Another weird computer problem

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  • BillyCarpenter
    Field Supervisor

    Site Contributor
    VIP Subscriber
    10,000+ Posts
    • Aug 2020
    • 16308
    #1

    Another weird computer problem

    A customer brought in a laptop the other day. It was an older laptop but it was running Windows 11. I knew it didn't meet the proper specs to run windows 11. Apparently whomever they bought it from had manipulated the laptop in order to install Windows 11. Anyway, I decided to roll it back to Windows 10 by doing a fresh install.

    The problem I encountered was the hard drive that contained the operating system wasn't showing up in bios settings. Some of you may have seen this before but I haven't and it was frustrating to get it to work. Luckily I was able to find the solution online. What I had to do was manually add the drive.


    Anyone ever seen this before?
    Adversity temporarily visits a strong man but stays with the weak for a lifetime.
    Tags: drive, install, laptop, windows
    • Tricky
      Field Supervisor

      Site Contributor
      2,500+ Posts
      • Apr 2009
      • 2620
      #2
      Re: Another weird computer problem

      Afaik a legacy hard drive will not show up if the bios is set to UEFI and vice versa.

        Comment

        • Tricky
          Field Supervisor

          Site Contributor
          2,500+ Posts
          • Apr 2009
          • 2620
          #3
          Re: Another weird computer problem

          It only affects bootable drives

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            • BillyCarpenter
              Field Supervisor

              Site Contributor
              VIP Subscriber
              10,000+ Posts
              • Aug 2020
              • 16308
              #4
              Re: Another weird computer problem

              Originally posted by skynet
              Afaik a legacy hard drive will not show up if the bios is set to UEFI and vice versa.

              Are you talking about installing windows on bios vs. uefi?


              Note: Windows 11 was installed using Bios. I installed the new operating system -Windows 10- using UEFI. I had to reformat the hard drive to GPT. After the fresh install of windows 10, that's when the drive wouldn't show up in bios options, thus it would never boot. It would say "couldn't find operating source". Or something like that. I got it to work by manually adding the source.
              Adversity temporarily visits a strong man but stays with the weak for a lifetime.

                Comment

                • Tricky
                  Field Supervisor

                  Site Contributor
                  2,500+ Posts
                  • Apr 2009
                  • 2620
                  #5
                  Re: Another weird computer problem

                  Originally posted by BillyCarpenter
                  Are you talking about installing windows on bios vs. uefi?
                  In my computer bios there's a hard drive boot mode ( or something like that ) you switch between legacy and UEFI.

                  My computer has three bootable operating systems Windows, Linux and a Bliss OS ( Android for pc )

                  Windows and Linux are uefi Bliss was legacy, The Bliss OS is not listed as a bootable device because it was installed legacy mode, and I use UEFI boot mode
                  If I switch to legacy, I can only boot Bliss

                    Comment

                    • BillyCarpenter
                      Field Supervisor

                      Site Contributor
                      VIP Subscriber
                      10,000+ Posts
                      • Aug 2020
                      • 16308
                      #6
                      Re: Another weird computer problem

                      Originally posted by skynet
                      In my computer bios there's a hard drive boot mode ( or something like that ) you switch between legacy and UEFI.

                      My computer has three bootable operating systems Windows, Linux and a Bliss OS ( Android for pc )

                      Windows and Linux are uefi Bliss was legacy, The Bliss OS is not listed as a bootable device because it was installed legacy mode.
                      If I switch to legacy, I can only boot Bliss

                      All bios are a little different between manufacturers. This particular one lists all the bootable drives. There's only one drive in this PC.

                      I understand what you're saying but I installed Windows from a UEFI USB and selected UEFI in bios settings. Somehow the drive wasn't showing up and I had to add it manually.
                      Adversity temporarily visits a strong man but stays with the weak for a lifetime.

                        Comment

                        • slimslob
                          Retired

                          Site Contributor
                          25,000+ Posts
                          • May 2013
                          • 37189
                          #7
                          Re: Another weird computer problem

                          Most laptops I have owned that did not come with a Windows install disk came with the OS recovery on a partition. Try this Start Run diskmgmt.msc On the laptop am current using t shows a 100 MB EFI partition, a 237.36GB NTFS C: drive and a 1GB recover partition.

                          Object moved

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                            • rthonpm
                              Field Supervisor

                              2,500+ Posts
                              • Aug 2007
                              • 2847
                              #8
                              Re: Another weird computer problem

                              Originally posted by slimslob
                              Most laptops I have owned that did not come with a Windows install disk came with the OS recovery on a partition. Try this Start Run diskmgmt.msc On the laptop am current using t shows a 100 MB EFI partition, a 237.36GB NTFS C: drive and a 1GB recover partition.

                              Object moved
                              Ever since Windows 10 it's been so easy to get install media that there's really little need for a recovery partition. I've also been using business class laptops for over 15 years now where recovery partitions haven't really been a thing.

                              Sent from my Pixel 6 Pro using Tapatalk

                                Comment

                                • rthonpm
                                  Field Supervisor

                                  2,500+ Posts
                                  • Aug 2007
                                  • 2847
                                  #9
                                  Re: Another weird computer problem

                                  Originally posted by BillyCarpenter
                                  A customer brought in a laptop the other day. It was an older laptop but it was running Windows 11. I knew it didn't meet the proper specs to run windows 11. Apparently whomever they bought it from had manipulated the laptop in order to install Windows 11. Anyway, I decided to roll it back to Windows 10 by doing a fresh install.

                                  The problem I encountered was the hard drive that contained the operating system wasn't showing up in bios settings. Some of you may have seen this before but I haven't and it was frustrating to get it to work. Luckily I was able to find the solution online. What I had to do was manually add the drive.


                                  Anyone ever seen this before?
                                  You may also want to check that there are no BIOS or drive firmware updates for the machine as well.

                                  There were a few line of Dells a few years back that would always lose the SSD randomly at boot. Took the updates to completely get rid of the issue.

                                  Sent from my Pixel 6 Pro using Tapatalk

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