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October 20th, 2023 16:52
Can't Access BIOS
Inspiron 3020 Desktop
I got a new Inspiron 3020 desktop and I can't access the BIOS. I bought it intending to install Linux, so I don't want to install Windows, although Windows 11 Home is included with the purchase. However, it seems that no matter what I do, the computer only wants to install Windows. If I tap F2 or F12 at startup, it is ignored. If I tap it repeatedly at startup, the computer goes into a non-responsive state. The Dell logo never appears on the screen. If I do nothing after startup, it begins the steps to install Windows.
I decided to humor it for a while, and it required me to connect to the Internet. I saw no reason to connect to the Internet for my purposes, but I went ahead anyway to see what would happen. It downloaded some updates (I assume for Windows), and then it restarted. It showed the Dell logo for a moment, so I tapped F2 and the BIOS was displayed. I made the changes necessary to boot into Linux from a USB drive and tried to exit BIOS. At that point, it said something about how I had made changes and I would have to confirm within the time period, which was about 10 seconds. That was not enough time for me to get to the right button on the screen, and the computer rebooted itself without saving my changes.
So now we are at a stalemate. I won't install Windows and the computer will not let me access BIOS. It is back to the same behavior noted at the top of this post. I will bring the computer back to the retailer and get a refund, but I just wanted to add this experience to the record here.
There are several points that arise from the experience:
- It seems that Microsoft owns my computer, as I cannot use it without their cooperation. I need to own my own computer.
- The reason I am moving to Linux is that Microsoft disables my older Windows 10 computer at unscheduled times to apply updates. This takes up to an hour, usually at a time when I need to use the computer, and it is never requested or announced ahead of time.
- Dell publishes information about installing Linux on their PCs, beginning with "press F2 at startup." Since this doesn't work, all the subsequent steps are invalid.
- I called Dell support about this, and they were not able to suggest a remedy.
Bye, bye, Dell.
RoHe
10 Elder
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45.2K Posts
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October 20th, 2023 23:58
Did you change the Windows Update "active hours" setting in Win 10 on the old PC so updates won't automatically be installed during the hours you've set? You just have to leave the PC on when you're not using it outside those hours to allow updates to be installed.
And if you really want to install Linux on the new PC, have you tried wiping the boot drive completely and then installing Linux via USB?
I'd recommend you image the entire boot drive first and save the image on external USB HDD, to be safe.
The imaging software should give you the option to create a bootable USB that you'd need to copy the image back onto the drive, so be sure to create that too.
RumGo
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October 22nd, 2023 16:07
I don't have a set schedule, so setting hours for Windows to update will not work for me. I need to be able to run or not run Windows Update when I choose.
Regarding the new computer, if I can't access BIOS, I can't make the computer boot from a USB drive. I think someone at Dell really needs to take a new Windows computer out of the box and try to install Linux. So far, no one at Dell seems to understand without this experience.
RoHe
10 Elder
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45.2K Posts
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October 22nd, 2023 19:00
Dell doesn't support Linux on this PC model, so they can't help with that.
Are you saying you can't access the F12 boot menu?
Plug a bootable USB with Linux installer on it into PC with power fully off. Then power on and start tapping F12 as soon as you see the Dell splash screen. There should be an option to boot from USB on the F12 menu, which should launch the Linux installer.
Notes:
1. There's likely an upper limit on size of USB stick you use, 8-GB or possibly 16-GB. Hopefully that's enough space to hold the Linux installer.
2. USB stick should be formatted FAT32 before making it bootable with the Linux installer
For the Win 10 PC, you could set the active hours to middle of the night. I've set it to 2:00 AM on my Win 10 laptop, as shown in image posted above. With PC left on overnight (connected to its charger), WU should install any updates after 2:00 AM, but before the start of active hours set on that screen (8:00 AM in the image).
Major Windows Updates are released on 2nd Tues of every month. So that's the only night the PC has to be on overnight. Minor updates like new Windows Defender definitions should only take seconds to install and shouldn't interfere with your work.