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XPS 8700, help with clean install of Windows 10
I am about to do a clean install of Windows 10 1803 by first disconnecting all drives other than my boot SSD, then booting the Windows 10 USB install media and deleting all existing partitions before proceeding with the installation. The system was originally Windows 8.1 so do not believe there is a valid recovery portion. Not concerned about preserving any drivers (or applications) but I am not completely certain that I am not missing something. I believe the Dell Diagnostics that are available during a recovery boot part of the Bios/UEFI and do not reside in a partition. Have I missed anything. REASON: System went into vendor to replace DDR3 module and when it was returned I was unable to create bootable DVDs (fine before going in and old DVDs still booted). While trying to resolve this I starting experiencing system problem (turned out to be video card) and did several installs of Windows 10 while troubleshooting. However I had been playing with UEFI and Legacy boot settings so not sure under what conditions the last install was done. Also experiencing the IMEI driver problem and this is part of my troubleshooting for it.
Tesla1856
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July 26th, 2018 21:00
Yes, the ePSA Diags should reside in BIOS (UEFI environment).
Sounds like you know what you are doing. If you get stuck, see these links or ask.
https://dell.com/community/Alienware-Desktops/M-2-NVMe-bootable-options/td-p/6073037
A machine this old, I would probably just use drivers from Windows Update (no Dell drivers). Keep it lean. Do NOT install Intel-RST. Good luck.
https://dell.com/community/Alienware-General/fixed/td-p/5627124
That's what I did for my XPS-8300
https://dell.com/community/Vostro/Vostro-460-XPS-8300-Upgrade-Adventures/m-p/6054983
dnorcott
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July 26th, 2018 18:00
speedstep
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July 27th, 2018 05:00
Secure Boot must be off and Legacy CSM On.
You MUST BOOT THE USB from a USB 2.0 port.
Otherwise you must use a SATA DVD Drive to install.
SATA Operation should be set to AHCI not IRRT.
If you use IRRT you must use F6 drivers.
dnorcott
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July 27th, 2018 10:00
To speedstep
After turning off Secure Boot I Do not see CSM as bios option setting, I do see Legacy OPROM is this the same? Or am I just missing seeing the setting.
A question regarding booting from USB 2 port. The Windows Install media I have been using is on a USB 3 stick created in a USB 3 port and has been booted several times for installs (and accidentally many more when doing in place upgrades). Can you elaborate on the reason? Does this have something to do with available drivers during boot?
dnorcott
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July 28th, 2018 16:00
For others like me that are having their first go around about understanding UEFI, Safe Boot CSM, etc the following article is absolutely excellent.
UEFI Boot article: https://www.happyassassin.net/2014/01/25/uefi-boot-how-does-that-actually-work-then/
dnorcott
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July 29th, 2018 11:00
Closing off post. Have a few specific questions but not directly related to clean install of windows. If I can not find the answers will re post with specific questions on those issues.
There is no hurry for me to do this clean install. Rebuilding the system (apps and structure) after reinstalling windows will take me several days but until end of summer I am in and out of town and do not have that time.
dnorcott
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August 3rd, 2018 15:00
See my original post as to why I am doing a clean install
As a follow up, I found that my Windows Install USB (as created by Microsoft utility) used the MBR. I just downloaded the Windows install ISO and used Rufus to create a GPT UEFI bootable USB (NON-CSM mode).
My bios is set to UEFI boot and Secure Boot ON and I can boot this USB without any bios changes
1) Shift-Restore and Select Device
2) Plug in USB, boot and interrupt with F2 the USB appears as an option in the boot menu.
No need to change the boot sequence.
NOTE: This is a USB 3.0 in a USB 3.0 port (I had been told to use USB 2.0 port)
At some point after doing a clean install I had two options in the boot menu (like above)
1) Windows Boot Manager
2) Restore/RecoveryTools? or WINRETTOOLS? (forget exact wording)
By the time I finished I was back to only the Boot Manger option. Which I believe indicates that at some point a partition changed causing the second option to disappear.
Part of the reason for the clean install is that in Device Manager my Intel Management Engine Interface no longer works.
STATUS: This device cannot start. (Code 10) STATUS_DEVICE_POWER_FAILURE.
I suspect when I complete the clean install I will no longer have the problem.
Tesla1856
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August 3rd, 2018 23:00
I love Nuke-and-Pave clean-installs. It would be cool if that fixed it ... and should be tried as a proper trouble-shooting step. However since it went wacky just after that BIOS update, I have my doubts.
dnorcott
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August 4th, 2018 12:00
The bios update was prompted by a notification which I should have ignored until I was sure the system was normal. It was done someplace in the middle of the troubleshooting below at a point when I thought everything fixed
I had just updated to 1803 and was troubleshooting my inability to boot newly created boot DVDs (not related to 1803) and had made several bios changes (Legacy Boot, Secure Boot, OPROM ). All of a sudden I started experiencing BSODs and Hangs and video artifacts which I attributed to 1803 driver incompatibility but in reality turned out to be a flaky video card. I did several 'in place' 1803 updates, restored to fall update (found bad video card here), eventually re-formatted and re-installed 1803 then later restored an 1803 system backup (since it was hardware) taken some point during troubleshooting.
At one point I had the WINRETOOLS on the Windows Bootmanager menu (disappeared after restore) since I verified the WINRETOOLS partition is GPT then it should still be on the menu. I believe I **bleep** up one or both hidden partitions (MBR versions) by not resetting bios to defaults before any Windows installs. I am doing the clean install just to get back to a known good starting point. Note the restore included the EFI and WINRETOOS partions.
If your system is UEFI boot can you tell me if the WINRETOOLS appears as a boot option??
Kermit4
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May 11th, 2019 08:00
Hi dnorcott, I have the same issue after I upgrade my xps8700 BISO from A12 to A13., I noticed after the upgrade, I start getting STATUS_DEVICE_POWER_FAILURE message in the IMEI.
Can you please let me know how I can fix this issue ? Can I downgrade the BOIS upgrade back to the older version ?
dnorcott
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May 15th, 2019 16:00
Sorry gave system to a nephew and upgraded before fixing.
One suggestion, I wanted to do a clean install with MS Windows install USB but could not figure out how to get the Dell specific EFI partition reloaded. Have become aware of the Dell OS Recovery tool which would install the correct EFI partiton.
Suggestion if feasible. Burn the non recommended USB {OS install) with the tool, reset the system bios to its defaults and boot the USB, delete all partitions and let it do its thing.
Perhaps someone could comment on this.