Can't get Windows to work on my notebook

Guys, I'm in my wits end.

Well, firstly English isn't my first language so i'm sorry for any glaring mistakes.

I'm quite frustrated right now. I've been trying to perform an as fresh as possible installation of Win10 Single Language on my Inspiron 7520 SE, but I'm running into some problems, supposedly with the graphics card driver.

The plan is to use Windows alongside Linux in a multi-boot environment. I've set the partition table to GPT and created all the partitions through GParted to prevent some other inconveniences I've faced before. Isn't the first time I've problems trying to install Win10, in the past my workaround was to make a fresh install of Win8.1 and then to upgrade via media creation tool but now it seems the option is off the table for me :/

The system gets struck in less the 20 minutes after the boot process. Maybe, just maybe I can get the into safe mode and revert any problematic driver installation or make use of that update hider tool.

Any thoughts? I really need Windows on my hard drive.

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What Win 10 version are you trying to install?
Are you using a USB drive or a DVD?
Where did you get the Win 10 installation files?

"The system gets struck in less the 20 minutes after the boot process." What Boot process, from the win 10 or from the installed?
- Did you get to point it ask your name?

clean off the hdd clean install win10
then install linux on virtual machine The 6 Best Virtual Machine Software Programs of 2021

Megahertz said:

What Win 10 version are you trying to install?
Are you using a USB drive or a DVD?
Where did you get the Win 10 installation files?

"The system gets struck in less the 20 minutes after the boot process." What Boot process, from the win 10 or from the installed?
- Did you get to point it ask your name?

I've tried to upgrade from Windows 8.1 Single Language Build 9600 to Windows 10 via media creation tool as I've done before but this time luck wasn't on my side. A direct installation of Windows 10 would always left me hanging with a freezing machine.

I installed Windows 8.1, updated it just to see how usable it would be as of now. The installation of the graphics driver got me in as BSOD so I'm assume the problem is the driver for AMD Radeon HD 7730M. Uninstalling the driver didn't work for me either, the newly installed Windows 10 would still freeze completly after the the first boot just after I logged in with my Outlook account (in another try when a I choose to keep my settings, logged into my local account the system gave me a span of seconds until the freeze).

Boot from the Win 10 installation drive and on the first screen press Shift+F10 to launch the CMD window. Type:
diskpart
list disk (Is there an * on the GPT (last) column?
list volume (take note of the windows partition letter. It may not be C:)
Exit (to exit diskpart)
chkdsk C: /f (replace C with the Windows partition letter found with diskpart - list volume)

Windows can be installed in two ways: Legacy-MBR or UEFI-GPT
To install as Legacy-MBR you must boot the installation drive as Legacy.
To install as UEFI-GPT you must boot the installation drive as UEFI.

If you fond that the drive is GPT (see Diskpart - List disk above) you should install as UEFI-GPT otherwise install as Legacy-MBR

On BIOS, disable fast boot and secure boot (you can enable after installation)

During POST, press F12 to launch the boot menu. You will see two options for the USB drive. USB UEFI (Name) and USB (Name). Select USB UEFI (Name) to boot as UEFI and USB (Name) to install as Legacy-MBR
Go to install and delete ALL partitions on the SSD that are not Linux and Linux swap, till you have one unallocated space. Select the unallocated space and then proceed.
If you don't want to use MS account, don't enable updates or connect to the internet during installation.

I am not sure why you need to install Window 8 first. If you've done that before, and then upgraded to 8.1 and then to Windows 10, then the Windows 10 licence will be on your motherboard and you should be able to install Windows 10 directly.

Agree with Johnebadbak - I would format the drive, install Windows 10 - download the iso to usb stick. Then install Linux afterwards. As part of the Linux install it'll allow you to choose your partition size for the Linux.

Hazel123 said:

I am not sure why you need to install Window 8 first. If you've done that before, and then upgraded to 8.1 and then to Windows 10, then the Windows 10 licence will be on your motherboard and you should be able to install Windows 10 directly.

I wanted to make sure that my problem was specifically related to Windows 10. Apparently it's an incompatibility with the AMD driver.

I don't think I have a choice if I don't use that official update hider tool.

About partitioning, I have a question. I usually create the Windows and Linux partitions (ESP in a bigger size than the Windows partitioner usually creates and the main NTFS partition) in advance by GParted, along with an additional NTFS partition for personal data. As far as I know it's the only way that allows me to access my files on both Windows and Linux conveniently. No problem with that if it weren't for the fact that I noticed that installing/upgrading to Windows 10 creates an msr partition in ext4 (!). Should I only define Linux partitions at install time?

Ah ok. So the driver is in W8 - is it not available to install separately in W10? W10 usually finds most drivers or you can download a missing one from the manufacturer. Sometimes you just have to let W10 do all the updates after install- but if it’s a graphics driver- tricky. Windows 10 will usually install a basic graphics driver if the correct one isn’t available, to at least get it working.

I’m not an expert on partitioning but someone else will know probably. I’ve just installed Windows then Linux. Windows sets its own partitions. When installing Linux it asks you what size partition you want Linux to be on. When finished you can use partition manager in Windows to add a data partition. And gparted within Linux to change any Linux partitions. I don’t know enough about it re accessing windows files from Linux though.

- - - Updated - - -

Driver here. For windows 10. Dell website might have it for your model as well but maybe only have the Windows 7 version - which might work.

https://www.amd.com/en/support/previ...adeon-hd-7730m

But if you can’t get past a bsod to instal a driver ....

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This may be a solution - same laptop. Install driver in safe mode.

https://www.dell.com/community/Lapto...o/td-p/5159557