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XPS8900 uefi
New machine - problems with Zone Alarm showing half a dozen virus reports! Machine eventually halts so reboot - wont start (several blue screens, nothing helps). Reset the machine - this hangs for many mins part way through so restart with downloaded Win10 media from MSFT. All now starts ok. But questions remain:
The UEFI management application is hard to understand - is there a guide to this somewhere? Particularly the boot order - how to set this?
Are there known issues with the Win10AE image and anti-virus apps? I'm trying Avira now. This is another 32-bit application, is there a decent 64-bit anti-virus (free) app?
The real fall back might be to disable secure boot and return from UEFI to BIOS/MBT partitioning on the hard disk - is this even possible? It would be a lot easier to understand.
DELL-Jesse L
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October 7th, 2016 08:00
qwerty1357,
There are many articles and tutorials on the web that explain UEFI BIOS. Below is one that may help you understand it a little better.
UEFI BIOS
I have not had any issues with the Windows 10 image. I know the Microsoft Windows 10 Team are working to resolve issues and releasing Updates. As far as Anti-Virus programs. I use the built in Windows 10 Defender. It works just as well as any 3rd party program in my opinion. With Windows 10 the program has improved. Below is a link from PC World that AV-test.org did some testing on Defender and other software. Maybe the information will help you decide.
PC World
qwerty1357
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October 7th, 2016 11:00
Jesse L.,
Thanks for the prompt response. Yes the link is helpful, as are several on the Ubuntu website. Pity Dell doesn't supply detail on the mobo/bios/uefi setup like manufacturers did years ago. Any help on setting up the boot order, is there a shortcut to that feature as on some older Dell systems? I can't see how to re-order or indeed setup the boot order list on the uefi app.
Your touching faith in PC-World as an authority on anti-virus performance may be a little dashed by the article in this month's PC-Pro which advises Defender users to switch to something else!
Many software suppliers seem to have been caught out by this latest Win10 Anniversary Edition - the AOMEI people in particular seem to have had no idea that their backup and restore application was going to fall over, not helped by their long holiday earlier this month. Their forums are full of sad tales.
These days one needs to take account of the suppliers resources in development and support - suspicions are raised by products still in the 32-bit era, and with small engineering teams. Some of these anti-malware products fall into this category.
The Dell manuals are excellent in their coverage of the hardware and how to maintain it, but where is the setup support? I would appreciate a decent guide to the uefi setup on the machine.
DELL-Jesse L
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October 7th, 2016 12:00
qwerty1357,
Older computers may not have the UEFI bios. You would need to start the computer and TAP the F2 Key to enter the bios for verificatiion. If the computer does not have the UEFI bios you would just boot into the bios and navigate to the Boot tab. From there you would see where to set the computer to boot to one of the devices listed. Press F10 to save changes and exit. If you want to boot to a cd/dvd you can put the disk in the drive and restart the computer. As it is booting up tap the F12 key. The option to boot to the cd/dvd rom will show to hit any key to boot to it.
You can also click the link below to choose your computer model and download the online user manual.
Dell Drivers, Downloads and Manuals
How to enable boot from DVD option with UEFI boot mode enabled. (Windows 8, 8.1 & 10)
I am not sure if you have or had Ubuntu installed on your computer and want to install in a Dual boot with Windows. If so, information is at the link below.
How to Install Ubuntu and a recent Windows Operating System as a Dual Boot on your Dell PC
Access UEFI (BIOS) System Setup from Windows
Windows Operating System Support
As far as the PC World article about anti- virus software it was just a google search and I thought it may shed some light on it for your. I cannot verify if one or the other is better. Click the link below for a Google Search for top free Windows 10 anti- virus programs
Top Free Windows 10 Anti-Virus Software
qwerty1357
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October 8th, 2016 07:00
Jesse L.,
Thanks again for your response. I see, from following up one of your links (*), that my XPS 8900 has indeed been tested by Dell with Win10AE, and found to run OK. I found the same, the basic OS runs well, the issues I have are really (i) with third party installed software such as AOMEI backup, Zone Alarm anti-virus; and (ii) the lack of decent documentation supplied (or available on the Dell support website) on setting up booting with the UFEI firmware application on this machine.
The way I got my downloaded Win10 install media to boot was by loading the DVD drive and rebooting, then opening the uefi interface (F2) and re-ordering the boot list that now included the CD/DVD drive to set that as the first device, then rebooting, when the 'hit any key to boot from DVD' message appeared. I'm sure this isn't the right way by design? Is F12 supposed to work on this machine (I couldn't get it to do so when I tried it)? Maybe someone who runs an XPS8900 could comment.
* www.dell.com/.../SLN297954
"Computers tested for upgrade to Windows 10 Anniversary Update"
DELL-Jesse L
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October 10th, 2016 06:00
qwerty1357,
Glad you got it sorted out. You would put the cd/dvd in the drive and restart the computer. When it starts booting up begin tapping the F12 Key to get the option to boot to the cd/dvd drive.