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Inspiron 3656 will not display Startup Settings
I have an Inspiron 3656 with Windows 10 that I want to put into safe mode and can't. I've tried the usual methods of Shift+Restart, msconfig, bcdedit from command prompt, interrupt boot cycle twice, etc. Each of these methods sends me to the Choose an option->Troubleshooting->Advanced Options->Startup Settings->Restart. What should happen is it restarts and shows the Startup Settings. Instead it just performs a normal reboot as if it forgot I requested a Startup Settings restart.
What I've tried:
- Factory reset
- Dell diagnostics during boot
- Disabled Fast Startup/Sleep/Hibernate under Control Panel->Power Options
- chkdsk /F /R
- sfc /scannow
- Reseating all connectors and CMOS battery (batt measured 3.22V)
- Setting Boot Log in msconfig (no log after reboot)
- Disabling non-Microsoft services in msconfig
- Disabling startup apps in Task Manager
Any new ideas would be helpful. Thanks.
RoHe
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February 15th, 2018 17:00
Do you want to boot in Safe Mode or to open BIOS Setup?
See if there's anything useful here: How to Boot to Safe Mode in Windows 10
BIOS Setup: reboot and immediately press F2.
ndyguy
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February 15th, 2018 19:00
Hi RoHe,
Thanks for your response. I want to boot into Safe Mode. I have no problem opening BIOS Setup.
The link you provided mentions one method of entering Safe Mode. I am aware of several methods of entering Safe Mode (see my original post). My problem is that those methods are not working. Using any of those methods I can trigger a restart that should bring up the Startup Settings window, but instead the PC does a normal restart.
RoHe
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February 16th, 2018 10:00
If you're trying to open the Startup settings from the sign-in screen, you have to be quick or you miss the short time period when your keystrokes will be accepted.
And see if there's anything useful here.
ndyguy
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February 17th, 2018 11:00
I was finally able to get Startup Settings to display. I was not able to root cause what the issue was, but it required fully reinstalling Windows.
(NOTE: If someone is following the below instructions, save all your files to an external drive NOW, as the below steps will erase everything.)
Previously I used Advanced Settings to do a Factory Image Restore, but the problem persisted. The problem was fixed by downloading the Windows Media Creation Tool and creating a bootable USB flash drive. I then restarted and opened the boot menu (F12, I believe) and booted from the USB drive. I selected the Custom Install. Five partitions were shown with partition 3 labelled "OS" highlighted. To be safe I left the other 4 partitions intact, but told Windows to re-install on partition 3.
After that I'm able to get to the Startup Settings menu. The only (sort of) downside to this approach is it basically replaces the Dell-centric Windows with a plain vanilla Windows. In other words all Dell and 3rd party tools are removed (except the Dell splash screen during POST).
RoHe
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February 17th, 2018 12:00
Glad you got it sorted. Too late now, but I wonder if you'd done a repair rather than a full install, that might have solved the problem.
Did you update all the drivers from Dell's site for this model?
Anyway, whatever factory-installed software you lost is probably available for free download from Dell support, and/or from Dell Download Center, with your Service Tag.