the XPS has zero to do with this.

the post is, I stole 2 HDD from my PC not HDD0 and will not boot.now.

hotswapping , is #1 reason, or knocking off cables from other things inside,

ESD, damage too. keep your body grounded when inside any PC, or ESD for sure if 0degr, F outside, kills electronics. big time. learn now to work on PCs and not blow them up., ask. (google ESD protective tools)

that is a very confusing 1st post, what did you do?

upgraded my Optiplex 7010 to an XPS???????????

NO OS stated or any hint at all, W10 64bit?

Can I assume you did not pull HDD out of 7010 with power cord to the wall and hot swap them> (bad idea)

The old C should boot,  after all you did not remove the C: HDD0 drive,

you can not flip/flop UEFI/ non UEFI like you did.  why do that?>

All drives are disconnected; RAM is good, I had just previously run a test.

so BIOS is dead, that is first IF BIOS is not dead, turn off PXE and make sure boot order is HDD0 first.

then if w10, ( is it>) boot 3 times, and w10 self repairs itself.

you information is on what happened and what you did is very lacking....

here is some fixes, on any Dead PC.

why did you say this and contradict the next line???

•  changed boot mode from Legacy to UEFI
• No beeps, nothing on the screen (monitor is on and working).

Bios works or does not, which is it>?

you do not need any HDD0 present (or ssd0) to run BIOS, F2 works and F12 works.

my guess is you HOTSWAP parts inside the PC, (bad that) and latched it up , as is so common.(

the cure is (stop hotswapping for one)  and do the long hard reset. get bios working first, then leave UEFI off, if was off when you started all these events.

The long hard reset how to.

no OS stated

no UEFI mode (entanglements ) stated. best is OFF. (read at MS , how turn on or off UEFI, not

savvy2,

I'm the one with the issue and yet you sound more stressed than I am. Let me see if my answers can help here.

>upgraded my Optiplex 7010 to an XPS???????????
Yes

>NO OS stated or any hint at all, W10 64bit?
New PC, so Win10. Why?

>Can I assume you did not pull HDD out of 7010 with power cord to the wall and hot swap them> (bad idea)
Correct. I built my first PC about 30 years ago; I don't claim to be a guru but I would never do that.

>you can not flip/flop UEFI/ non UEFI like you did. why do that?>
Because nothing else was working. And I saw a post of somebody saying that for them switching to UEFI (plus reboot) did the trick, so I gave it a shot.

>so BIOS is dead, that is first IF BIOS is not dead, turn off PXE and make sure boot order is HDD0 first.
Bios is dead as a doornail.

>then if w10, ( is it>) boot 3 times, and w10 self repairs itself.
If there is no BIOS, there is no boot, so obviously there is no Windows. I must have tried like 15 times now.

>Bios works or does not, which is it>?
BIOS is ded... In the first paragraph I was illustrating the problem, and in the second one I was giving details (more later). Maybe that's why you got confused.

>you do not need any HDD0 present (or ssd0) to run BIOS, F2 works and F12 works.
I am aware that's how it should work, but this is not the case since I changed to UEFI and rebooted.

>my guess is you HOTSWAP parts inside the PC, (bad that) and latched it up , as is so common.(
Your guess is incorrect

So in case there is still confusion, let me recap:

1. Original setup is an OPTIPLEX 7010 with 3 internal drives
2. Removed 2 drives (D, E), then forgot about PC for a few days
3. Went back to it and it and when I tried to boot I got: "no bootable drives..."
4. I made quadruply sure the BIOS saw the drive and that it was in the list of LEGACY devices to boot from, but still nothing
5. At my wit's end, I switched from Legacy to UEFI (when you do that you also have to change the Secure Boot enabled flag)
6. Now, when I did this the UEFI boot list was empty, which I realize is a bad sign, however as I said I found a post somewhere of a guy who had luck after switching to UEFI and rebooting.
7. Upon reboot, all I see is the power button light and the fans are running.
8. That's it. I tried F2, F12, DEL, but the BIOS does not show any signs of life.

I tried to to follow the steps in "HOW to do a PC HARD RESET". I appreciate that someone put a lot of effort into that post but honestly very little makes sense there. Is there an official DELL link for the same process?

This issue is clearly a direct consequence of the switch from Legacy to UEFI. How can I reset the BIOS? I even removed the battery and put it back in ? How can a software issue like this take down the whole machine?

There is no doubt in my mind that the hardware is still good, so it stands to reason that I should be able to get it up and running somehow.

Hope that clarifies the situation.

Thank you,

SM

Any power light, blue/white or amber?  I'm wondering if your PSU picked a convenient time to die.

