Windows – Cant access USB to install Windows 10 on DELL Precision 3620

biosbootusbwindowswindows 10

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?

Best Answer

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.

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