Windows 7 not booting

Shinnen

Member
Hi,
I inherited a Latitude E5410 from my daughter, that refuses to boot past the "Windows failed to start." screen, citing the problem as the winload.exe file. I have tried many solutions without success but recently read that Windows may be trying to boot from the wrong partition. How can I determine if this is the case?
Thanks,
..... john
 

johnb35

Administrator
Staff member
Fastest way to fix this is to reinstall windows. On laptops there should only be 1 hard drive therefore only 1 boot partition.
 

johnb35

Administrator
Staff member
Well unfortunately, this is why you have them on hand. If had been upgraded to Windows 10 before it died, then its just a matter of creating the installation media from the MS website. See if you can get a hold of a dell recovery cd for that general model of laptop.
 

DavidG

Active Member
The simplest method would be to do a factory restore. Your Dell shouldn't need an installation disk, it will have a recovery partition on the drive. Try these steps:
  • Turn on the computer.
  • As the computer starts, press <F8> on the keyboard until the Advanced Boot Options menu appears on the screen.
  • Note: You must press <F8> before the Windows logo appears on the screen. If you press <F8> after the Windows logo appears on the screen, the Advanced Boot Options menu will not appear on the screen. If you do not see the Advanced Boot Options menu, restart the computer, and then repeat this step until you see the menu on the screen.
  • Press the <Down Arrow> on the keyboard to select Repair Your Computer on the Advanced Boot Options menu, and then press <Enter>.
  • Specify the language settings that you want, and then click Next.
  • Log in as a user who has administrative credentials, and then click OK.
  • Click Dell Factory Image Restore.
  • In the Dell Factory Image Restore window, click Next.
  • Click to select the Yes, reformat hard drive and restore system software to factory condition check box.
  • Click Next. The computer is restored to the default factory configuration.
  • When the restore operation is completed, click Finish to restart the computer.
If the hard drive recovery partition has been corrupted or removed then the simplest option would be to use the free upgrade path to windows 10 by making a bootable windows 10 USB using windows 10 media creation tool and your windows 7 product key underneath the laptop to activate the installation. If you need further help on this let us know
 

beers

Moderator
Staff member
You should be able to use your Windows 7 key on 10 to reinstall.

I would also run Seatools or something similar on the disk since in laptops the highest failure component is a mechanical hard drive.
 

Shinnen

Member
Hi David/beers,
I don't get to the Advanced Boot Options menu. I get to the Windows Boot Manager, which tells me to do 3 things: insert an installation disk, choose a language, and click 'repair'.
Then it tells me to contact my admin if I don't have a disk, followed by:
File: winload.exe
Status: 0xc000000e
Info: The selected entry could not be loaded because the application is missing or corrupt.

I don't have a Windows 7 key. The computer came pre-installed by my daughters company.
I suppose I could hack into it and fiind it, I don't know.
...... john
 

DavidG

Active Member
The windows 7 product key should be on a COA sticker underneath or inside the battery compartment. You could try and recover the Windows 7 key with something like Hirens boot PE
Otherwise you could buy a windows 10 key from any of the resellers
such as kinguin or allkeyshop.com
Make a bootable Windows 10 USB as above, install and activate using the key purchased
Some people will frown on using grey import keys but I have used them several times without a problem
 
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Shinnen

Member
Hi David,
I tried Hiren's boot CD a while ago, but with no luck. However, you're right, the key is in the battery compartment. I'm not inclined to go the Windows 10 route. I have Windows 10 on one of my desktop drives, and pretty much hate it. However, I understand that I may be able to download Windows 7 with my Windows 7 Key?
...... john
 

DavidG

Active Member
You can only download Windows 7 with a retail key not a Volume license or OEM key that you have on your laptop, however there is another way.
First, go to HeiDoc.net and get the Microsoft Windows and Office ISO Download Tool, Windows-ISO-Downloader.exe
Just launch the executable file. In the main window, choose the same version of windows 7 as you have originally on your product key . After downloading the iso burn it to a DVD. You can then boot off that to install windows 7 or try a repair option using F8 etc. when you get to windows boot manager you mentioned earlier.
Don't forget though that Windows 7 is no longer supported and will be more and more vulnerable to hacks and flaws as time goes on. Windows 10 is far better than windows 7
 
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johnb35

Administrator
Staff member
I'm not inclined to go the Windows 10 route. I have Windows 10 on one of my desktop drives, and pretty much hate it.
What are your reasons for hating it? You realize you can make it look like Windows 7 right? It will have the regular start menu, quick launch taskbar and more.