I take it the 2 drives were for data and no OS on them?  Removing them shouldn't have made a boot issue.  Even if you did have OS on them, and chose which drive at each startup, you still had a bootable drive in it and therefore shouldn't have been an issue.

Also eliminating that the drives weren't set up as RAID.  As you said, you removed drives "D" and "E".

Even if shouldn't have - I did a similar thing in my BIOS.  Switched from ACHI to another setting just to see what it would do.  It simply didn't read a drive loaded in ACHI, and then I switched it back.

I don't think you bricked your MB, but I do think your PC is playing dead.

You asked how software would do that.  I don't believe it's anything Win10 would do.  If Win10 was corrupted, you should still be able to access BIOS.

Do you have another PC you can try your bootable drive in?  I don't know that it would work in the XPS.  I did migrate an HDD from a 755 to a 790.  I merely had to download chipset and graphics drivers.  Graphics were a bit off beforehand, but I was able to use it and do the downloads.  So if you try your bootable drive in another PC, if it does work, graphics will likely be a bit off.

Hopefully this helps in some way.

bradthetechnut,

Thanks for jumping in and sorry for late reply (was away).

>Any power light, blue/white or amber?

White solid

>I'm wondering if your PSU picked a convenient time to die.

PSU appears fine, fans are fanning...

>I take it the 2 drives were for data and no OS on them?

Correct. No RAID.

>You asked how software would do that.  I don't believe it's anything Win10 would do...

No, not Win10, I meant the BIOS software. Let me reiterate the important part: this started when I switched from Legacy to UEFI. Also the PC is running Win7 (not that it matters).

But as it happens, just this weekend I came across another OptiPlex 7010 about the same age as mine. So, I was able to do some tests.

For brevity I will use:

• 7010-Bad
• 7010-Good

Test 1:

Turned on 7010-Good and made sure it works

Result: all good

Test 2:

Put Bootable HD from 7010-Bad into 7010-Good

Result: no bootable drives

OK fantastic..., so in the process, my C drive lost the boot sector (data still there) - This still does not explain why I can't access the BIOS at all in 7010-Bad (like I can in 7010-Good).

Test 3.1:

Put good C drive from 7010-Good in 7010-Bad

Using HDMI on dedicated graphics card

Result: same issue, white light, fans, no signal to the monitor, brick

Test 3.2

Put good C drive from 7010-Good in 7010-Bad

Using RGB GPU on the motherboard

Result: DELL logo shows up, but shortly after I get: Attention: Unsupported Video Configuration Detected, action required etc etc (because it wants me to use dedicated GPU - but that was the previous test and I got nowhere).

Also, if I press F2 or F12, I get "Preparing to enter Setup...", but then I still get the video card error.

So, given Test 3.2, I feel like there is hope, but: why is the BIOS good enough to tell me my GPU config unsupported but then when I fix it nothing happens?

Thank you,

Simon

bradthetechnut,

I am not out of the woods yet, but I have major success to report!

Using your last suggestions (removing GPU and changing battery) I was able to get back into the BIOS! (I had already removed the battery once, not sure why it did not rest BIOS...)

Now I am back to the original problem (that predates the post) the issue that made me switch from Legacy to UEFI and lose access to the BIOS. And the issue is that I keep getting "No Boot Device Found" . A big improvement from a blank screen.

This happens with even with 7010-Good drive which boots fine from other PC.

Drive shows up in BIOS and in F12 boot menu.

so finally you , reset the PC, found a good $1 battery , and exited UEFI mode, 100%

no fastboot, no secure boot , no UEFI, no TPM , no safeboot ( the latter kills dead USB boots and all CD/DVD boots) ok>?

do not use UEFI, if you don't no under stand it. (and is no easy task to learn)

turn off PXE

turn on all USB ports, all SATA ports in BIOS

set boot order to HDD, USB, DVD all enabled and in that order

then install w10 from USB, using F12 only, and if the hdd will not install no not seen,  erase it next. and repeat F12 installs.

if the HDD was in UEFI mode before, is will never ever boot in MBR boot mode legacy mode now if not erased first. oK>? ( windows, install.exe also fails on any alien formats  and more)

I've no clue as to how your HDD was setup in day one , but sounds to me like UEFI.? in the beginning?

are you backed up? IDK that either.

ok you are not 14 years old (sorry) but 30 years of use good. but UEFI is not simple at all.

you have MBR experience as we all do but UEFI is  horse of a different color, really it is and alien mammal.

you like it or hate it, as many do. (?) I don/t really hate it , I just find it useless and problematic,(for home use)

do not move 1 HDD from one PC to 2nd PC that is not going to work,  mixing UEFI to MBR legacy will  not work ever (boots)

pick one and stay there,. (that advice you got before was wrong, about changing UEFI /MBR bios willynilly.

