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September 8th, 2017 20:00

Boot from USB on 3050

How do I boot from USB on a OptiPlex 3050?  Option does not show in BIOS.

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September 11th, 2017 08:00

Was the USB boot created using UEFI? Under the BIOS- General- Advanced Boot Options, check all. Then go back to Boot Sequence and click "Add Boot Option". Does that show USB device?

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September 11th, 2017 09:00

First of all, I made a  mistake, it's an Inspiron 3050.  I created the bootable drive with the Windows 10 "create a recovery drive" option in the Control Panel, Recovery section.  So I don't know if it uses UEFI or not.  I switched to Legacy Mode boot and I booted the USB from there but It didn't see the hard drive that I wanted to restore to.  My goal is to install a bigger SSD as a second drive, restore to it, and then begin booting from it.

Community Manager

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56.9K Posts

September 12th, 2017 05:00

So the issue is not seeing an added SSD from a USB boot rather than how to boot from a USB key. Does the SSD appear in the BIOS at all? The bigger issue, the Inspiron 3050 only has one slot for SSD. So how are you going to add a "second" drive?

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September 12th, 2017 09:00

I purchased the special ribbon cable that plugs into the MB from Dell and a SSD drive and mounted it in the position shown in the left side of the picture.  To restore to the new drive I wanted to boot from the usb stick but it wouldn't boot from UEFI or legacy mode. The system recognized the new SSD drive so I cloned it from the old drive but I couldn't boot from it.  I managed to struggle through it by booting the new drive from legacy mode instead of UEFI mode but then I had to keep pressing F12 every time to boot from it.  Eventually, I pulled out the old SSD board and I booted into UEFI mode with the new drive and now it boots every time.

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