Recent content by SummerBreeze

Thank you so much. I'm going to attempt this later today now that I have time. Are there a couple steps repeated in that tutorial? I got confused because it seemed like there were repeats in the instructions.

How do I use windows explorer to do that? I know how to do it with a portable hd but I have so many videos that it could take hours that way.

I don't know if this is the right section or not since this involves more then one issue. If this isn't the right section I apologize and feel more then free to move this thread to wherever it needs to go. I want to preface this long and complicated maze of issues by saying re-installing Win 8...

Well I did the contact Microsoft support thing, called the toll free number (all automated), entered the installation id, it gave me a code to put in all those boxes and got the activation thing taken care of. I had completely forgotten that I had to do this once before a few years ago with a...

I just got the laptop as a refurb in April of this year. I got Win 8 re-installed fine it's just the key issue. I just chatted with them over the tech chat, they took control of my computer and said since my key isn't being recognized that I need a new motherboard. It's recognized as shown in...

Well it's kind of solved because even though Dell said the product key was embedded on the motherboard through bios it's still asking me for a key before I can personalize anything.

I bit the bullet and deleted all the partitions and reinstalled in Legacy mode and all went fine. I got freaked out for nothing because of how picky Win 8 can be, Feel free to delete or close this thread. I feel like such a fool now. Thanks to all who tried to help. :)

Thanks for all the help though. I know this all sounds confusing with my replies.

Yes and I was linked to a visual pic for that earlier in this thread. The problem is I get no menu with any option to boot from the DVD Device unless I choose Legacy and not UEFI. Should I just go ahead and delete the other partitions and do a completely clean install? That's what I was going to...

Not listed as on option no. Just got this reply from Dell. The link mentioned in it is Windows 8 Upgrade and Installation Instructions | Dell US

Ask me if I want to change boot mode to: Legacy Boot Mode, Secure Boot Off UEFI Boot Mode, Secure Boot On

F12 takes me to the bios and in here with UEFI on it doesn't give me a list to choose from like Legacy does. Without pushing F12 I get this menu saying... UEFI Boot: Windows Boot Manager (Choosing this just keeps me on the same menu with the DVD drive revving for a minute) + Network Boot...

How do I change the settings to do that? I can't get to a boot menu like that for UEFI.

The message I get when trying to install on any partition is "Windows can't be installed onto this disk. The selected disk of the GPT partition style." I have the Dell disc to reinstall but no valid product key to put in when I reinstall.

The partition descriptions are as follows. Drive 0 Partition 1: ESP 500.0MB / 447.0MB System Drive 0 Partition 2: DIAGS 40.0MB/ 35.0MB OEM (Reserved) Drive 0 Partition 3: 128.0MB/128.0MB MSR (Reserved) Drive 0 Partition 4: WINRETOOLS 492.0MB/238.MB Recovery Drive 0 Partition 5...