Download open shell to have the start menu here - https://www.techspot.com/downloads/downloadnow/7103/?evp=74177835bdc56803c9812084b6834c81&file=1

Guide on how to get the quick launch taskbar back - https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/4624-add-remove-quick-launch-toolbar-windows-10-a.html
 

Shinnen

Member
Hi John,
Well, initially I loved Windows 10, until I realized that it was far more complicated than Windows xp/7. (All I really do with my computer is emails, some photo editing and light surfing.) And it is slow, no doubt a result of being installed on a computer with only 2 gigs of ram. Fact is, I inherited the desktop with Windows 10 installed; and god only knows what condition the OS was when I got it. So, I'll give it a try on my E5410 laptop, which should perform better than the desktop, and with the Windows 7 shell, who knows I may get to like it.
Now, I have downloaded the Windows 10 iso and burned to a DVD, but I'm not sure how to install it over (my non bootable) Windows 7 installation.
Any thoughts?
Thanks,
...... john
 

DavidG

Active Member
Most windows 7 to 10 upgrades have a working windows 7 OS and the upgrade is performed ”in place”. In your case you have a non working system. The windows 7 product key will activate Windows 10 but I have seen cases where you have to have a working activated windows 7 OS so you may want to get your windows 7 system working first. This is the best option. This would also rule out HDD problems that may have been the original failure.
Otherwise, Insert the windows 10 DVD, start the computer and immediately the Dell splash screen shows, spam the BIOS boot override key F12 to select the DVD option. The windows 10 install option should be presented. If not make sure you have created a bootable windows 10 DVD and try again.
Follow the prompts until you get to the screen that says which type of installation do you want Upgrade or Custom?. You can try the upgrade option but it may or may not work as your previous windows 7 wasn‘t working. Otherwise choose custom install and delete the existing partitions and continue with the clean install. Where it gets to the prompt asking for the product key enter your windows 7 product key which hopefully will be accepted. Good luck
David
 
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Shinnen

Member
Hi David,
Well the iso will not launch on the E5410 laptop. The boot menu keeps directing me back to the boot menu. So, I'm wondering if it will work from, either a formatted disk or a Window XP installation. I know the iso will boot, because I tried it on my Windows 10 desktop. (There the installation eventually failed, probably because my Windows 10 is not certified/registered? I forget what the correct term is OR because, when I tried it, I choose to keep my current apps installed.)
So, what do you think .... might it work on a fresh Window XP installation?
Thanks,
..... john
 

DavidG

Active Member
Which boot menu are you talking about? your original Boot manager menu or the windows 10 iso. or the BIOS boot menu. Did you actually manage to select the DVD as the boot device? A screenshot of the boot menu would help.
I wonder the if hard drive may be at fault which may be causing a problem. You can check because all dells have a built in diagnostic routine in the BIOS.
Initially Restart the laptop and reset the BIOS to defaults
  1. At the Dell loading screen Tap F2 to enter the BIOS. "Entering Setup" will appear when the command has been recognized. Certain models may use a different key. The key is displayed during the boot process. For most Dell laptops and desktops, the key is F2.
  2. Once the BIOS loads, depending on its age and type, you can load the factory defaults by either using F9 key to Load Defaults (shown as an option at the bottom of the screen), the Alt + F key combination, or the Load Defaults button that is shown on the screen.
  3. Press Esc on your keyboard and select Save and exit, or click the Exit button, again depending on the version you have
  4. Choose the Enter key to save all changes and exit the BIOS screen. Allow your system to restart for the BIOS settings to reset.

then do a hardware diagnostics
Restart the computer again, when the Dell logo appears, press F12 key to enter One-time Boot Menu. Use the arrow keys to select Diagnostics and press Enter key on the keyboard. Follow the on-screen prompts and respond appropriately to complete the diagnostics.

There is no logic in installing windows XP until the boot problem has been corrected either there is a problem in the BIOS configuration or the hardware e.g. a faulty hard drive/DVD writer or the DVD itself preventing the Boot process.
If the hardware checks out ok I would try creating a windows 10 bootable USB using windows media creation tool and an 8GB USB and try again.
 
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Shinnen

Member
Hi David,
I'm referring to the laptops Bios boot menu (F12).
Yes, I was able to select my DVD drive from the F12 menu.
I'm not sure I can take a screen shot, since it won't boot into Windows. I could photograph it though.
I set the bios to default and the Window10 still does not boot;
however, I am able to boot up with Hirens's and Lazesoft CDs, so it doesn't look like a settings problem.
I ran the hardware diagnostic before, but I will run it again; but the DVD drive seems to function OK.
Yes, I don't know. I don't think the hard drive is damaged either. I had Linux on, but removed it when I decided to
try the Windows 10 iso approach.
OK. I'll try the USB approach.
Thanks again for your help.
..... john
P.S. When I try to boot into Windows it always produces the "Windows failed to start." screen, citing the problem as the winload.exe file.
 

DavidG

Active Member
I am able to boot up with Hirens's and Lazesoft CDs
There must be a problem with the Windows 10 DVD then, but make sure you include the HDD diagnostics with your hardware check. Incidentally the Microsoft Windows and Office ISO Download Tool does give the option of downloading the original Dell Factory image for the Dell Latitude E5410 Windows Professional 64bit, I have just checked. Assuming this checks out with the COA product key you could try downloading that and make a bootable DVD/USB. If you were successful you could then do an "in place" upgrade to windows 10
 
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Shinnen

Member
Hi David,
Success!!! I retried the original Windows 10 iso CD, the one that booted up in my desktop, and this time it did not boot (even on the desktop). So, I decided to try burning another CD; and even though it said that the burn did not take, I decided to give it a try, and low and beyond ..... IT WORKED!! So, the long and short of it is that Windows 10 is now installed on the laptop. Thank you very very much for all your (and others) effort and help.
Is there a time limit on this installation; because it installed ever without a key?
...... john
 
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