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Inspiron N5110, HD fail, how to reinstall Windows?
Hi
My elderly father's Dell Inspiron N5110 laptop had a hard drive failure. Ordered a new HDD. How do I reinstall Windows on it? It had Win 7 Home on it. Can I install Windows 10 on it?
thanks
filbert
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July 15th, 2023 10:00
Why do you want Windows 7?
Windows 7 is unsupported and insecure. It does not receive security patches, so it should no longer be used on a PC connected to the Internet.
I suggest that you use Windows 10. In my first post, I gave you details of how to install Windows 10 for free, using your Windows 7 Product Key to activate it. Even if you don't activate it, you can still use Windows 10, though a message will appear on your desktop stating that it is not activated.
If you truly need Windows 7 for some reason, there are ways to get it, such what this article describes: Windows 7 ISO File Safe Download: All Editions (32 & 64 Bit) - MiniTool Partition Wizard
filbert
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July 12th, 2023 08:00
Yes, you can install Windows 10 on that laptop.
I suggest that you replace the hard drive with an SSD, rather than buying a new hard drive. An SSD will make that old system much more responsive. And note that if you have only 4 GB of RAM, Windows 10 will be rather frustratingly slow. If you have spare RAM, it will work much better with 8 GB RAM and an SSD.
Is the Windows 7 Product Key known? It may be printed on a sticker on the laptop's bottom cover or in the battery compartment.
If you cannot locate the Windows 7 Product Key then there is another option. If the drive is still somewhat readable, you could connect it to an external USB interface or enclosure and on another computer use a tool such as Nirsoft ProduKey or Lazesoft Windows Key Finder to find the Product Key. I've used Nirsoft ProduKey on several laptops.
On another computer, go to Dell Support page for Inspiron 15R N5110 to download chipset drivers, graphics drivers, etc. to an external drive or flash drive.
Here are my detailed steps to perform a clean install of Windows 10. And, here's another description of the install process, from a Microsoft MVP. At some point in the process the installer will ask you for a Product Key, at which point you should be able to enter the Windows 7 Product Key.
If you cannot find the Windows 7 Product Key, you can buy a Windows 7 or Windows 10 licence from many on-line sources for fairly cheap prices.
I suggest that you keep Internet disconnected for the first part of the Windows installation process. Once you install Windows, next thing to do is to install the chipset drivers that you downloaded earlier. Then you can connect to the Internet and run Windows Update, which may automatically install most of the other drivers that you need. After several rounds of running Windows Update and rebooting, you can then manually install any needed drivers that you obtained from Dell Support page for Inspiron 15R N5110.
How to Install Dell Drivers in the Correct Order.
Note: that system will never be fast. SSD and 8 GB RAM will improve it, but it's still an old budget laptop. If you don't have spare RAM available, consider how much you will spend on this old laptop versus buying a used laptop of a newer model.
Whenever touching components or working inside a computer, wear a grounded wrist strap, also called anti-static wrist strap, ESD wrist strap, or ground bracelet. It's a cheap and sensible precaution. Rest the laptop on an anti-static mat or at least a reasonable alternative such as corrugated cardboard. (Repeatedly touching a metal case part is not sufficient mitigation with modern components.)
petec
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July 13th, 2023 05:00
Fantastic, many thanks for the info/advice ! greatly appreciated filbert
petec
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July 15th, 2023 04:00
Where can I download win7 ? which was on the laptop originally. It never came with any recovery cd/win 7 disc ?!
petec
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July 29th, 2023 04:00
I want to install Win 7 because the download and tool requires a Win 10 machine to do it from.
No direct Win 7 download link, but plenty of links to this and that.
I am on a win 7 laptop (dell) so need to download the tool and iso for another dell laptop
Is there a "direct" link to download them rather than a barrage of paraghraphs and links to other articles ?!
thanks
filbert
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July 29th, 2023 08:00
I do not understand why you want Windows 7. You can install Windows 10, following details from my first post.
petec
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July 30th, 2023 02:00
I cant download Win10 on a Win7 laptop (not the faulty one), as the tool needed to download the ISO wont work on a win7 laptop (the one which I will download the tool/iso from). MediaCreation Tool wont work/install on a Win 7 dell laptop (not the faulty hard drive one, another one).
filbert
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July 30th, 2023 07:00
So, you have two Windows 7 computers? You should be able to upgrade the computer that works. Read this article on how to get free upgrade from Windows 7 to Windows 10.
On the computer that works, go to this Microsoft page. Click the Update now button to see if that works. If that doesn't work, try the Download tool now button.
petec
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July 30th, 2023 12:00
I don't want to upgrade the laptop which works, I have music production software which I cannot reinstall after an upgrade to win10.
Typical of Dell to cost cut and not provide each machine with a cd to reinstall. Ridiculous move to have it on a partition, when they know hard drives fail.
petec
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July 30th, 2023 12:00
And that Download Tool requires a win 10 machine to downoload/install it
filbert
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July 30th, 2023 21:00
I was able to run the upgrade on my Win7 system, which is how I upgraded to Win10.
If you can’t do that, then do you have a friend or coworker with a Win10 system? They could create the Win10 installer flash drive for you.
If you are unable to do that, I may be able to provide another solution.