Windows 10 Sucks

[fenderman]

I have seen this on a few laptops I was working on, It started with windows 8.1 , Part of the bios is written to the hard drive from what I believe. That is why it IS really important to make sure you create a boot drive with a thumb drive when the computer is new. If the hard drive ever fails you are in FACT screwed because you cannot access your bios. I had one that had a corrupted hard drive, good thing the factory restore partition was intact and was able to create a boot disk with a usb thumb drive. As a matter of fact I now remember I tried doing it to a DVD and no beans. I think it might have been a Gateway but that was a few years ago. Yea the days of simple computer setups are going bye bye for sure.

Im sorry but that is simply not possible. There is no way a drive/os is required to boot into bios.

 

[fenderman]

Well more bullshit. Installed the WD purple. Put that on Sata 1, the SSD with Windows 10 installed on Sata 0. Tried booting. Nothing. No bootable devices found. And I know Windows 10 is on the SSD because it worked last night.

Go into the bois, change the boot drive to sata 0. Sometimes you can drives/sata connection for booting altogether so that may be the case here.

 

[fenderman]

Alright it seems that this UEFI is different the. Traditional BIOS and it takes a much different way to access it now. U basically need to go in thru the OS, into some advanced settings and restart thru there. It seems that this is the only way to get access to the bios settings I need. Here's a video I found on YouTube that explains it a bit.


I'm going to try his tonight after I install the new HDD. Hopefully it does it, I'll keep you posted since I'm sure as more people start using Win10, it'll be needed.

There is nothing different. You can always access BIOS without the OS.

 

[PSPCommOp]

Go into the bois, change the boot drive to sata 0. Sometimes you can drives/sata connection for booting altogether so that may be the case here.

Thats the problem though, i can't change any drive or SATA information. The options just aren't there.

I'm at work now and rebooted the desktop here. And i can access all those functions with no issues. Really not sure what the problem is.

My second bitch with regards to the comment i made above about the no bootable drives found. Windows 10 installed on the SSD. I know this because i have the original stock drive still attached. I formatted it with no problems and the computer still runs fine.

I disconnect the stock HDD and turn the computer back on, still no bootable drives found. I put the new WD Purple Drive in place of the stock HDD that i disconnected. Still no bootable drive found.

I remove the WD Purple, reattach the stock Seagate HDD and boot. Goes right to Windows 10 and runs perfectly fine.

Now if i leave both the stock HDD and the SSD drive connected, but switch the SATA ports... No bootable drive found. And still, going into the Function+12 menu, there is NO option to change the boot drive order, or the Sata 1 and Sata 0 ports within the bios screen. Its just not there. I'm starting to think i'm crazy and that you guys think i just don't know where to look so tomorrow afternoon when i get a chance i'm going to take some photos and post here what is showing up.

 

[smiticans]

Whats the model number of the Optiplex you have?

 

[PSPCommOp]

7020

 

[bob2701]

Thats the problem though, i can't change any drive or SATA information. The options just aren't there.

I'm at work now and rebooted the desktop here. And i can access all those functions with no issues. Really not sure what the problem is.

My second bitch with regards to the comment i made above about the no bootable drives found. Windows 10 installed on the SSD. I know this because i have the original stock drive still attached. I formatted it with no problems and the computer still runs fine.

I disconnect the stock HDD and turn the computer back on, still no bootable drives found. I put the new WD Purple Drive in place of the stock HDD that i disconnected. Still no bootable drive found.

I remove the WD Purple, reattach the stock Seagate HDD and boot. Goes right to Windows 10 and runs perfectly fine.

Now if i leave both the stock HDD and the SSD drive connected, but switch the SATA ports... No bootable drive found. And still, going into the Function+12 menu, there is NO option to change the boot drive order, or the Sata 1 and Sata 0 ports within the bios screen. Its just not there. I'm starting to think i'm crazy and that you guys think i just don't know where to look so tomorrow afternoon when i get a chance i'm going to take some photos and post here what is showing up.

Sounds to me that your windows 10 is on what your are calling "stock HDD" not the SSD.

 

[smiticans]

7020

Have you tried hitting "F2" rapidly as soon as you turn on the computer? I'm assuming you're using a USB keyboard, are you sure its being recognized before it boots into the operating system?

I've never heard or seen of someone only being able to get into the bios from the operating system.

Try using a PS2 keyboard if you have one and the computer has a port for it on the back.

 

[PSPCommOp]

Sounds to me that your windows 10 is on what your are calling "stock HDD" not the SSD.

Its not though because when you sign on and check Your Computer and see the drives, the windows icon is on the SSD. Also, when i boot it up from the media USB and installed it, i installed it on the SSD. I know this because of the partition it is on and the memory showing. Its a 128GB Sandisk SSD. The stock HDD is a 500GB Seagate. On the installation, when i chose what drives to install it to, i picked the SSD. The HDD DOES have Windows 10 installed because that came loaded on it when i received it. That and i still get the option to choose what volume I want to load windows from. Currently its Volume 4 (SSD) or Volume 10 (HDD). I can choose either and there is a noticeable difference in boot times from the SSD to the HDD (about 18 seconds on SSD to 50 seconds on the HDD). So i know Win 10 is def on the SSD and it can load, but apparently not unless the stock HDD is connected as well. Its a Small Form Factor tower too so its not like I can keep all three in the bay as its extremely tiny.

