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June 30th, 2023 11:00
XPS 8950, boot from a USB drive?
When I need boot from USB drive on my XPS 8950 desktop, I surprisingly find out there is no USB BOOT item in the Boot sequence of BIOS (press F12 on startup) and could not setup that in BOOT tab of setup screen (F2) neither.
the BIOS version is 1.13.0 (newest version on 2023/4/12)
Anyone knows what's going on here and how to solve this issue?
Thank you guys.
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RoHe
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June 30th, 2023 13:00
If you're trying to boot from an external SSD with Win 11 on it that's connected to PC via USB (USB-c?), I doubt that's going to work. It likely exceeds the size limit, has the wrong format, etc.
As a test, create a bootable USB stick using Rufus (free) with FAT32 format, or use the Microsoft Media Creation Tool for Win 11 and see if either of those boots this PC. You can use a USB 2-GB stick with Rufus or an 8-GB stick with the Media Creation Tool.
RoHe
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July 8th, 2023 18:00
Not sure I understand because you will have to open the case at some point, unless there's already a 2T SSD installed in the 2nd NVME slot.
Image the existing 1T SSD onto a 2T SSD that's in a USB enclosure using Macrium Reflect (free). Be sure to follow the Macrium instructions to make the C: partition larger. Otherwise the extra space is wasted. Also use Macrium to create a bootable USB, just in case.
Then remove the 1T SSD and swap the 2T SSD into the NVME slot. Confirm PC boots and all your apps and files are available. If that works ok, reinstall the 1T SSD, if needed in the 2nd NVME slot. Boot PC via the F12 menu from the 2T SSD, and use Windows Disk Management to initialize the 1T SSD (ALL FILES DELETED!) so it can be used for storage.
If there's already a 2T SSD in the 2nd NVME slot, use Macrium to image the 1T onto the 2T (ALL FILES DELETED from 2T), and increasing the size of the C: partition. When that's done, boot via the F12 menu from the 2T SSD and use Disk Management to initialize the 1T SSD for storage.
Either way, then shut down normally and boot normally and the 2T SSD should be the new boot drive.
And now you know that, when done according to the proper restrictions, your PC can boot from a USB via the F12 menu.
Daniell
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June 30th, 2023 12:00
Yes, I plug the USB drive in before switch on.
F2 and F12 Screen below:
RoHe
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June 30th, 2023 12:00
What software did you use to make that USB bootable? The stick probably has to be USB2, formatted FAT32, and storage size matters too.
Are you plugging the bootable USB into PC with power fully off, then powering on, and opening the F12 menu?
Daniell
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June 30th, 2023 12:00
Sorry I forgot to say, the USB drive is a brand new SSD drive and I migrated my XPS 8950 Windows 11 home to it.
Daniell
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June 30th, 2023 12:00
Hi Ron, thank you for the reply.
my problem is not about USB drive, is why the BIOS boot menu has no "boot from USB drive" selection item. It seems the issue is a BIOS issue, is it?
RoHe
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June 30th, 2023 12:00
BIOS needs to see a bootable USB before that option appears on the F12 menu.
If the USB wasn't plugged in with PC power off, or it's the wrong size, has the wrong format, or has incompatible boot files, the option isn't going to appear on F12 menu.
NOTE: Windows Boot Manager should always be first in the boot sequence in BIOS setup (F2).
Daniell
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July 1st, 2023 00:00
The SSD internal drive with adapter connected to computer using USB-A. as you wrote, I think my problem should be "EXCEEDS THE SIZE LIMIT" . Thank you so much to help me to figure out the issue. Very appreciated！
RoHe
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July 1st, 2023 19:00
It's likely both format and size...
There's also the potentially serious security issue. If somebody could connect an external USB drive to any PC and boot into Windows from the external drive, that could bypass passwords etc stored on the PC's own drive, and allow that somebody to access everything on the PC.
Questions:
NOTE: If PC boots from a USB created using the Media Creation Tool, you should exit the installer right away. You don't want to risk over-writing whatever is currently on any of your drives.
Daniell
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July 8th, 2023 16:00
Thank you very much for all your help and tips. I am sorry to reply late cause I was so busy and no chance to work on my computer.
Answer your questions:
1. my idea is: migrating system to USB SSD from 1TB M.2 drive, replace it to a 2TB M.2 drive. Then, migrate the system back to 2TB M.2 drive. I want to boot from USB cause I do not want to open the computer case.
2. YES. I created a bootable USB drive (32GB) with Rufus and it could be recognized by BIOS and booted computer.
So I should find anther way to change my system M.2 drive.
Daniell
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July 11th, 2023 15:00
Yes I know I have to open the case to replace the new SSD, I just thought at that time wether I can migrete system successfully, if I can I will buy a 2 TB SSD, otherwise I will give up to do that.
I will do that as your instruction when I have my 2TB SSD though.
Thank you very much. You helped me a lot!
RoHe
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July 11th, 2023 19:00
Glad I could help.
Post back and let us know how the upgrade goes...
Daniell
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July 14th, 2023 15:00
Yes I will
RoHe
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July 16th, 2023 16:00
It says "inaccessible boot device".
Are BIOS and Windows still set to use RAID while you were imaging the external SSD? That could cause this problem, but you have to try to fix this the right way or you'll make the internal SSD totally unbootable. Disconnect the USB SSD and boot PC.
bcdedit /set {current} safeboot minimal and press Enter
bcdedit /deletevalue {current} safeboot and press Enter
Assuming PC still boots normally from the internal SSD and all your apps/files are accessible, image the external SSD again using Macrium.
Daniell
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July 16th, 2023 16:00
I am waiting for the delivery of 2TB NVMe drive which I ordered on Amazon. At meanwhile I tried to clone my system again with the software of Macrium Reflect that you told me. I used the same 256GB SSD drive I cloned system before and done it about 27 minutes.
Then I rebooted the computer for pressing F12, the booting screen came out with USB item as the picture below:
But, after a couple of seconds the error message screen came out and computer was shut down, not like it says "We'll restart for you".
So the ISSUE of "no boot item on the boot list" on my first post should be the clone software that I used could not create bootable drive. However I still don't know what is the reason cause the booting failure.