Installing OS on Reformatted Dell... Help!!

I bought a dell that had been reformatted so went and bought microsoft "office home and student 2007" and popped it in the cd drive and turned the computer on. I just assumed that it would take me to some prompts on installing the operating system but it comes up with:

PXE-E61: Media test failure, check cable
PXE-M0F: Exiting Broadcome PXE ROM.

Not boot device available-
Strike F1 to retry boot, F2 for setup utility.

I really have no idea what I'm doing and am pretty embarrased about the whole thing. :-o

Does anyone have any suggestions? thx so much for any suggestions!

 

Hey tamara, welcome to major geeks,

It Sounds like the Hard-drive is not connected properly, have you checked it is plugged in and all wires look ok?

Also have you pressed F2 as it says, and what was the result?

 

Hi Q. It would appear that the OP was trying to install the operating system(XP, Vista) by using the "Office Home and Student".

 

Oh! I thought tamara meant she had purchased a student version OS,

If it is just an app's suite you have got then you need an OS install disc aswell, if you need to use windows your going to have to pay, or you can download Ubuntu for free http://www.ubuntu.com/ however the office suite you have just purchased wont work with ubuntu. edit: but their are freeware alternatives]

BTW, once you do get an install disc, it will most likely be what you were expecting, just a few fairly simple prompts to follow, and should take no more than a fw hours start to finish.

Q

 

Thanks guys! I'm so embarrased for getting the wrong disc! Thanks again you guys are legends for taking the time out to answer my question. I ended up just downloading Ubuntu and now I'm trying to figure out what to do with the home and student thing I bought... what a waste of cash!

 

Tamara, what you got was a business computer to begin with and it was set to start with a network. You need to go into the bios and disable the network boot and you can install windows using the code sticker on the case and any oem disk that is the same windows as the sticker on your case. For example if it is xp home, you need an oem copy of xp home but it does not have to be a dell disk to work. I can help you more if you want.

Sherra