Replacing Hard Drive

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DendeTheWizard

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Jul 29, 2016
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So one of my classmates asked me to replace a hard drive in his dell 3521 laptop. So I just took it out and put in a new one but it still says "No boot device available". Did I put it in wrong or do I need to do something in the settings? Also do I need to buy (in this case my classmate) another windows key?
 
Solution
USAFRet


It may not require the license key.
I've done full reinstalls of WIn 8.1, and it used the original license key that was encrypted in the motherboard.

Try it. See what happens.
It won't be anymore broken than it is now.

Worst case scenario....you buy a whole new OS for it, and then have a fully working laptop.
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clutchc

clutchc

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Then that's why. W/o an OS it can't boot. You need to either clean install Windows to it, or clone the old drive to the new drive. The latter will have to be done on a desktop PC with multiple SATA ports so you can plug in both drives.
 
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DendeTheWizard

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Jul 29, 2016
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But the old hard drive is dead. Atleast that's what my classmate said. It had the no boot device available to. Also is there a way I can see if I put it in right in boot settings or something
 
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clutchc

clutchc

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SATA drives are plug and play. There should be no "settings" to contend with. But once you get past the POST screen, the BIOS looks for an OS to load. If there is no OS on the drive (no boot sector), it will return the error message you saw.
If the old drive is dead, you need to get a copy of whatever Win OS you were using and install it via optical drive or flash drive.
 
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DendeTheWizard

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Jul 29, 2016
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I'm not quite sure how this works but maybe the harddrive just fell out of it's plug (even though its screwed in) and it isn't dead? is that a possibility or should i just get going to get my classmate to get a new OS.
 
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clutchc

clutchc

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If he bought the Dell laptop new and activated the Win license, he should be able to just install the OS from a disk that came with the PC, or by contacting Dell for a new copy. He shouldn't have to buy a new OS.
Was it Win 7,8, 10?

I've got to leave for a bit. But I'll check back later if no one else answers...
 
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DendeTheWizard

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Jul 29, 2016
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What if he doesn't have an optical drive due to him dropping his laptop and I don't have one since I built my PC
 
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DendeTheWizard

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Jul 29, 2016
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What if he doesn't have an optical drive due to him dropping his laptop and I don't have one since I built my PC
 
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DendeTheWizard

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Jul 29, 2016
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USAFRet

USAFRet

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It may not require the license key.
I've done full reinstalls of WIn 8.1, and it used the original license key that was encrypted in the motherboard.

Try it. See what happens.
It won't be anymore broken than it is now.

Worst case scenario....you buy a whole new OS for it, and then have a fully working laptop.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Solution
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DendeTheWizard

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Jul 29, 2016
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Ok I'll try that tomorrow since I'm a bit tired right now, I'll tell you how it goes if you want
 
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