 

[PSPCommOp]

Have you tried hitting "F2" rapidly as soon as you turn on the computer? I'm assuming you're using a USB keyboard, are you sure its being recognized before it boots into the operating system?

I've never heard or seen of someone only being able to get into the bios from the operating system.

Try using a PS2 keyboard if you have one and the computer has a port for it on the back.

Yup i'm using a USB keyboard. I tried the F2 last night after i looked up a list for the functions for Dell models (they also vary by model). F2 doesn't do anything, but F12 does. I'll post back tomorrow what the screens look like as i'm at work now until 330-ish.

 

[smiticans]

Pressing F12 will only bring you to the "One-time boot menu". You need to press "F2" while the dell logo is on the screen to enter the bios. I obtained that information directly from the Dell Optiplex 7020 SFF user manual I found online.

Windows 10 should've been installed on the SSD without the original HDD connected. Try disconnecting the HDD and doing a clean install on the SSD.

 

[fenderman]

Its not though because when you sign on and check Your Computer and see the drives, the windows icon is on the SSD. Also, when i boot it up from the media USB and installed it, i installed it on the SSD. I know this because of the partition it is on and the memory showing. Its a 128GB Sandisk SSD. The stock HDD is a 500GB Seagate. On the installation, when i chose what drives to install it to, i picked the SSD. The HDD DOES have Windows 10 installed because that came loaded on it when i received it. That and i still get the option to choose what volume I want to load windows from. Currently its Volume 4 (SSD) or Volume 10 (HDD). I can choose either and there is a noticeable difference in boot times from the SSD to the HDD (about 18 seconds on SSD to 50 seconds on the HDD). So i know Win 10 is def on the SSD and it can load, but apparently not unless the stock HDD is connected as well. Its a Small Form Factor tower too so its not like I can keep all three in the bay as its extremely tiny.

It is possible that you installed the efi system partition that should be on the SSD on the HDD. Disconnect all drives EXCEPT the SSD, then install windows direct to the SSD.
EDIT, Smiti beat me to it.

 

[bob2701]

If you have a bootable USB flash drive with Windows Media Creator and a valid key then reload windos with only the SSD in the system. On that box I think the Blue connector is Sata 0.

 

[PSPCommOp]

Pressing F12 will only bring you to the "One-time boot menu". You need to press "F2" while the dell logo is on the screen to enter the bios. I obtained that information directly from the Dell Optiplex 7020 SFF user manual I found online.

Windows 10 should've been installed on the SSD without the original HDD connected. Try disconnecting the HDD and doing a clean install on the SSD.

Ok i'll will try that as soon as i get home.

It is possible that you installed the efi system partition that should be on the SSD on the HDD. Disconnect all drives EXCEPT the SSD, then install windows direct to the SSD.
EDIT, Smiti beat me to it.

It is. And then black and then white for 1 and 2. I will try that though as soon as I get home. Thanks for the help, I hope it works.

If you have a bootable USB flash drive with Windows Media Creator and a valid key then reload windos with only the SSD in the system. On that box I think the Blue connector is Sata 0.

I do, thats how i've been installing it. It came with a Windows 8 CD and product key and Windows 10 loaded on it already. The funny part is the CD it came with since there is no optical drive. But i will try that again and hopefully it does it.

 

[PSPCommOp]

Alright your suggestions about the efi file being on the HDD instead of the SSD seemed to be correct. I disconnected everything and it still wouldn't boot so I used the Media USB and installed it that way. Also found this tutorial:

And I think the delete part (around 2:09 in the video) is what finally worked for me since it wouldn't let me install it until I did that.

I still can't access the boot order in bios but at this point i don't think its necessary. SSD has the OS loaded, the WD Purple is installed and ready to go I just need to set it up. Is there any advice on how to set up the partition on the WD for direct recording?

 

[smiticans]

I use Mini Tool Partition Wizard to create and format the partitions on my WD purple drives.

 

[fenderman]

You don't need any partitions...

 

[smiticans]

If the drive comes unformatted the OP needs to format the disk, which would create a partition. If the drive doesn't have a partition Windows won't recognize it.

I didn't mean I have multiple partitions on my purple drives, just that it might have to be formatted before you use it. I'm not sure how they come from the manufacture, I took mine out of an NVR so I had to format mine.

 

[fenderman]

Windows will format it.

 

[c hris527]

Im sorry but that is simply not possible. There is no way a drive/os is required to boot into bios.

You are correct about the bios/firmware. I could not access the menu to disable safe boot because it was done within windows and the windows partition was corrupted. I was able to access the recovery partition and create a Image on a thumb drive. Boot from the drive and install the new hard drive.