Hi there,
I bought a Vostro 1310 on 2008 and was originally equipped with Vista. I have the full set of disk, including the Restoration DVD.
I'm an happy Linux user since 2004 but now I need to reinstall Windows to avoid issues with my new job.
I didn't change the hardware configuration of my notebook but when I installed Xubuntu years ago I formatted the entire disk, loosing the recovery/diagnostic partition. My mistake, I know.
Now I tried to put it back Vista but the system hangs after the first loading page. Same thing with a brand new Windows 7 Ultimate.
With an old WinXp OEM the installation starts but hangs on the next reboot. Yes I change to ATA compatibility on BIOS even if i put SATA drivers on the disk.
Obviously I tried with an external DVD and USB install too.
Latest Xubuntu install without a glitch and I can use Windows 7 on a virtual machine, but some proprietary software refuses to work. I can use a portable edition of XP too starting from a CD, and that solve a bit.
If I set the diagnostic screen on BIOS I can see just an error of TPM (No TPM or TPM has problem), but since I don't have the TPM module (the socket is empty) I never didn't care about it.
I ran an extended Dell diagnostic from the cd, no issues so far. Tried new ram and new disk with no luck.
Since I was starting to think on it as a bios issue I completely disassembled my notebook to pull off the coin cell. After 12 hours I put all back. No luck. I then updated my bios (was A13) to A15, the latest available on dell site. Nothing changed. Update again with the V15 with SLIC 2.1 found on this site. Idem.
The Dell bios offer, as usual, very few setting and my attention drop on Computrace. Seems activated, but I'm 100% sure I never activated it and now I can't deactivate: it's grayed out. I don't know if it is the cause of my issue but so far is the only thing I found "out of place". No one could have modified my bios since is protected by password.
I tried to force bios in maintenance mode changing asset tag to PASS: (12/31, 12/34 and 1234) and my service tag following the how-to found on another forum but again with no luck. Didn't enter to maintenance mode.
I wonder if someone can help me to clear completely the bios (including computrace or whatever thing is blocking Windows) since Dell support isn't offering this service but just a motherboard replacement. Sorry but that's not a solution for me! Again linux works pretty well.
All I want is to have back the ability to install the Vista I bought. No piracy here.
Can someone drive me to the right path?
Here's the link of the latest bios.
Thanks.
I bought a Vostro 1310 on 2008 and was originally equipped with Vista. I have the full set of disk, including the Restoration DVD.
I'm an happy Linux user since 2004 but now I need to reinstall Windows to avoid issues with my new job.
I didn't change the hardware configuration of my notebook but when I installed Xubuntu years ago I formatted the entire disk, loosing the recovery/diagnostic partition. My mistake, I know.
Now I tried to put it back Vista but the system hangs after the first loading page. Same thing with a brand new Windows 7 Ultimate.
With an old WinXp OEM the installation starts but hangs on the next reboot. Yes I change to ATA compatibility on BIOS even if i put SATA drivers on the disk.
Obviously I tried with an external DVD and USB install too.
Latest Xubuntu install without a glitch and I can use Windows 7 on a virtual machine, but some proprietary software refuses to work. I can use a portable edition of XP too starting from a CD, and that solve a bit.
If I set the diagnostic screen on BIOS I can see just an error of TPM (No TPM or TPM has problem), but since I don't have the TPM module (the socket is empty) I never didn't care about it.
I ran an extended Dell diagnostic from the cd, no issues so far. Tried new ram and new disk with no luck.
Since I was starting to think on it as a bios issue I completely disassembled my notebook to pull off the coin cell. After 12 hours I put all back. No luck. I then updated my bios (was A13) to A15, the latest available on dell site. Nothing changed. Update again with the V15 with SLIC 2.1 found on this site. Idem.
The Dell bios offer, as usual, very few setting and my attention drop on Computrace. Seems activated, but I'm 100% sure I never activated it and now I can't deactivate: it's grayed out. I don't know if it is the cause of my issue but so far is the only thing I found "out of place". No one could have modified my bios since is protected by password.
I tried to force bios in maintenance mode changing asset tag to PASS: (12/31, 12/34 and 1234) and my service tag following the how-to found on another forum but again with no luck. Didn't enter to maintenance mode.
I wonder if someone can help me to clear completely the bios (including computrace or whatever thing is blocking Windows) since Dell support isn't offering this service but just a motherboard replacement. Sorry but that's not a solution for me! Again linux works pretty well.
All I want is to have back the ability to install the Vista I bought. No piracy here.
Can someone drive me to the right path?
Here's the link of the latest bios.
Thanks.