I'm working on a Dell desktop where I'm replacing the storage with two brand new NVMe drives. I have one 2TB NVMe installed and a Windows boot USB stick ready to go. However, I'm trying to access the BIOS by spamming F12 as soon as I power it on, but I get a message saying 'preparing to enter BIOS setup...' and the loading bar gets to about 30% before the PC reboots. I've also tried swapping the NVMe with the other one, but the issue persists. What am I doing wrong?
3 Answers
Another option to access the BIOS is through Windows if it was installed. You can use the Advanced Startup settings, but if you don’t have Windows set up, that's not an option for you right now.
You might want to try spamming F12 right when you turn the computer on, without waiting for the Dell logo. This usually brings up the boot menu, from which you can select the BIOS setup. Also, it's probably best to remove the Windows boot stick since you won’t need it for entering BIOS. Have you updated the BIOS recently, or are you able to boot into Windows?
These NVMe drives are new and don't have an OS installed yet, which is why I'm trying to access the boot menu. I just need to set the USB stick as the boot drive to install Windows, but it keeps looping and won’t let me into BIOS.
The sequence when you power up your computer goes BIOS, then POST, and then it looks for the operating system. So you should be able to get into BIOS regardless of whether you have an OS installed. I recommend checking the Dell support site for your specific model—it might have some useful tips.
Unfortunately, I can't access Windows since I'm trying to set up the drives. My goal is to get into BIOS so I can choose the USB drive to install Windows, but it just won't let me in.