Windows 10: Dell desktop will not boot because of My Passport backup drive is in Legacy mode BIOS.

Hi,


My old Dell desktop with Windows 10 will not boot, because My Passport backup drive shows in a "Legacy” BIOS. I think I need to set up “UEFI Boot Sources” with “Windows Boot Manager”.



Don’t know how to get the BIOS to work in UEFI Boot Services” instead of Dell’s “Legacy Mode”. Tried many times to set the Main drive as the 1st to boot in BIOS and the "My Passport" as the second to boot. WD support says the backup drive is ok and I need to only change my BIOS. Also have the "My Passport" as the 1st to book is OK. I don't believe this.


Seems like there's an HP BIOS and a Windows 10" BIOS.


Please advise.



Thanks,



Joe





:)

 

Difficulty setting BIOS to boot in Legacy mode

Hi,

I read that from your previous link...

That's why I was thinking that a wiped HDD might give a different outcome with the BIOS...

Same reason to try doing a Clean Install with a Flash Drive specifically for Legacy Bios... To see if the Legacy\ Secure Boot issue can be forced to change...

Be sure to have all other HDDs and iOmega stuff unhooked...

I am trying to force something to work on my machine by using a UEFI Flash, as opposed to the Legacy Flash I suggested you try...

I'm trying to boot off of a PCIe based SSD, and my Bios is not recognizing it in Legacy... Not even showing in Bios at all, even though it works fine for Data storage...

 

Difficulty setting BIOS to boot in Legacy mode

Hi,

At least your machine can be used to boot with the chosen method now...

I have learned some things recently concerning UEFI Bios, Legacy, and etc. with my desktop machine that I installed a PCIE type SSD into...

This drive requires UEFI Bios... UEFI Bios requires a GPT type drive...

This kind of opened a can of worms a bit like your problem...

When this drive is installed, the Bios recognizes that it is a GPT type boot drive and presents a completely different list of options in the BIOS...

CSM mode is now appearing as a setting that didn't appear before, for instance...

I have also found that if a UEFI type Flash Drive is in the machine when I enter Bios I get different settings than if a Legacy type Flash Drive is in the machine...

I can no longer set my CD\DVD drive as the first boot device as the machine will not go to the second option automatically anymore...

I can set a Flash Drive as the first boot device and things work OK, but only with that specific Flash drive... If I use a different flash drive the machine will not boot without using the Boot Options key....

My machine has always been capable of UEFI Bios, but I chose not to turn it on...

It is not actually even possible to turn it on without the proper type of drive being installed or plugged in...

Overall, a bit strange... I have been about 12-18hrs a day for the last week trying to figure out how the same machine I have been using daily for 4 years or more, and I could change settings almost blind folded, is an entirely different beast..

The difficult part is that this kind of stuff is not consistent among machines and manufacturers... Something that should clearly be standardized seems very random instead...

Not only that... I had to do a lot of research to find how to edit the firmware for my Bios to even get the new drive to be functional... It would work fine as a data drive, but simply was not available as a boot device...

Not just install new bios, but actually edit the file before installing it... Something I have never tried before, and was obviously quite uneasy about doing...

Even though the machine will now boot from the drive, it still does not appear in Bios... I can only select it as "Windows Boot Manager" in Bios or Boot Options....

Windows 10 recognizes it as a boot device even though the Bios does not... I was even able to get Windows 7 to boot from it...

If anything comes up, let me know..

 

Difficulty setting BIOS to boot in Legacy mode

I tried all that is suggested by HP but it makes no difference, the Legacy mode simply refuses to stay put. I always ensure that the settings are confirmed before exiting the Setup but that's just it ... the machine always goes back to Secure Mode. Annoyingly,
prior to the iOmega software being installed and the consequential failure to boot, I could set the PC to boot into Legacy mode with no problem if I chose to.