Unable to Boot from USB on Dell Inspiron 15R SE

Hi all,

I have a Dell Inspiron 15R SE laptop, running Windows 8, with a broken hard drive. It is going to be repaired soon, but I would like to retrieve the data from the hard drive. I have created a bootable USB with Linux Ubuntu. I have tried booting from this USB but am unable to do so. I know that it is not a problem with the USB, as I am able to boot from the USB on another Windows 7 system.

I have tried changing the boot order in the BIOS (the screen that pops up when I press F2 when I boot up the system), but am unable to do so. I was able to change the boot order on another Windows 7 system I had, but for some reason I am unable to do so on the Dell Inspiron 15R SE. I have also tried the screen that pops up when I press F12 as I boot up the system, but am still unable to do so.

I have provided links to three photos, one is a diagnostic screen that shows my hard drive is broken, another is the BIOS screen, and the final one is the F12 screen.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/lvl5005lbkv0cr3/Photo 29-09-2013 17 53 32.jpg
https://www.dropbox.com/s/0d428hsb6uc5xwy/Photo 01-10-2013 18 04 25.jpg
https://www.dropbox.com/s/fux0w8tunjdn1xu/Photo 01-10-2013 18 05 31.jpg

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
~DarkEddy

 

You might have to use the Legacy Boot option(s) instead of UEFI.

 

This article has some details on Ubuntu and UEFI:

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/UEFI

The only thing that should prevent you from booting at all would be using a 32 bit ISO instead of a 64 bit ISO.

 

Thanks, how would I do that and how would I change boot order from then onwards?

Thanks,
~DarkEddy

 

Oh right, I did download the 32 bit ISO, silly me I had to use it on another computer that was 32 bit, so I downloaded the 32 bit ISO. Is a 64 bit processor not backwards compatible?

I will make sure to download the 64 bit ISO, but from there how shall I change the boot order?

Thanks so much,
~DarkEddy

 

The 64 bit processor is backwards compatible, but the 32 bit Ubuntu ISO does not support UEFI. It should appear in your boot list once you use the 64 bit ISO.

 

Oh, ok thanks so much! That makes so much sense now

The problem is that I cannot find the boot list, let alone change it. Will the boot list pop up once I plug in the USB with the 64 bit ISO?

Thanks,
~DarkEddy

 

Pressing F12 at the BIOS splash page (Dell logo) doesn't work?

 

In the end, I finally managed to get into a usable operating system.

For some reason, I couldn't boot off USB or change the boot order in the BIOS or any other screen I think, even after using the 64 bit ISO.

Dell sent me a Windows 8 recovery disk, which I managed to boot from the F12 menu. It was a bit hit-and-miss, sometimes the disk didn't show up in the F12 menu.

From the Windows 8 recovery menu of the DVD, I was able to boot off of a removable device, in this case my USB running Linux Ubuntu.

From there, I was able to access my hard drive and backup my data. Ubuntu is pretty good as an interim operating system, and I may dual boot Windows 8 and Ubuntu when my hard drive finally gets replaced (and the technician makes it so that I can boot off of USB).

What I am confused about is if I was able to access my files from Linux Ubuntu, why won't my laptop boot normally? It just gives me BSOD

Thanks so much,
~DarkEddy

 

Hi,

I bought a Dell Inspiron 15R SE and I am also unable to boot from USB.
I have created a bootable USB for Ubuntu with Unetbootin.
I tried to follow all recommandations here : http://help.ubuntu.com/community/UEFI
And here : installation - Installing Ubuntu on a Pre-Installed Windows 8 (64-bit) System (UEFI Supported) - Ask Ubuntu

With UEFI Secure Boot turned off, when I restart with the USB key, the computer tries to boot into infinite loop.
With the Legacy Boot option I can't boot on the usb key. The computer says there are no bootable devices.

Have you ideas about what I need to do ?
Should I ask a Windows 8 recovery disk to Dell to be able to do this ?

Thanks in advance for your help,

Adele

 

You need to create a UEFI specific boot USB drive to boot usb devices with a UEFI system.

1) Disable UEFI secure boot (this is a key exchange that occurs for an installed system)
2) Create a UEFI enabled Windows or Linux usb drive (MUST be formatted FAT16 or FAT32):

Unbuntu: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/UEFI
Windows 8: UEFI Bootable USB Flash Drive - Create in Windows

3) When you boot, press F12. If done correctly, it SHOULD show up as a bootable device.

Just went through this crap tonight and randomly answering forums in hopes of saving other people from this headache!

Goodluck!