Reinstalling OS to a new SSD on M6800

I really don't know what the deal is with that Inspiron, but I did find references to using the F12 key to access the BIOS, so this should be possible. In any case, as a professional machine, the M6800 is available with Linux (or even no OS installed I believe), in which case it is clear that the BIOS is accessible without any OS, and certainly does not rely on any Windows functionality.

 

So the laptop arrived,

SSD is isntalled and can be sensed by the device configuration window

But I can't figure out how to change the boot priority, this BIOS is different to those I have seen before.

Heres what I am doing.

F12 during startup brings me to a screen asking me to pick a selection

I choose "BIOS setup"

then, Settings -> boot sequence I get another menu with what looks like a boot order on it, but it only has two options: Windows boot manager, and UEFI ST500LM000 etc. Which I think is it's current HDD, since it was already there before I put the SSD in.

I can't see the new HDD listed and I'm not sure how to get it there - infact I'm not sure I'm even in the right place. Shouldn't the DVD drive be there as well, if I want to be able to boot from a DVD to install the OS?

Can anyone tell me how to do this?

Normally on a desktop I just click the storage device with the OS on it and it works :/

 

UEFI works a little differently. It will only show you boot devices that actually have a UEFI OS installed. You can still boot a DVD, it'll show up if you have a UEFI-enabled DVD inserted. (I always just choose it from the F12 boot.)

 

Update:

Ok, I've worked out the boot menu

I tried installign from the win 8 DVD included with the system but got this error message:

"A media driver your computer needs is missing..."

Which according to this page: "A required CD/DVD drive device driver is missing" or "A media driver your computer needs is missing" error message when you install Windows

Basically means the win 8 DVD is faulty.

So I tried making a factory recovery image using the dell backup/recovery tool within windows. Which I succeeded at, then I used it - unfortunately, it didnt give me the option of putting the recovered OS onto the other HDD, it just automatically installs it over the existing OS on the HDD in bay 1. I Still think I would prefer to have the permanently installed SSD in Bay 2 so bay 1 can be removable.

Which leads me to my next plan, and this is getting sketchy so I'd like it if one of you Gurus can confirm it for me:

1) Remove HDD from bay 1
2) Put SSD into bay 1
3) use the Dell factory restore image, which will presumably recover onto the SSD?
4) Put SSD back into bay 2
5) Put HDD back into Bay 1
6) Set Bay 2 as default boot device
7) Format HDD

Can anyone confirm if this would work? I'm worried about lingering problems due to putting an image onto a different HDD, in a different bay, and expecting it to work fine :/

 

Should be fine. Windows won't care if you move the drive to a different port as long as it is using the same drive controller. Since your HDD is removed before you run the Windows install/recovery, the SSD should contain all of the necessary boot stuff. Just gotta make sure the correct drive is set as the boot device in the BIOS when you put your HDD back in.

 

I would try removing or disconnecting drive 1 and then installing to drive 2, just to see if you can save yourself the two swaps.


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Yes. Disabling UEFI would have solved these issues.

You never explained what your fixation about putting the SSD in Bay 2 is about. Why are you not just leaving the SSD in Bay 1, and put the HDD in Bay 2?

 

Ability to swap out that secondary storage since bay 1 is easy enough to remove. Am I overlooking something?

 

Ok so I seem to now have 2 drives each with windows on them, as expected.

Boot order is currently:

1) Windows Boot manager
2) SSD
3) HDD

Which raises the question, what is windows boot manager? It was at the top when I started so I didn't wanna move it down - but I don't know what it's doing at all. Should the SSD be first?