Toshiba notebook won't boot to USB now SSD is main drive.

I recently reinstalled Win 8(OEM) on a Adata SX900 SSD(256GB) on my new Toshiba S855 notebook. I have a bootable version of Windows 8 Pro installed on a 16GB USB 3 flashdrive that worked fine when Win 8 was installed on the (Stock) Samsung HDD. I have the USB selected as 1st bootdrive in the bios, but the system will not boot to the USB now the SSD is installed. The system is lightning fast, booting from cold in 6 seconds . My benchmarks ratings using Atto are higher than the manufactures stated specs. 535 write and 570 read. Is it possible that SSD drive is too fast for the system and it's does have a chance to discover the USB? I want to be able to boot to Windows 8 Pro so I can install the Media Center for testing and evaluation. I am disappointed that Microsoft did not include the media Center in Win 8 but I am even more ticked at Toshiba for not allowing me the option to upgrade to Win 8 pro, while offering those that recently purchased a notebook with Win 7 the upgrade for $15.00. Any help would be appreciated.

 

Make sure you're plugging into a USB 2.0 port - if you're plugging into a USB 3.0 port... I don't think it supports 'boot from' reliably.

Also, Win8's boot 'initialization' is too fast... try hitting the Enter, Esc or F12 keys to get to the one time boot options of the BIOS to be sure you can 'see' the 16GB USB stick and select it for boot.

Good luck.

 

Have you tried manually changing the boot order? As tiller mentioned, the window for interrupting the normal boot with Windows 8 is lightning small.

 

Ok, I went back an tried all of the suggestions, and a few ours I thought up, but won't boot to USB. I even have another USB drive with Parted Magic setup that I have used dozens of times, no go. I guess I'll have to wait till I get home (5 months) and miss the upgrade window.

 

I attempted all avenues as well...WINXP DVD. WIN7 DVD, WIN7 USB, BIOS DVD...Holding any random special key down while booting also failed. Toshiba support is worthless and goes on and on about tips on how to prevent hard drive corruption. Real Answer= Used a microSD card in an adapter in a Multi card reader device (Steelton Tech from big lots)...this way it detects the card reader as a mass storage device and will successfully boot and install windows. So...SD card in a reader works. Booted right up and installed Win7 quick. Using a 320GB SSD drive now.

 

Is there a setting in the BIOS for "Allow boot from USB device" or similar.