Help! no one seems to know what i should do to access my Studio laptop 17 computer. Basically the HDD died so Dell sent me a new one. I installed the new HDD but the computer will not boot. I get the error message"no boot sector on hard drive, no bootable devices" I was told to create a bootable CD with my own CD-burning program, such as Nero. Also to locate a file named "image.iso" in the "bin" folder under the installation directory ergh!. Well this is where my lack of knowledge comes in, where do I or should I say how do I do this function?I have changed the bios to boot from Cd, so just need the bootable cd now then i'm home and dry (hopefully!)Look forward to hearing from you.

Borrow a Windows installation CD (Windows XP?) from someone but enter your own licence key, as printed on the sticker on the laptop. It will need to be the same version of XP (ie XP home or XP professional) Making your own bootable CD is quite tricky and not something I'd recommend given your apparent lack of technical know how. In any case, you will need the installation files from a CD or image file before you start. PS Im guessing you have XP as you said bootable CD, not bootable DVD as used by Vista/7

Wait a minute, did you not asked for the installation media from Dell when you got the replacement hard drive? If you didn't get the installation media or you don't know how - call Dell support back as it sounds you still have the warranty in effect - so they will assist you getting the operating system back on it. They normally will ship the installation media with your machine along with a drivers disk. You'll need both and if you'll ask Dell, they will only charge you a small fee for the media ($10 I think last time I checked). Call Tech Support and see if that still doesn't apply. Who told you to look for an image.iso? Was it Dell? I've been dealing with Dell for years and they won't quibble (not normally) over media. Also you're in the wrong forum, this is a Windows 7 forum and you want the Vista forum for further assistance (besides from Dell Tech Support) here's the location of the Vista forums http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en/category/windowsvistaitpro/. MCSE, MCSA, MCDST [If this post helps to resolve your issue, please click the "Mark as Answer" or "Helpful" button at the top of this message. By marking a post as Answered, or Helpful you help others find the answer faster.]

Hi Unfortunately my warranty only had two days left on it when the HDD died and Dell didn't mention anything about the installation media only if I was ok with installing the HDD. I will contact them now and ask the question.I will let you know how i get on.Thanks for your help.