Desperately need help installing windows 8 on new ssd in dell laptop from usb drive

[spdbump08]

Hi, I am at my wit's end, and I would really appreciate any help I could get. I am trying to install a new ssd in a dell laptop that had windows 8.1 on it. It's been the hardest thing I have ever had to do on a computer. I have used rufus to create a usb stick with the windows 8.1 iso on it, and am now trying to get the computer to recognize the drive. Before I started this process there was an option to select usb as a boot option in the uefi settings. It's not there any more. I have tried disabling secure boot and enabling legacy boot, but nothing is working. I think I either need to create a file path for the usb drive under uefi settings, or put in a command at the command line that appears when I try the legacy boot, but I don't know how to do either of those things, or if that's even the solution.

If anyone could help I would greatly appreciate it. Thank you so much.

 

[MarkW]

After reading this, I think you have probably mucked up the hard drive bad enough that you should call Dell and get them to help you fix that.

 

[spdbump08]

After reading this, I think you have probably mucked up the hard drive bad enough that you should call Dell and get them to help you fix that.

What hard drive? The original that came with the system still works fine. When I put it back in the laptop windows boots up no problem.

 

[Solandri]

Try plugging the USB flash drive into a different USB port. If USB 3.0 pors don't work and the laptop has USB 2.0 ports, try one of those.

You shouldn't need to change the UEFI boot order settings. For Dell it's usually holding down the F12 key as you power up the computer. That'll give you a list of boot devices, and you can pick the USB drive off the list.
https://craftedflash.com/info/how-boot-computer-from-usb-flash-drive#Dell

 

[spdbump08]

Try plugging the USB flash drive into a different USB port. If the laptop has USB 2.0 ports, try one of those.

You shouldn't need to change the UEFI boot order settings. For Dell it's usually holding down the F12 key as you power up the computer. That'll give you a list of boot devices, and you can pick the USB drive off the list.
https://craftedflash.com/info/how-boot-computer-from-usb-flash-drive#Dell

When I press f12 and get a list of boot devices I pick usb and then the computer loads to a dos command prompt (c:/). I'm not sure what to do from there.