Cant access USB to install Windows 10 on DELL Precision 3620

Question

We got DELL Precision Tower 3620 with Windows 10 Pro installed with all their junk programs. When i attempt to install new Windows 10 installation on it via USB, i just cant see it on the Boot Menu (F12)

The settings on the BIOS (F2) are:

Windows Boot Manager - Enable
UEFI - Enable
Secure Boot- Enabled

I think its related to those options at the BIOS (F2):

General > Boot Sequence > Windows Boot Manager
General > Boot Sequence > UEFI/Legacy
General > Advanced Boot Options > Enable Legacy Option ROMs
System Configuration > SATA Operation > ACHI/RAID ON
System Configuration > Front USB Configuration > All checked
Secure Boot Enable > Enabled

What do i have to check so i can successfuly load windows 10 installation from USB?

Solution 1

I'll re-iterate @ramhound and @user772515: You can use the "Fresh Start" feature in Windows 10 to clean up all the Manufacturer bloat from your new PC.

However, if you want to perform a clean install of Windows 10, here's how I would recommend doing it:

1. Download the Microsoft Media Creation tool (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=691209)
2. Run the tool to create a USB Flash installer. Make sure you have a larger USB drive (8GB+, I recommend 32GB).
3. Enable UEFI Boot Sequence in BIOS
4. Set SATA Operation to AHCI (unless you intend to create a RAID). I also recommend enabling "SMART Reporting" but that's a personal preference.
5. Enable Secure Boot (You need to disable Legacy Add-on ROMs before you can do this)
6. Apply and restart the system. Press F12 when prompted to enter the one-time boot menu. You should see your USB device under the "UEFI" section. If you don't, your USB device hasn't been created correctly. You may need to use Rufus to create the drive. Try this guide: https://www.windowscentral.com/how-create-windows-10-usb-bootable-media-uefi-support
7. Follow the Windows 10 install prompts. In custom mode, when prompted to select a drive, you may need to wipe the recovery partitions to allow windows to format the drive as GPT.

If you have trouble with UEFI, you can of course do as @stackbuck has said and switch the system to Legacy BIOS mode but you'll lose out on the benefits of UEFI if you do that.

Solution 2

it‘s important, to prepare the usb-stick for UEFI installation. It has to be formatted as FAT32, not NTFS! Only Legacy option in BIOS can read the NTFS usb-stick. If you only want to youse UEFI, format the usb-stick as FAT32, before prepating Win10 at the stick.

Solution 3

Just got it myself. I did that steps:

1. Make Secure Boot Enable to Disabled
2. On SATA Operation i put it on ACHI
3. On Boot Sequence i put it on Legacy

And it worked! Now i can see the USB listed on the Boot Menu

Comments

[Admin]

First you have to be sure that USB was properly made. Then, you may also need to set a supervisor password in order to enable booting from external media. The good news is you DON'T need to reinstall. Windows 10 has an option to reset the system and that eliminates any user installed software, including the ones bundled by the manufacturer.

[Ramhound]

Windows 10 has a feature (Fresh Start), specifically for this purpose, located within Windows Defender Security Center. I would submit an answer, but sadly it would not answer the question, as it's currently written. What I can confirm is this has nothing to do with Secure Boot being enabled, and has to do with the Boot Sequence, if there isn't an option to change the Boot Sequence then set a supervisor password. If that answers your question, edit your question, and somebody will submit an answer to that effect.

[duct_tape_coder]

Note that this method is NOT recommended as it will install Windows in Legacy BIOS mode rather than UEFI.