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I have a laptop that now has no Windows installation and a mostly destroyed recovery partition. I have a set of DVDs with a system image that I made when the computer was new. How do I move the image onto the hard drive? I don't have a system repair disk that works with the computer, and I can't use the computer to make one.
user476613
Posted 2015-08-01T17:07:59.767
Reputation: 11
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If the image is done with a proper tool, then the first DVD should be bootable.
If the CD/DVD doesn't boot immediately then read the information on the display as your computer does (attempt to) start booting.
There often is a choice of "Boot selector menu" or similar - if not find "boot prio" or similar in the setup - either way: tell your computer to start from CD/DVD.
From then it should be to follow the instructions provided on screen.
Hannu
Posted 2015-08-01T17:07:59.767
Reputation: 4 950
The message I get when I try to boot form the first DVD is "Reboot and Select proper Boot device or Insert Boot Media in selected Boot device and press a key" – user476613 – 2015-08-01T18:15:27.700
Are the discs in good condition? Will any of them boot? – Moab – 2015-08-02T03:16:37.413
Insert the last one instead and retry. You really should be able to find correct info from the supplier, e.g. www.Dell.com if it is a Dell. Make sure the computer DOES boot from CD/DVD, test run with any bootable CD/DVD. – Hannu – 2015-08-02T11:23:56.270
Note that a broken system disk (as the question suggest MAY be the case) might require replacing the disk, it may well be physically broken (i.e. unable to retain data, or even read/write from/to the disk). – Hannu – 2015-08-02T11:30:13.047
You would have to make a system repair disc from another computer. – MC10 – 2015-08-01T17:10:48.480
I've tried doing that from a couple of other WIndows 7 computers, but when I tried using them I think it was failing with error 4001100200001012. – user476613 – 2015-08-01T17:11:42.187
Do you have any normal Windows installation discs you could use to format the drive? Then you could reinstall Windows and use the image to restore. – MC10 – 2015-08-01T17:14:05.900
How did you create that image? – Daniel B – 2015-08-01T17:21:02.517
@MC10: No windows installation discs. – user476613 – 2015-08-01T18:14:15.163
@Daniel B: It was with some tool that came with the computer. It was probably Windows' built-in imaging software. – user476613 – 2015-08-01T18:14:50.557
When you say "fried hard-drive"...... why do u want to get your Windows back on the same "fried" one? – Prasanna – 2015-08-01T18:46:38.853
@Prasanna: Poor choice of words on my part. The contents of the drive are in a terrible state, but the physical drive should be fine. – user476613 – 2015-08-01T18:56:32.890
What laptop do you have? Probably, that manufacturer may provide you with some tools that can boot the laptop and provide you an interface to use the system disks to restore the system (as new). Have you tried this end? – Prasanna – 2015-08-01T18:58:31.910
@Prasanna: I just sent Asus, the manufacturer, a message. We'll see what they can do. – user476613 – 2015-08-01T19:55:35.007
@user476613 Well, “probably” just ain’t gonna cut it. Download a clean Windows 7 DVD, then try to restore from there. If it doesn’t work, reinstall using the key that’s on a label somewhere on your device. – Daniel B – 2015-08-01T20:38:31.063
If you know the product key you can use this: http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-recovery
– MC10 – 2015-08-01T22:15:19.567@MC10 When I enter the product key on that website, it used to tell me that the key was for a preinstalled system (correct) and therefore I had to contact the vendor or something. Now it just gives me an error message. – user476613 – 2015-08-01T22:49:00.043
@DanielB: Is there any other way to get a Windows 7 DVD? – user476613 – 2015-08-01T23:04:07.250
Try this page They are bittorrent files, you will need a bittorrent client to download. – Moab – 2015-08-02T03:15:31.253