with the install until it just stops.

[aka Brett]

An original dell disk installing on a dell doesnt ask for any keys.
Dell disk...dell motherboard..it passes.

Where is your install stopping at?

how old is the pc?

Is hard drive set to boot first..then using the one time boot option for dvd rom via f12.

Could the dvd be scratched?

[bama476]

The pc is 2 yrs old. Once the system reboots, the screen goes blank and then states : wait for windows vista first time start, and then just stops

[aka Brett]

Are all extra usb items unplugged....bluetooth external hard drives..printers etc...memory card slot empty etc.

Have you added extra ram to the machine?..if so try removing a stick..then put it back in after the install is finished

Do you have an xp disk laying around that you can do your partition work with?...reformat the drive and then abort the xp install...then try the vista again

[aka Brett]

What kind of drive is it?have you run diagnostics on it with a bootable cd?
you can also download dell diagnostics to a bootable cd and check all hardware on your machine

[bama476]

There is nothing attached to the laptop. I don't have any XP disks. About to pull what little hair I have left out

[bama476]

Hitachi 200 GB 7200. I have run diags and everything checks out

[aka Brett]

how many times have you tried the install with vista

[bama476]

3 times

[aka Brett]

How long are you waiting before giving up?

[bama476]

It is 6 hours now

[aka Brett]

Way to long....I was going to make sure you waited at least 10 to 20 minutes without seeing any activity
I wish you had access to another vista dvd ....or any disk with an os on it...xp, ubuntu..there is no way to tell if you have a bum disk without trying a substitute

[bama476]

Talked to someone today about my installation problem and was told it may have to do with the hard drive and the amount of RAM and the compatibility of it?