Inspiron 7720SE UEFI/Legacy Install and Boot Probems

Question

My 7720 came with Windows 8 which i didnt like. I very much liked the UEFI bootup tho. Ive installed Windows countless times over the last 15 years but am really having problems making a proper UEFI install of Windows 7.

I have created a Windows 7 64bit UEFI bootable USB in a number of ways using different tutorials and tools none f which seem to boot in pure UEFi.

With UEFI boot turned on and Legacy boot turned off no matter how many times i tried i could not get the bios to boot from the USB stick despite it being recognised as a UEFI setup and letting me add and assign it a position in the boot order. I tried both manually booting it from the f12 menu and also giving it top priorty in the UEFI boot devices. In either case the screen with flicker off/on briefly and it will sit on the same menu where you select a boot device.

I finally worked out that i could use my UEFI Windows 7 stick to install in UEFI mode by keeping UEFI activated and also Legacy boot activated. After the install (which i am not using) Windows is telling me its in UEFI mode but if i disable Legacy boot in the bios so i have pure UEFI then I can no longer boot Windows. It just keeps telling me i need to do startup repair which it cannot fix. Flicking back to Legacy boot on makes it work again.

What gives?

gordoneash · Answer

I should add that the USB stick i prepared worked fine in 2 other UEFI computers.

DELL-Ravi Ch · Answer

Hi gordoneash,

I would suggest you to check if you have installed the Windows 7 32bit version because UEFI does not support Windows 32 bit version.

In addition, you can try the following steps.
-          Enter BIOS setup by tapping the key given for that on first screen.
-          Find the tab which has Boot Order listings. Move EFI boot disk to last, set DVD drive to boot first, HD second.
-          Now boot the Windows 7 DVD, access a Command Line by pressing Shift+F10 at first screen, run Diskpart Clean Command followed by the command Convert MBR then close Command Box and try install.

Please let me know if this helps.

gordoneash · Answer

Yes is definitely 64bit, it UEFI boots on at least one other pc. DVD's will not be detected in UEFI mode.

DELL-Ravi Ch · Answer

Hi gordoneash, I would like to know did you change the Boot Order listings. Move EFI boot disk to last, set DVD drive to boot first, Hard drive second and try the Windows 7 installation.

gordoneash · Answer

Yes have all this many times but tried again. No luck.

DELL-Ravi Ch · Answer

Hi gordoneash, Let me check with my resources and get back to you.

gordoneash · Answer

Would be interested in what the bios defauls were before i removed windows 8. Is it possible to find out at all? Unfortunatly the UEFI/Legacy options dont appear to change if i default the bios settings.

DELL-Ravi Ch · Answer

Hi gordoneash, Please follow the steps mentioned in the link below. http://dell.to/1907JSE Please let me know if this helps.

gordoneash · Answer

That worked upto a point. The usb stick now starts to boot but hangs a second or two into 'starting windows'. I have slipstreamed in some usb3 drivers and this did not fix it. i created a UEFI dvd, the bios let me add it as a boot option but when i boot from it the pc just stays on the bios screen indefinitely.

This is becoming very tiresome. This laptop used to come with windows 7 installed so you guys obviously know how to do it.

gordoneash · Answer

I managed to get fresh windows 7 64bit iso downloaded from microsoft and converted it into a UEFI dvd image using oscdimg.exe.

i can get it it to boot in uefi but just like the usb image it freezes on the 'starting windows screen'.

this is also where my uefi windows install that im using now crashes and reboots if i try to boot in pure uefi mode. i suspect it is the same error and am now going to look though some logs to see if it helps.

gordoneash · Answer

No luck here. Windows 7 install does not leave logs or have a verbose mode so from here on out i am completely stuck.

Robin3 · Answer

Hi,

Don't know what resources you've already looked at but here's a couple that might help.

www.eightforums.com/.../13326-downgrade-windows-8-windows-7-a.html

www.sevenforums.com/.../186875-uefi-unified-extensible-firmware-interface-install-windows-7-a.html

gordoneash · Answer

Thanks Paul just had a quick read through those but no help. My problem seems to be laptop specific.

gordoneash · Answer

Someone with the same problem on a different pc had this theory...

'As stated earlier, I believe the problem is with an internal splash screen for my motherboard. I did a clean Windows 8 UEFI install and when Windows 8 was launching, instead of seeing the new Windows (the flat one) splash screen, I was seeing the ASUS one all the way to the desktop! So the system must have some sort of "hard coded" functionality to detect when a Windows is loading and if so, it forces its own logo, replacing the original Windows one. Windows 8 probably is the only one that can process this signal from the UEFI. Since Windows 7 is a "Windows", *probably* while Windows 7 DVD is loading at the logo, the system tries to replace the logo but if Windows 7 is not coded to process the signal, it hangs at the logo. This is my theory....'

Which makes sense to me as this laptop came preinstalled with windows 8 and it did have a dell logo from bootup to desktop...

gordoneash · Answer

Had a massive trawl of google this afternoon and it seems to be a pretty common problem on all different makes of pc. No fix anywhere tho apart from using legacy :/

So at this point i think i may just give up and spend my time more responsibly playing some games :)

Locked Topics – Laptops General

Inspiron 7720SE UEFI/Legacy Install and Boot Probems

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