Reinstall Windows 10 on a Dell Question

[Lery]

A friend of mine recently asked if I could help her with her Dell Inspiron 3552 laptop. This thing is several years old. It boots up to the sign in page, asking for the PIN, and after typing that, spins for awhile on the Welcome, and then just goes to a black screen. I don't buy PCs from vendors, I build my own. I'm not sure about the process for reinstalling windows 10 from scratch. Do they have to buy a copy, or can I just use the reinstall Microsoft Windows link from Dell https://www.dell.com/support/home/us...verytool/wt64a to do this? They don't have any software or anything for the laptop. They also have nothing of value on it, so a reload would be fine here.

I do suspect that it could be a hardware issue. The battery is definitely dead, and it seems like it has a hard time recognizing the wattage from the Dell power adapter. Says to use a 45W Dell adapter, which I am. The battery won't even charge here.

[chazus]

Based off that, it would be entirely possible to still fix the system without reloading, but a clean install isn't a bad idea.

That said, I wouldn't get dell's thing. I would download the microsoft iso here, and run that tool to install it on a USB drive, and do a clean install from there.

As far as the power things goes, it could be the battery OR the AC adapter, but more likely the battery.

The windows license is either on the bottom (or under the battery). If you dont see one, its built into the laptop and will activate automatically, and one doesnt need to be entered.

[Lery]

Based off that, it would be entirely possible to still fix the system without reloading, but a clean install isn't a bad idea.

That said, I wouldn't get dell's thing. I would download the microsoft iso here, and run that tool to install it on a USB drive, and do a clean install from there.

As far as the power things goes, it could be the battery OR the AC adapter, but more likely the battery.

The windows license is either on the bottom (or under the battery). If you dont see one, its built into the laptop and will activate automatically, and one doesnt need to be entered.

Great! Thank you for the information. I don't see any sticker where the battery is or under it, so hopefully it's baked into the system like you said.

[Coldkil]

Great! Thank you for the information. I don't see any sticker where the battery is or under it, so hopefully it's baked into the system like you said.

I have DELL at work and continuosly install/reinstall them. The Windows license is baked in the BIOS so you can reinstall it indefinitely, for the exact reason it's a premade pc and you could go to any support to do repairs/replacements etc.

Anyway, if it's windows 10 and you can get to the Login UI (no need to reach the desktop), you can reset/reinstall the OS without even a media. Make sure all data are backed up obviously.

On the login UI, keep shift button pressed and do a restart - you'll be booted into the troubleshoot menu, then there you can do a full reset of the system that clears everything (and even fully erases the disk if needed). You'll end with a clean windows 10 install.

Saves a lot of time and hassle to us.

[Lery]

I have DELL at work and continuosly install/reinstall them. The Windows license is baked in the BIOS so you can reinstall it indefinitely, for the exact reason it's a premade pc and you could go to any support to do repairs/replacements etc.

Anyway, if it's windows 10 and you can get to the Login UI (no need to reach the desktop), you can reset/reinstall the OS without even a media. Make sure all data are backed up obviously.

On the login UI, keep shift button pressed and do a restart - you'll be booted into the troubleshoot menu, then there you can do a full reset of the system that clears everything (and even fully erases the disk if needed). You'll end with a clean windows 10 install.

Saves a lot of time and hassle to us.

Great I'm going to go ahead and try it. What I also noticed was that when I power it on, I get a warning saying "The AC power adapter wattage and type cannot be determined. The battery may not charge. The system will adjust the performance to match the power available. Please connect a Dell 45 W AC adapter or greater for the best system performance" It won't power on without the adapter plugged in. I assumed the battery was end of its life, but I wonder if the adapter went bad?

[chazus]

I assumed the battery was end of its life, but I wonder if the adapter went bad?

Could be one, other, or both.

Best recommendation is take it to a shop and they'll likely have another on hand to test with. Or just order two new ones. They're like $20 each or something.

[Coldkil]

Great I'm going to go ahead and try it. What I also noticed was that when I power it on, I get a warning saying "The AC power adapter wattage and type cannot be determined. The battery may not charge. The system will adjust the performance to match the power available. Please connect a Dell 45 W AC adapter or greater for the best system performance" It won't power on without the adapter plugged in. I assumed the battery was end of its life, but I wonder if the adapter went bad?

Nah, sometimes DELL laptops are just picky, doesn't mean the AC adpater doesn't work, just that it's not recognized. However, if it's old it may have issues aswell, plus the battery being basically dead isn't helping. If you can find decent deals for replacements i'd suggest you do do so. Changing batteries (even internal ones) on DELL laptops is pretty easy.

[chazus]

Nah, sometimes DELL laptops are just picky, doesn't mean the AC adpater doesn't work, just that it's not recognized.

I just noticed this too on my own dell laptop. It said the adapter wasn't supported... I realized the plug wasn't all the way in, and apparently that was enough to cause a power variance enough for it to complain.

[Coldkil]

I just noticed this too on my own dell laptop. It said the adapter wasn't supported... I realized the plug wasn't all the way in, and apparently that was enough to cause a power variance enough for it to complain.

You can check if the AC adpater is working by entering bios (F2 at startup). On the battery section it shows you the battery status and the wattage of the connnected adapter, so you can just look if they match (the one on screen and the one on the label). If not the adapter has issues and should be replaced.

[Lery]

You can check if the AC adpater is working by entering bios (F2 at startup). On the battery section it shows you the battery status and the wattage of the connnected adapter, so you can just look if they match (the one on screen and the one on the label). If not the adapter has issues and should be replaced.

For battery health it says this battery is performing normally. For the AC adapter type, it says unknown.

[Coldkil]

For battery health it says this battery is performing normally. For the AC adapter type, it says unknown.

Then you should replace it - it's not that it's not working but it's not doing it 100%, so. If you could test with another one would be great - it may be the sensor of the motherboard being broken and that's just useful as is. Anyway it's usually the adapter.

[Lery]

Then you should replace it - it's not that it's not working but it's not doing it 100%, so. If you could test with another one would be great - it may be the sensor of the motherboard being broken and that's just useful as is. Anyway it's usually the adapter.

Yes, confirmed that was it. I was able to get another adapter to test. However, the operating system still needs to be reloaded, which is now problem. Thanks for the advice.

[Novaice]

Dell laptops also have a built-in diagnostics baked in to the bios. So you can run that to check the hardware, battery life , etc. You can find that option in the boot menu

[Carrie Jones]

The most common way to reinstall Windows 10 is go to Microsoft website.As i know there is one called Windows 10 Media creation tool,which is able to install Windows 10 without losing.By the way,this it a best way to install Windows 10 on a machine.