I'd go legacy, but that is me. I like to change hardware a lot and UEFI does not let me.''

Try to appreciate that helpers can not see your PC in a text box nor see how your HDD is formatted at all.

nor if data is backed up.?

nor can we see your screen. or know the history of service or any of that.

nor if UEFI is mandatory there. ? (and is painful to do service and hardware upgrades with it)

My new hard reset page just for you. (just  4 steps)

there are over 20 things that can cause a Dead PC.  (even PSU overloaded) and more.

even a loose cable. (hark)

one rule , do not play Musical (chairs) UEFI,  do not do that, or you will set the sad bit. please pack one and stay there.

to change from, UEFI boot to Legacy is covered at MS.  clearly reload OS>

there are many reasons to want Legacy boot. here is short list.

• Gamers change out GPU card every 6months with faster card, and UEFI makes this very hard.
• you don't like it, (me) It is a Paranoia tool, and has valid reasons in real business are you?
• you like easier service steps working on any PC. (mobo+uefi+GPU+ HDD marriage thing?
• you like moving HDD from one PC to the other to get the data off that HDD. later.
• I'm sure there is more that others do no like but this is a start, what do you want, unstated.

for me, my data is all 100% expendable, (no PW stored on my PC ! ) and only photos of aunt Bertha. and the like nobody sane want. but all mine are backed up to servers, and encrypted, with top BU. software.

now a lesson in UEFI

the UEFI BIOS does not let you do hacking or anything that looks like that.

UEFI marries the HDD to the BIOS (now called UEFI) married. (GPT, UEFI  boots)

MOBO +UEFI + HDD + GPU marriage I think !

if you change BIOS settings as you did, now the marriage is lost, and BIOS (UEFI) will BLOCK YOU, It does that because what you are doing is NOW ILLEGALL(sic) and is doing By  design blocks. (wiki uefi)

it does that by DESIGN it also does that moving the disk to any ALIEN PC, and not married,, is now BLOCKED.

love UEFI or hate it. pick one,  I pick legacy.

no statement as to data on the old HDD, are you backed up, this is first, after fixing any bad coin cell.

point taken I will make the hard reset 2 pages,  one for simple and one for doing service. sure.

PCs lockup, this is normal with ESD or surge events, in the silicon there are latches. for self protection, 

and lots more. reasons.(even one module of any kind shorted)

We don't have to dwell on UEFI any longer. It was just something I tried. Let's stick to Legacy only, please.

Also, as I mentioned, I have a working OS, I am not interested in installing Win10 on top of it (at least for now). So let's keep the goal i mind: getting the 100% good HD to work in the 7010-Bad pc like it does in 7010-Good.

I will need to set them up side-by-side and see if I can spot the difference, but that's time consuming and I am extremely short on time atm.

Please note: your 4-step page link is broken.

Thank you.

facts are facts, (not useless dwelling)

no facts told, if the HDD is setup and formatted for UEFI, the HDD must be erased.

the formatted OS on PC1 will not work in PC2,  regardless.  so that is fail path #2

the path is:

test the HDD for smart errors, using F12, ePSA diagnostic.

1: erase the hDD, (HD means High Density GPU)

2: install w10.

dwell on what works not which can never work.

if the current HDD fails to boot, then the boot partitions are wrecked , or hdd is bad.  (legacy)

if it was bootable, the OS has self repair mode on the 3 boot, power on 3 times, see that, on all w10 PCs.

if that is dead SO IS THE OS.

dell has resident  ePSA, , WHY NOT RUN THAT FIRST ON BOTH PC.

POWER ON , HAMMER f12. PICK DIAG AND RUN IT. FOR SURE run HDD TEST, and must Pass that.

This might be the link savvy2 tried giving?  Either way, I post it here:  Clearing BIOS or CMOS and/or NVRAM 

I almost wondered if it had anything to do with the CPU, but clearing BIOS might be the way to go.

Now that you have a good 7010, not sure how much effort you want to put into the bad 7010?  Probably difficult not knowing exactly what went wrong - that I understand.

I think the next best thing is going to be the computer shop if resetting BIOS/clearing NVRAM doesn't work.

Edit:  But then I remembered you replaced the CMOS battery already, so I'm not sure how helpful that link will be.

Ultimately removing the battery is what allowed me back in the BIOS so I marked that as a solution.

Along the way I came across a plethora of issues and unnecessary complications among which my original SSD not being able to boot anymore, but at least the PC is salvaged and I was able to install a fresh OS.

Thank you both for your help.

Simon

You're welcome and I'm glad you got it solved.