I recently bought a refurbished HP Z240 Tower Workstation with an Intel Core i7-6700 processor and 16GB of DDR4 RAM. I attempted to clone my existing hard drive onto its SSD, but the system didn't recognize it. So, I used a different SSD to clone my hard drive, yet it still won't boot. In the boot menu, I only see options for CD, two network settings, and a file, but UEFI - Windows Boot Manager is missing. Additionally, when I try to boot from the original hard drive, it gets past the POST screen, shows the Windows logo for a moment, and then goes black. I can still move the mouse cursor, but nothing else happens. I later discovered that the setup wizard was being sent to a second monitor that was turned off. After I turned on that monitor, the system continued booting from the original drive. I'm wondering if there's something about my old hard drive's formatting that might be causing issues, and if there's a way to fix it.
2 Answers
First off, make sure that UEFI boot is enabled in the BIOS settings. If you still have issues, consider updating the BIOS. Cloning might not be the best approach here, especially with older systems. A clean installation of Windows could resolve a lot of these problems, but keep in mind your system might not support Windows 11. If you're still stuck, returning the PC could be a valid option since prebuilt systems can sometimes have hardware restrictions.
Glad you figured out the black screen issue! Regarding the hard drive formatting, older drives might have compatibility quirks on newer systems. If you're still having trouble with booting from it, it might be worth checking if the formatting is set to the appropriate style (MBR or GPT) for your UEFI settings. You might need to reformat or repair the drive to get it working properly.
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