Hi! I'm trying to get to my Dell XPX 8920 Bios setup screen. None of the Dell methods work, my system boots to Windows (11) without entering the bios screens. I REALLY want to get spinrite, but am hitting a wall. No key pressing brings up the Bios screen on bootup. The Command prompt method does not work, and the left shift - power icon on the login screen does not work. It restarts into Windows EVERY TIME. I know this is not a Dell forum, but surely others trying to boot from a flash drive have hit the same issue. Can anyone suggest a solution that is not on the Dell forums? My Bios is current. I'm running Windows 11 (the version that runs on "non-approved" computers). I have a video adapter Nvidia Gforce GT730, LG Ultra HD Display. I'd be happy to run a Window based version of Spinrite, when it becomes available.
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BootAble – FreeDOS boot testing freeware
To obtain direct, low-level access to a system's mass storage drives, SpinRite runs under a GRC-customized version of FreeDOS which has been modified to add compatibility with all file systems. In order to run SpinRite it must first be possible to boot FreeDOS.
GRC's “BootAble” freeware allows anyone to easily create BIOS-bootable media in order to workout and confirm the details of getting a machine to boot FreeDOS through a BIOS. Once the means of doing that has been determined, the media created by SpinRite can be booted and run in the same way.
The participants here, who have taken the time to share their knowledge and experience, their successes and some frustrations with booting their computers into FreeDOS, have created a valuable knowledgebase which will benefit everyone who follows.
You may click on the image to the right to obtain your own copy of BootAble. Then use the knowledge and experience documented here to boot your computer(s) into FreeDOS. And please do not hesitate to ask questions – nowhere else can better answers be found.
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Do you have a wireless keyboard? If so, do you have any other keyboards you could try? I'm thinking it's possible your keyboard isn't connecting fast enough when your computer boots.
Thank you for your response. I did replaced the wireless keyboard with a wired one (USB); no change, with or without the wireless mouse (wireless usb connector removed). When trying to see if I had an older style keyboard connector (I don't), I found that my LG monitor was plugged into the motherboard instead of the video card. I changed that and I can now access the BIOS. I have changed the boot order to boot from the USB, but it still comes up booting windows. I have checked the USB drive. It has the BOOTABLE.EXE and EDIT.COM files. Is this correct for the USB drive? By the way, the reason I previously thought my monitor was plugged into the motherboard is that I have had two monitors connected in the past, so when checking the monitor cables, the second monitor cable is connected to the computer, but not the monitor. With the USB with BOOTABLE.EXE installed, what should I see if the system is booting from the USB? I can run the BOOTABLE.EXE file from Windows, and I get the Bootable menu. Do I need to reformat the USB drive again?
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@thorkelsr
With Dell PC's it is necessary to repeatedly press F12 at power-on the get the boot up menu with a BIOS access option.
Since that PC is booting Windows 11 it is UEFI booting. Hence your SpinRite USB cannot boot and run SpinRite. It will be necessary to get into the BIOS setup to see of there is a CSM mode to enable (and disable UEFI mode). Please see this for more info:
With Dell PC's it is necessary to repeatedly press F12 at power-on the get the boot up menu with a BIOS access option.
Since that PC is booting Windows 11 it is UEFI booting. Hence your SpinRite USB cannot boot and run SpinRite. It will be necessary to get into the BIOS setup to see of there is a CSM mode to enable (and disable UEFI mode). Please see this for more info:
Thank you for the direction to the instructions to accomplish this. It did work, and I have made the transition to SpinRite DOS and safely returned! It did boot to my flash drive and gave me the message that SpinRite will work. Now I can download the program and start checking my computer memory (I've been a bit suspicious of some errors) and then check my hard drives. Kudos!!
YW!
Please note: SpinRite 6.1's ram test only checks those areas of ram that SpinRite will be using. Than can be enough to catch some memory issues.
For a more thorough memory test, however, there is MemTest86.
MemTest86 - Official Site of the x86 Memory Testing Tool
MemTest86 is the original self booting memory testing software for x86 and ARM computers. Supporting both BIOS and UEFI, with options to boot from USB.
www.memtest86.com
The download page has various versions available for download.
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