can't format laptop · DIGIT-ARC

hello frnds

my cousin have a dell vostro 1540 laptop, as he installed many junk software's that led to slow down...

he asked me to format the system ... the problem is when i try to boot it with usb that hve win7 install files.... it just blinks and after A WHILE SHOWS LETTER J and nothing happening. i checked for the working of usb with another laptop and it works so no pblm with usb.... what may be the problem.

i also tried formatting with a dvd but the system just boots normally....

i have set the priority boot device to cd/dvd....still no use....

a cursor blinks then it blinks two line down then one line back then to the top and then boots normally.....

:-?

Have you tried manually booting via entering boot menu ?

umm, your device is not bootable, as far as i can tell.
install a bootloader in it,

try this :
*www.thinkdigit.com/forum/1608931-post17.html

also, if you want to format, the best tool to use is a linux live CD
then boot it up, and run program called GPARTED,
then selece the partition to delete and you are done.

sujay on pressing f12 it gives options from where to boot , is tyat what u meant by manually booting if yes, then yes i have tried it......

doomgiver i have ubuntu dvd with me i will try installing ubuntu and then formatting again with win7 dvd i will try that.....

using gparted i dnt want to format any one partition i want to do a complete installation of windows

Yeah, I meant that only. Hmm that means the device you're trying to boot into is not bootable as said by doomgiver.

Windows 7 install files.??
You are supposed to write windows 7 iso to usb via tool like win2flash.

I hope you are not trying boot usb just by copying the windows installation files directly to usb.It wont work.
Ofcourse you are not??Just confirming.

doomgiver said:
also, if you want to format, the best tool to use is a linux live CD
then boot it up, and run program called GPARTED,
then selece the partition to delete and you are done.

Still he will need to boot from windows after formating os partition using gparted,for fresh install.So Booting into Windows is must.

^^ er, i dont get you, he just wants to format the boot partition, right?

and then he wants to install windows, thats what i wrote, use linux for formatting, coz windows sucks, or just boot into the windows installer and do your thing from there.

^^I agree gparted will get the disk formatted.
I just said that after using gparted he will need to boot from windows installation disk to reinstall the os on drive but as he is unable to do that so it must be solved first ....

thats where the win32diskimager comes in.
the op must have the iso written to the usb via that tool.

are my instrustions confusing?

^^ya..check my first post. i mentioned the very same thing.

ok,
i re-iterate.
get this tool :
*launchpadlibrarian.net/93078305/win32diskimager-binary.zip

this wull install the iso image to the usb drive.

then you can use the inbuilt windows format or you can format the disk with GPARTED (i prefer gparted) and ten install windows.

i beleve op wants to totally erase windows and re-install it, yes?

doomgiver said:
ok,
i re-iterate.
get this tool :
*launchpadlibrarian.net/93078305/win32diskimager-binary.zip

this wull install the iso image to the usb drive.

then you can use the inbuilt windows format or you can format the disk with GPARTED (i prefer gparted) and ten install windows.

i beleve op wants to totally erase windows and re-install it, yes?

I also think so....

Sujeet said:
I hope you are not trying boot usb just by copying the windows installation files directly to usb.It wont work.
Ofcourse you are not??Just confirming.

If you have an active bootable NTFS formatted drive, it does work.

Open up a Command Prompt as an Administrator (right-click and select “Run as Administrator”).

Type
diskpart
list disk
This will show a list of all your active disks, associated with a number. Note the no your USB drive, based on the capacity/size.
Select Disk # (# = no of your USB)
Clean
Create Partition Primary
Select Partition 1
Active
Format FS=NTFS
Assign
Exit

Copy everything from your DVD to your USB drive.

Use the USB to install W7.

Ishu Gupta said:
If you have an active bootable NTFS formatted drive, it does work.

Open up a Command Prompt as an Administrator (right-click and select “Run as Administrator”).

Type
diskpart
list disk
This will show a list of all your active disks, associated with a number. Note the no your USB drive, based on the capacity/size.
Select Disk # (# = no of your USB)
Clean
Create Partition Primary
Select Partition 1
Active
Format FS=NTFS
Assign
Exit

Copy everything from your DVD to your USB drive.

Use the USB to install W7.

Ofcourse i meant that for a non-bootable USB..

er, there are lots of gui bootloader installers, you can look for them.

@zacfx05: try another bootable ISO DVD.the DVD u r using is not bootable.