Accessing the BIOS

Hello,

it seems that on your PC the BIOS access key is F7. Therefore, you need to press this key quickly and repeatedly after pressing the power button of the PC. Holding it down may also work on some computers if it boots up too quickly and doesn't register your key press.

Hello

Accessing the BIOS is done by restarting the computer (shutting down, restarting) and not by starting it up after a normal shutdown.

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Great, the F7 key works well, I get to the boot menu and I can change the boot order.

However, I have another problem, the PC does not boot from my USB drive (I should specify that I've already used this USB drive on another PC so I'm sure the problem is not with the USB drive).

However, the drive is detected by the PC.

Does anyone have an idea? It seems like the BIOS does not see my USB drive.

Hello again,

It may seem a bit silly to mention, but did you remember to save the changes before exiting the BIOS?

Or maybe your bootable USB drive is not compatible with your PC? What did you install on your USB drive?

There are no stupid remarks :), yes I have saved the changes, when I go back to the boot menu, the order with the USB key first is indeed maintained.

I have installed an ISO file of Windows 7 on my USB key using the Rufus software.

I just tested it on another PC, it works well

Would it still be my USB key?

With Rufus, by default, when you create a bootable USB drive, it is created in MBR for BIOS (or UEFI).

Try to reboot your drive with the same image but by changing the partition scheme to GPT.

You should then have UEFI as the destination system.

Then try to boot your USB key on the computer with the same technique, and the problem may be solved this way.

I hope it works!

Great, thanks for your advice, it worked.

After several attempts, I finally succeeded. At first, I didn't have GPT, I needed to download the 64-bit version.

However, I'm unlucky with this PC, I can't install Windows; the installer starts but after 5 seconds, it crashes and the screen freezes with a red bar at the top:

I downloaded a second Windows 7 ISO (I thought the version I had downloaded was defective) but it's the same, I also tried with another USB stick, still the same.

I'll never make it :)

When the PC crashes, is it just the screen that turns off or does the whole PC shut down (power button turns off and fan stops)? So you say it shuts down after a few seconds, directly after booting the computer from the USB stick or after starting the installation?

With a bit of perseverance, we will eventually get there :D.

When it boots up, nothing turns off, all the indicators and the screen stay on:

-I press the start button, the PC turns on. Since I have configured the boot menu, it goes directly to the USB key.

-There, I get a black screen with a white loading bar at the bottom and just above it says "windows is loading files ...", it fills up in 10 seconds. (I don't know if this is an important detail, but I feel like the bar fills up twice, once very quickly and then it starts over but more slowly, like 2 seconds for the first time and 8 seconds for the second time)

-On the next page, I see "Starting Windows" with the little logo that starts spinning above, and it's at this stage (3-4 seconds after this page appears) that the PC crashes and the screen freezes (the logo stops spinning) with the red bar at the top and the USB key indicator that stops blinking, so no more communication.

What is the capacity of your USB key? It might be too low, but it seems strange to me that the computer freezes like that. Do you know if the USB key starts on a menu with another computer? And does the Windows 10 on your PC still boot up correctly? This time I don't see too many solutions, but I will think about it.

Edit: I'm not sure if this will do anything, but when the PC freezes and the screen doesn't move anymore, try pressing this combination of keys: Windows + Ctrl + Shift + B (all at the same time). It should refresh the display, but I don't know if it works outside of a configured Windows.

It is 4 GB for an ISO file of 3.3 GB. Just to be sure, I tried with a 16 GB USB stick, same thing.
On another PC, it's the same presentation, 1st page with the white loading bar, then the one with the spinning logo, then the window to choose between repairing or installing Windows. Yes, Windows 10 always restarts correctly, access to the desktop…

On the PC where it doesn't work, that's right, it freezes on the 2nd page. The only way to do something is to turn it off by holding the power button. The key combination doesn't work.

Maybe the motherboard or the drivers are not up to date. You have a pretty comprehensive tutorial here on how to proceed.

You can also check if you have an integrated software from your PC manufacturer (and therefore from the motherboard on laptops) that allows you to easily update the motherboard (for a Lenovo PC, for example, you can type "lenovo" in the Windows search bar). If you proceed with a motherboard update, make sure the PC is plugged in and has battery power, and close all open software, as the computer must not shut down during this update. Although it is minor, there is a RISK in completely updating the motherboard, so if you don't want to take any risks, just update the drivers; that should be enough; the motherboard update is a bonus.

Finally, go to your Windows settings, then to Update & Security, and click on Check for updates. If it is available, click on the Optional updates button and make sure to check all items in the drop-down menu(s), then start the update.

After all this, try to boot your PC from your USB stick again.

Where can I find the tutorial to check the drivers?

Sorry, the link didn't work, I'll put it here again: https://lecrabeinfo.net/mettre-a-jour-pilotes-pilotes-composants-peripheriques-pc-windows-ordinateur.html