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Dell Dimension E521 running Windows 10 PRO (1607) Unable to access BIOS
Hello, I would be grateful for any advice about how to get into the BIOS for the above machine. I have tried the suggested methods posted on many other forums, but to no positive result. I would like to upgrade form a 32 Bit system to a 64 bit system by carrying out a clean install, but I cannot get to the BIOS to change the initial boot drive to the USB drive.
Many thanks in anticipation.
RoHe
10 Elder
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November 19th, 2016 12:00
Maybe a bad DVD...?? Try creating a bootable USB stick and installing that way....
EDIT: And since this model isn't tested for Win 10 compatibility, it's possible the Win 10 installer doesn't have the files (drivers?) needed for your hardware.
Suggest you search these forums to see if anyone has successfully installed Win 10 on this model and how they did it.
RoHe
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November 18th, 2016 11:00
What version of Windows is running now?
Connect the bootable USB stick to the PC while it's turned off. Then power on and press F12. You should see the USB on the list of boot options.
Keep in mind that Dell hasn't tested this model for compatibility with Win 10, and you may have to dig around to find suitable drivers, if Win 10 doesn't have them for your hardware.
Rerun57
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November 18th, 2016 17:00
Hello, Many thanks for the reply. The computer is running Windows 10 PRO (1607) 32-bit. I will try what you suggest and let you know how I get on. Thanks!
Rerun57
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November 19th, 2016 02:00
Hello again Ron,
I tried what you suggested, but no joy. I then investigated if the BIOS needed updating. I was running Vers1.1.4. I updated it to Vers 1.1.11 and managed to get to BIOS via Windows Settings Recovery/Reset. Nearly celebrated at that point! However, when running a clean installation of Windows 10 Pro 64 Bit from a DVD created with MS Media tools (a Windows setup ISO DVD), the installation failed saying some files were not available. Still waiting for the installation to finish unwinding. Any help with this next issue would be most appreciated. MTIA
Rerun57
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November 20th, 2016 05:00
Hello Ron
Many thanks! I have now got Windows 10 PRO 64 bit installed on the Dell E521. However, when I rebooted it after the install, the graphics display was very broken up!! A driver issue I suspect? Best wishes Adrian.
Top Flight Tech
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November 20th, 2016 11:00
I have found alot of the default drivers for MS dont work well with some dell units. Driver Packs is a cool app that hunts down the hardware id and offers compatible drivers. You can always run like speccy, hwinfo or gpuz or various free tools to find out what video chipset you have. then just goto the manufacturers website and look under support, downloads for the drivers. You can also try google'n the graphic chipset model and windows 10 driver and might have luck
RoHe
10 Elder
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November 20th, 2016 11:00
Is it still usable -at least for now?
Do you have both Intel Graphics and an add-in video card?
For Intel Graphics, go to Intel's download site and use their wizard to scan your hardware for updated drivers for both the chipset and graphics. Install those and reboot.
Then go to the site for your video card (AMD or NVidia) and look for the latest Win 10 driver for your video card. If Win 10 driver doesn't exist, try an Win 8.1 driver...
Rerun57
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November 22nd, 2016 00:00
Managed to explore the range of drivers on the Nvidia website and now things seem to be working OK. It would seem that after all this the graphics card (GeForce 7300 LE) does not support OpenGL 3.0, so the machine will not run SketchUp Pro 2017. Many thanks for everyone's help with this.
speedstep
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47K Posts
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November 22nd, 2016 06:00
You don't need a brand new card but you need a newer card.