Checking for media presence on boot annoying message ?

Question

I have the 15 R3 and just had a engineer replace the keyboard and MOBO

When I turn the laptop on I see the Alienware logo then have the annoying message "Checking for media presence on boot" and then Windows loads

How can I get rid of this message as since replacing the parts it has appeared. UEFI and safe boot is turned on ?

17R3 · Answer

Any help as I don't really want to reinstall windows

eternalkp · Answer

whoa, a new laptop and you had keyboard and mobo replaced?

Tesla1856 · Answer

I have the 15 R3 and just had a engineer replace the keyboard and MOBO

When I turn the laptop on I see the Alienware logo then have the annoying message "Checking for media presence on boot" and then Windows loads

How can I get rid of this message as since replacing the parts it has appeared. UEFI and safe boot is turned on ?

Was it running Windows-10 at time of MB swap?

If you run msinfo32, what does it say about the status of SecureBoot?

17R3 · Answer

Secure boot is turned on. I know the message would go away if I reinstalled Windows but would rather not so don't know how I can fix

hindesite · Answer

What order do have your boot devices set to in the BIOS? It seems to me to be more likely that the new MB is what changed, rather than anything in Windows itself.

Tesla1856 · Answer

Secure boot is turned on. I know the message would go away if I reinstalled Windows but would rather not so don't know how I can fix

Yes, it can be "turned on" in BIOS ... but unless Windows actually "reports it" as being ON in msinfo32 ... it's not actually working or configured properly.

Tesla1856 · Answer

What order do have your boot devices set to in the BIOS?

It seems to me to be more likely that the new MB is what changed, rather than anything in Windows itself.

For UEFI & SecureBoot: Windows Boot Manager

For Legacy: HDD-0/SSD-0 (or drive with active/bootable OS partition C:).

http://dellwindowsreinstallationguide.com/uefi/

17R3 · Answer

Every time I try and set Windows Boot Manager to be top it just won't save in the BIOS. I restart and it hasn't changed. Hoping for an answer and once again another problem with this new laptop. I have an SSD in and Windows is installed to that

17R3 · Answer

Just reinstalled Windows and the message is still there which I am so annoyed as I shouldn't have wiped clean now. How do I get rid

Tesla1856 · Answer

Every time I try and set Windows Boot Manager to be top it just won't save in the BIOS. I restart and it hasn't changed. Hoping for an answer and once again another problem with this new laptop. I have an SSD in and Windows is installed to that

I think that will happen if you install Windows clean with incorrect BIOS options, or install to a HDD/SDD with existing hidden partitions.

However, if you can get into Windows-10, you really should check 2 things, to make sure you don't have 2 other (separate but related) issues. If you do have them, you likely want to know so you can take care of them all at once.

1. Can you Activate your Windows-10?

2. Does msinfo32 report that SecureBoot is actually On. It doesn't magically turn on, just because you have the BIOS options for it turned on ... especially after a motherboard swap.

17R3 · Answer

I can activate Windows and yeah it shows up saying it's turned on Tried this article but no look once again the BIOS settings on change answers.microsoft.com/.../749f4102-d2b0-4a6e-b4da-77cd6d571aed

Tesla1856 · Answer

Just reinstalled Windows and the message is still there which I am so annoyed as I shouldn't have wiped clean now. How do I get rid

That was something that you seemed to think was necessary or would work. For the record, I never told you to do it.

But now that's it's done, you move forward.

Tesla1856 · Answer

I can activate Windows and yeah it shows up saying it's turned on

So that is good. That means that:

1. There is a legit Windows license key burned-into that new motherboard.

2. The SecureBoot Keys are correct ( these are separate from above Window's keys, but also in BIOS).

Tesla1856 · Answer

I can activate Windows and yeah it shows up saying it's turned on

Tried this article but no look once again the BIOS settings on change

answers.microsoft.com/.../749f4102-d2b0-4a6e-b4da-77cd6d571aed

Have you tried Resetting your BIOS (and then, if needed, changing options to be correct)?

I don't see how invalid BCD entries could migrate to a new install, if you had:
1. Correct BIOS options set before-hand ... ie UEFI/SecureBoot

2. Installed to a completely blank drive.

But you are welcome to look with this free tool:

http://neosmart.net/EasyBCD/

Unfortunately, I don't have an Alienware 15-R3 here (to see BIOS options). I think what's ultimately going to need to happen is that you will need to contact phone support and let them walk-you through it live. Or maybe, they might choose to send out a technician.

Tell them you want:

1. Booting without errors

2. Windows-10 Activates as legit

3. SecureBoot reporting as ON in msinfo32

hindesite · Answer

Actually, by re-installing Windows, you've just added more variables to the situation, because you don't know the bios settings were correct at the time of the install (even though support would almost certainly instruct you to re-install Windows before proceeding further).

Why not just get Dell to fix their mess - if it was working correctly before the repair, it should be working correctly after. It is probably something that only takes a few seconds for a competent tech, versus the time you've spent on it so far. Look at it as a learning experience for their tech :-) My experiences with Dell support have been pretty good down here, so I'm sure they'll just jump at the chance to fix it.

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Checking for media presence on boot annoying message ?

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