Microsoft Remote Bricked Alienware

[Allmightyballs]

Seriously desperate for help at this point!

A Microsoft employee went to far and instead of creating a Windows Install USB he took it upon himself to reinstall windows 7 without my permission using the remote assist. 3 days went by & it would not create a USB so he asked if he could do it and check to see what was causing the error Instead of making a USB he did a custom install of Win 7 that only booted to desktop once & needed all drivers so it wont connect to the internet. Ive spent all day trying talking to both dell and Microsoft but cannot get around the issue & some dell techs are suspicious of what the Microsoft guy did.

 

I'm attempting to install a fresh version of Windows 10 of if that is problematic then Win 7. Upon Booting USB media, after clicking install windows I get a message that says insert media & press next. I've tried both disks I got went purchasing the PC(Win 7 Home & Resource CD), several other recommended fixes but none will be accepted by this message. 

 

I'm told its because of the Windows Media tool, wont work properly on my Alienware and it has to be the Dell OS media tool. So I tried the Dell Tool but get an error message saying no OS is defined. Upon researching I've only found people with the same issue & none seem to have gotten passed it except for 1 person who paid dell. 

 

I've done several fresh installs of both Win 10 & Win 7 on this PC before without issue. I have tried all avenues from personal knowledge as well as several suggestions from both Microsoft & Dell Tech support but no one can tell me what the problem is yet alone how to go about fixing it.

 

I do have a brand new SSD I can install hoping to bypass the bricked up OEM hard drive but it brings up the same message when attempting to boot from the USB. Attempts to us recovery images and restores now only give error messages.

 

Microsoft knows their tech did something but wont help me fix it, Dell is trying to charge me a huge fee while saying they cant promise it will work so I'm completely lost.

 

Any information, suggestions on what to try would be more than greatly appreciated

 

[imbrock]

Make an ubuntu live usb.
 

Launch and run it off the usb.

Navigate into the OS and open the start menu (whatever its called)

 

Poke through the utilities and find the partition manager.

Wipe your hdd.

 

Reinstall windows.

Good luck!

[Allmightyballs]

I'm not to familiar with Ubuntu but Ill try anything at this point. Thanks for the quick reply

[VinsinityKT]

Why did you need to call up Microsoft in the first place? Check bios settings to make sure all settings are correct. UEFI for GPT and Legacy for MBR partitions. Anyway, I would just create a new Windows 10 USB boot device to install Windows from. Set bios to Uefi since you will likely be doing a Uefi boot. You can just delete the partitions in while booting from the Windows 10 Media and do a fresh install. Dell techs will not be helpful if you aren't using the operating system they provided for you. 

[Allmightyballs]

I didn't exactly call. I had tried downloading the Media tool & on 2 separate computers it wouldn't create a bootable USB. I asked a question using the chat box. After several attempts nothing would create the USB so the guy said do you care if I do it. After 3 full days of the same errors I said ok. He found some issue and pushed it through to a tier 2 tech which took his remote control & instead of creating a USB he immediately jumped to a custom install. I tried to type & tell him to stop & hit the RED button that disconnects them but it was to late. Then he calls my cell and attempts to walk me through what he did and has kept calling me even after knowing the issues & not fixing them. 

 

I called them today and demanded to speak to a manager. I got one, explained what happened, He saw it & agreed but instead of offering a fix or telling me what the "rogue employee" did he kept referring me to Dell to fix the issue. 

 

I have created a new USB but still get the same message now. Its apparently because dell now requires you use their tool which asks for your service tag. Upon entering the service tag using the Dell media tool I get an error messaging saying "No OS defined for this product". I contacted Dell again but they replied they cant answer that without charging me for either out of warranty service or purchasing media. The media is supposedly supposed to allow me to bypass this but when asked they said if I have the 2 disks that came with the PC, the media they send wouldn't help. 

 

Deleting the old partitions & doing a fresh install is the plan but the message stops me right before that option in the install menu. I also apparently do not have UEFI, only legacy. Its an M17X R3 which supposedly doesn't support UEFI.

 

Current state is, the old/oem Hard drive has the Win 7 Custom install but wont boot to desktop or connect to the internet when it did. A new unused SSD with no OS but neither will get past the "insert media" message that pops up right after I click install windows.