Hello All : A lady brought me a computer a ( Dell inspiron n 5110 ) , I think she stopped the install , before it was finished , See the attached picturecontinue restarts the computer , can't restore ? ideas
What is in the Troubleshoot options? Are you allowed to reset the PC? A reset would remove everything (user data, drivers, programs) and reinstall Windows.
(Has this Windows 10 ever been activated? If it has not, then if you do a clean installation of Windows 10, Windows 10 will not activate. I don't know, if a reset counts as a clean installation, but technically I know that Windows 10 needs one certain XML file in order to activate after an upgrade. If the reset really as it says removes everything, then this file will not be there and Windows 10 will not activate.)
Second idea: I know one can create a bootable USB drive or a bootable DVD of Windows 10. Is it possible to repair Windows 10 using that medium? Or maybe can you "upgrade" the PC to Windows 10 with that medium?
Thinking about it, I guess whatever you decide to do, you should backup the data on that harddrive. The options I thought of above will most likely delete data.
You can install Windows 7 again. I would do that with the discs, which I got with the PC (or which I had to create myself in order to have them). The result will be an activated Windows 7 with all drivers. The user data, which is still on the PC now (documents, pictures, application settings...), will be lost.
If some of that data should be kept, I think you will have to somehow access the harddisc from outside Windows before you try installing Windows 7. A bootable Linux version on CD/DVD will enable you to do that. Last time I tried something like that (years ago), Knoppix could give me access to such a harddisc.
Once Windows 7 is there, you will be able to use the Media Creation Tool to upgrade to Windows 10.
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