Hi this is Aaron. Let me describe my problem. I have Dell inspiron 640m with
Windows Vista Home Basic. It happened that while the PC is on update power failed
(battery died) after which Windows would not boot but safe mode was working
fine. I decided to reinstall windows with Original Vista CD came
along with the system. Windows keeps rebooting after post Dell screen. I tried everything I could think of but Vista could not be installed.
1. I removed hard drive formatted in other computer and tried reinstallation
2. I used new hard drive and tried reinstallation
3. I could install Windows XP service pack 1 and the computer was working fine but I could not install service pack 2 or 3. WIndows keep rebooting after initial Dell screen
4. I updated Bios while in windows XP
5. I used dell diagnostics which tested processor, memory, hard disk,
keyboard, system board etc and everything passed the tests. The extended tests too showed that everything is fine.
It seems I could not install anything higher than XP service pack 1. After long discussions I seems that hard disk drivers are locked with IDE mode and there seems no way to enable SATA operations since BIOS has no SATA options.