To All of my friends here who tried to offer help. The problem was neither Dell or Crucial. To everyone, I apologize. I could not interrupt the boot sequence to follow Crucial's instructions to boot from a Rescue Disk because the function keys on my keyboard were not working. I wasted many hours this past week before it occurred to me to check and then replace the keyboard. Thank you again all, and my apology.
System setup options—Boot menu
BOOT
Boot List Option Displays the available boot devices.
File Browser Add Boot Option Allows you to set the boot path in the boot option list.
File Browser Del Boot Option Allows you to delete the boot path in the boot option list.
Secure Boot Control Allows you to enable or disable the secure boot control.
Load Legacy OPROM Allows you to enable or disable the Legacy Option ROM.
Boot Option Priorities Displays the available boot devices.
Boot Option #1 Displays the first boot device. Default: UEFI: Windows Boot Manager.
Boot Option #2 Displays the second boot device. Default: Onboard NIC Device.
Boot Option #3 Displays the third boot device. Default: Onboard NIC Device.
I assume the reason you are asking this question is that you have more than one boot device (2nd disk drive, USB drive, or CD) and wish to change which one boots first. You cannot change the automatic boot sequence, the only option you have is to use the F12 Boot Menu to manually select the device you wish to boot from.
If you're trying to boot from a USB stick, plug the bootable USB into PC with power fully off. Then power on and tap F12 when you see the Dell splash screen. When the F12 menu opens, look for option to boot from USB...
Windows Boot Manager should always be first in the Boot options list in BIOS, even if you're trying to boot from USB (via the F12 menu).
To those who replied offering assistance. All of the suggestions have been tried. No amount of pressing F-12 or F-2 opens the BIOS or setup screen. This is specifically an XPS 8910 running 64 bit Windows 10. What I am really trying to do is replace my hard drive with a Crucial SATA SSD. Crucial tech support thinks it's a Dell problem. Dell tech support believes it's a Crucial problem. Crucial wants me to boot from a rescue disk but no amount of attempting to access the boot sequence has stopped the machine from going straight to Windows on the main drive that I'm trying to replace. I have seen posts from others about this same issue, but no solutions.
What did you do in your attempt to replace the HDD with the SSD? Did you clone the HDD to the SSD or did you do a fresh installation of Windows on the SSD? Whatever way you prepared the SSD you should disconnect the HDD before booting from the SSD, if you cannot get booting with F12 to work. If later on you wish to use the HDD for additional storage you will need to reinitialize the HDD. F12 should work, do you get the Boot Menu when you press F12?
gdbutch
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August 2nd, 2022 13:00
redxps630
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August 2nd, 2022 10:00
BOOT
Boot List Option Displays the available boot devices.
File Browser Add Boot Option Allows you to set the boot path in the boot option list.
File Browser Del Boot Option Allows you to delete the boot path in the boot option list.
Secure Boot Control Allows you to enable or disable the secure boot control.
Load Legacy OPROM Allows you to enable or disable the Legacy Option ROM.
Boot Option Priorities Displays the available boot devices.
Boot Option #1 Displays the first boot device. Default: UEFI: Windows Boot Manager.
Boot Option #2 Displays the second boot device. Default: Onboard NIC Device.
Boot Option #3 Displays the third boot device. Default: Onboard NIC Device.
Vic384
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August 2nd, 2022 11:00
RoHe
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August 2nd, 2022 11:00
@gdbutch - Version of Windows?
If you're trying to boot from a USB stick, plug the bootable USB into PC with power fully off. Then power on and tap F12 when you see the Dell splash screen. When the F12 menu opens, look for option to boot from USB...
Windows Boot Manager should always be first in the Boot options list in BIOS, even if you're trying to boot from USB (via the F12 menu).
gdbutch
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August 2nd, 2022 11:00
Thank you all.
George Butch
Plantation, Florida
gdbutch
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August 2nd, 2022 12:00
RoHe
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August 2nd, 2022 12:00
Let's get specific here...
Have you installed the new SSD in the PC?
Does new SSD have an image of the old drive on it?
If not, do you plan to image the old drive onto the new one, or do a clean install?
If SSD has image on it, did you unplug the old HDD?
How is PC connected to the monitor? Are you using an onboard Intel video port or do you have an add-in video card (NVidia or AMD)?
EDITED: @Vic384 types faster than I do, as usual...!
Vic384
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RoHe
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August 2nd, 2022 16:00
Glad you got things working. Who would have ever thunk it was only a keyboard problem...???