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Changing Boot Order
I have a new DELL laptop with Windows 8.1 PRO installed. I installed imaging software on it right away, created an image of the disk, and created bootable rescue media on a USB stick. However, I can’t get the laptop to boot from the USB stick and I believe it has to do with the BIOS boot order. I'd like to ask for some help in changing the boot order. I have some computer skills but feel I may be getting into an area where I need some simple, straight-forward instructions on how to accomplish this
I can access the UEFI/Boot page by pressing F12 or F2 during startup. I'm just not sure what steps to take from that point to allow the computer to look for a USB device before the internal hard drive. Most of the selectable options in the BIOS menu are a bit intimidating to me and I don’t want to create more problems by guessing.
Dell Inspiron 5547
Intel i7 @ 2.00 GHZ
RAM 8 GB
Windows 8.1 6.3.9600 Build 9600
64 bit
Dell BIOS A02, 3/20/14
SMBIOS Version 2.7
BIOS Mode UEFI
Thank you for any instructions you can provide.
Dave…
capair45
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January 2nd, 2017 11:00
The USB flash drive was created from within the imaging software (Macrium Reflect). The stick is formatted FAT32.
Okay, making some progress here. I may have been confused as to what to expect when booting. I assumed that with the rescue USB disk inserted, the laptop should boot directly from that source without any intervention on my part (which it was not). It simply continued to boot from the hard drive. Now, when tapping the F12 key during startup, I get to the Boot Options screen and see the USB stick listed. Selecting the USB stick continues the boot into the rescue environment. Hooray!
I guess sometimes things just don't happen as you're expecting them to, hence my confusion.
Thank you all for pitching in here. Much appreciated!
Dave...
ejn63
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January 2nd, 2017 07:00
Secure boot needs to be turned OFF and the boot media MUST be GPT (UEFI-aware).
Saltgrass
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January 2nd, 2017 08:00
How did you make the Recovery drive?
After using F12 and get the Boot Device menu, there should be a UEFI listing for the Flash Drive. If so, select it and boot. This option is a one time choice. The primary boot device remains the Windows Boot manager.
Not sure why ejn63 is recommending turning off secure boot.
ejn63
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January 2nd, 2017 10:00
It sounded like the user had created a bootable medium using a disc imaging utility -- most of these do not support creating a flash drive that is Secure Boot compatible.
Saltgrass
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January 2nd, 2017 11:00
It is hard to tell how the recovery media was created. I was wondering if the OP used the third party imaging software to create the drive which may have had a problem, but I have no experience since I use just the built in utility.
As long as it is formatted as FAT 32 and not a 32 bit OS, it should work..