UEFI Bios / Secure Boot

[Chiefcrowe]

So I have a dell computer that I am installing a new OS on. Does anyone know how to properly enable the UEFI and secure boot when installing windows? I haven't had any success yet...

 

[code65536]

Shouldn't it already be on by default? AFAIK, Dell only started shipping systems capable of Secure Boot after Windows 8's release, and every system with 8/8.1 should already have that enabled...

Am I mistaken?

 

[Chiefcrowe]

Well, this one originally had 7 on it but it has the options in the BIOS, but not enabled by default. Been messing with it but no luck so far even trying to enable before OS installation.

 

[G73S]

check under the boot tab in the BIOS, what options do you see?

it would be good if you post a screen shot of every tab in the BIOS

 

[code65536]

I briefly turned off UEFI boot and Secure Boot on a Dell (not my system) in order to boot a disk cloning utility from the optical drive, and I remember that restoring these settings was a bit of a hassle because there was some setting that I had to change first and then reboot before it would even display the other settings that I needed.

But this was a while ago and I don't really remember what I did. So yea, screenshots of each tab would be really useful here.

 

[smakme7757]

Secure boot has to be enabled in the BIOS - It has it's own menu.

If you install Windows from a USB drive it has to be formatted with FAT32. That's all that's required, at least with my Dell E6530.

 

[Chiefcrowe]

I'll try again and report back but last time it didn't give me a USB option to boot from when I tried to switch to UEFI.

 

[smakme7757]

I'll try again and report back but last time it didn't give me a USB option to boot from when I tried to switch to UEFI.

If your USB is formatted with NTFS it won't show up. It has to be formatted with FAT32.

 

[Chiefcrowe]

Good catch.. i somehow thought it was but it changed along the way.

Bizarre that it doesn't support NTFS though, i wonder why?

So what is the best way to set up a bootable USB drive for Win 7 that is FAT32?

 

[code65536]

Bizarre that it doesn't support NTFS though, i wonder why?

That's the way it was spec'ed. Though I don't know why they spec'ed it like that. Licensing issues, maybe? *shrugs*

So what is the best way to set up a bootable USB drive for Win 7 that is FAT32?

Yes. And it's annoying that Microsoft's ISO-to-USB tool uses NTFS. Lenovo put up some good instructions for creating a bootable FAT32 USB flash drive for Windows 7/8 installs via the command line. That's what I use these days.

(Also, because FAT32 has a 4GiB file size limit, if you slipstream a lot of updates, your WIM file could exceed that and would then need to be split, so yea, I'd much rather prefer NTFS or even ExFAT over FAT32, but neither of those are supported.)

 

[Chiefcrowe]

Thanks, I followed those instructions but it still said No Bootable devices.

Just to see if the USB drive was working, I turned Legacy mode back on and it booted from the USB just fine to the windows installer.

That's the way it was spec'ed. Though I don't know why they spec'ed it like that. Licensing issues, maybe? *shrugs*


Yes. And it's annoying that Microsoft's ISO-to-USB tool uses NTFS. Lenovo put up some good instructions for creating a bootable FAT32 USB flash drive for Windows 7/8 installs via the command line. That's what I use these days.

(Also, because FAT32 has a 4GiB file size limit, if you slipstream a lot of updates, your WIM file could exceed that and would then need to be split, so yea, I'd much rather prefer NTFS or even ExFAT over FAT32, but neither of those are supported.)

 

[ViRGE]

That's the way it was spec'ed. Though I don't know why they spec'ed it like that. Licensing issues, maybe? *shrugs*


Yes. And it's annoying that Microsoft's ISO-to-USB tool uses NTFS. Lenovo put up some good instructions for creating a bootable FAT32 USB flash drive for Windows 7/8 installs via the command line. That's what I use these days.

(Also, because FAT32 has a 4GiB file size limit, if you slipstream a lot of updates, your WIM file could exceed that and would then need to be split, so yea, I'd much rather prefer NTFS or even ExFAT over FAT32, but neither of those are supported.)

IMHO, Lenovo's instructions are needlessly complex for something that is beautifully simple.

1) Format USB drive as FAT32
2) Copy over contents of Windows disc/ISO

Done.

 

[code65536]

IMHO, Lenovo's instructions are needlessly complex for something that is beautifully simple.

1) Format USB drive as FAT32
2) Copy over contents of Windows disc/ISO

Done.

The bit about creating/flagging the primary partition is important, though, because by default, a format of a USB stick with the default OS tools doesn't do that. Anyway, it's a one-time thing for me anyway--I have a USB drive that I dedicate to Windows OS installs, and the prep of the drive happens just once. Afterwards, if I want to change it, I just delete all the files and copy new files over using Explorer.

 

[smakme7757]

This is how i make mine for UEFI installs:

1. Download the Windows USB Tool
2. Plug in a USB into your PC and create the bootable USB stick with preferred ISO
3. Copy the contents off the USB stick
4. Format the USB as FAT32
5. Copy contents back to USB stick
6. All done

 

[John Connor]

http://wintoflash.com/home/en/

 

[Chiefcrowe]

Thanks.. yeah it's so strange.. In the very same machine the USB boots to the windows installer just fine in legacy mode but when I try to change it to UEFI it doesn't work and claims there are no bootable devices! aggravating!!