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    Thinkpad T420 UEFI BIOS

    Discussion in 'Lenovo' started by Alkahest, Jul 27, 2015.

  1. Alkahest

    Alkahest Notebook Enthusiast

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    Hi, I've got a problem. When I select to boot on UEFI mode, and restart, I got completely stuck on Boot Menu; I select my windows partition, but nothing happens, it still gets me to Boot Menu. This doesnt happen with Legacy (windows starts normally with it...)
    What could it be?
     
    Alkahest, Jul 27, 2015
    #1
  2. PatchySan

    PatchySan Om Noms Kit Kat

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    If the OS installation was done using the standard "legacy" format where it uses MBR partitions then UEFI will not work, you can't just casually switch between UEFI and Legacy modes midway. Windows have to be installed in UEFI mode in conjunction with an EFI system partition for it to be active.
     
    PatchySan, Jul 28, 2015
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  3. Alkahest

    Alkahest Notebook Enthusiast

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    I thought about that, but when I was installing windows 7 (in a clean SSD drive), the same thing happened. I choose "UEFI only mode", but I couldn't boot throught the USB stick with the ISO, it cycled me back to Boot Menu
     
    Alkahest, Jul 28, 2015
    #3
  4. Prostar Computer

    Prostar Computer Company Representative

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    With UEFI mode enabled, did you disable Secure Boot?
     
    Prostar Computer, Jul 28, 2015
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  5. Alkahest

    Alkahest Notebook Enthusiast

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    I dont have a Secure Boot option (or at least I cant find it)
     
    Alkahest, Jul 28, 2015
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  6. Prostar Computer

    Prostar Computer Company Representative

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    Must be there only when UEFI is enabled (maybe). Hmm...

    Perhaps 7 isn't supported under UEFI on that system? We had some Clevo systems that had that idiosyncrasy unless a specific BIOS was used.
     
    Prostar Computer, Jul 28, 2015
    #6
  7. PatchySan

    PatchySan Om Noms Kit Kat

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    My own T420 runs UEFI Windows 7 Professional x64 just fine so I suspect the USB media you used may not be set up properly for native UEFI installation. I would advise recreating it again, one way to make a bootable UEFI Windows 7 USB media is to use the free standalone application called Rufus.

    Simply format the USB flash drive into a FAT32 file system along with the following selected:

    - GPT partition scheme for UEFI computer
    - Default Cluster Size
    - Quick Format
    - Standard Windows Installation

    Direct Rufus to the Windows 7 ISO that you have (has to be 64 bit for UEFI installatons) and let the application process the USB for you. Once done you should be able to install Windows 7 with the USB under UEFI mode.

    Bear in mind that the newly created USB media will not work with systems that don't support UEFI natively so you need to create a separate USB media using the legacy MBR partition scheme for that.
     
    PatchySan, Jul 28, 2015
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  8. Alkahest

    Alkahest Notebook Enthusiast

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    It worked flawlessly, thanks
     
    Alkahest, Jul 29, 2015
    #8