Reformatting a PC through USB device or LAN

Notme

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Member
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The system files in the hard drive got corrupted and the OS won't boot past the "starting windows" screen.

So I decided to reformat the PC, however, it seems that the motherboard does not support USB boot.

How do I do this? I have an option for network boot but as far as I know I need a server for that, I only have a laptop available.

Is it possible to force it to boot via USB drive or do some 'magic' on my laptop so it can boot from the LAN network?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    64-bit Windows 10
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Custom self built
    CPU
    Intel i7-8700K OC'd to 5 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
    Memory
    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING
    Sound Card
    Integrated Digital Audio (S/PDIF)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 x Samsung Odyssey G7 27"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    4TB Samsung 990 PRO PRO M.2,
    8TB WD MyCloudEX2Ultra NAS
    PSU
    OCZ Series Gold OCZZ1000M 1000W
    Case
    Thermaltake Core P3
    Cooling
    Corsair Hydro H115i
    Keyboard
    Logitech wireless K800
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3
    Internet Speed
    1 Gb/s Download and 35 Mb/s Upload
    Browser
    Internet Explorer 11
    Antivirus
    Malwarebyte Anti-Malware Premium
    Other Info
    Logitech Z625 speaker system,
    Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam,
    HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
    APC SMART-UPS RT 1000 XL - SURT1000XLI,
    Galaxy S23 Plus phone
Hello Notme,

If you have secure boot and it's enabled, then you will not be able to boot from a USB flash drive until you temporarily disable secure boot in your UEFI firmware settings.

http://www.eightforums.com/tutorials/17058-secure-boot-enable-disable-uefi.html

Hope this helps, :)
Shawn

thanks for the reply Brink

the motherboard is about 4 years old, and the bios menu does not seem to have any option related to secure boot.

BTW other additional hardware issues popped out, as I was about to try and find some useful options in the bios, the computer turns on but does not display anything.

plugging the monitor via onboard vga port does not solve the display issue either. The monitor only displays continuous blinking power light

sry for my bad english.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8
Power off, and double check all of your connections (ex: RAM, graphics card, SATA cables, power cables, etc...) on the motherboard to make sure that they are fully, correctly, and securely connected.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    64-bit Windows 10
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Custom self built
    CPU
    Intel i7-8700K OC'd to 5 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
    Memory
    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING
    Sound Card
    Integrated Digital Audio (S/PDIF)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 x Samsung Odyssey G7 27"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    4TB Samsung 990 PRO PRO M.2,
    8TB WD MyCloudEX2Ultra NAS
    PSU
    OCZ Series Gold OCZZ1000M 1000W
    Case
    Thermaltake Core P3
    Cooling
    Corsair Hydro H115i
    Keyboard
    Logitech wireless K800
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3
    Internet Speed
    1 Gb/s Download and 35 Mb/s Upload
    Browser
    Internet Explorer 11
    Antivirus
    Malwarebyte Anti-Malware Premium
    Other Info
    Logitech Z625 speaker system,
    Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam,
    HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
    APC SMART-UPS RT 1000 XL - SURT1000XLI,
    Galaxy S23 Plus phone
Power off, and double check all of your connections (ex: RAM, graphics card, SATA cables, power cables, etc...) on the motherboard to make sure that they are fully, correctly, and securely connected.

yep I did those already and still the issue persists.

I'm guessing it could be that the BIOS is failing, the motherboard or the power supply.

I also tried clearing the CMOS setting by disconnecting the battery and by the pin thing on the motherboard (forgot what it's called)

also I tried to disconnect everything (video card, HD, RAM) and turning on the pc but still it displays nothing.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8
The minimum required for a PC to post is power supply, motherboard, CPU with heat sink, one stick of RAM, video card and keyboard. If the motherboard has onboard video then an add in video card is not needed. Unplug everything else including hard drives and optical drives. Double check all power cables to make sure they are plugged in tightly and reseat your RAM module. If it will post now, power down and add components back in one at a time until it fails to post. When it fails again its likely that last component you added "or" your power supply got overloaded. A weak or failing power supply can fool you into thinking its something else like a video card. I would have a good look at the motherboard and check for any bulged or leaking capacitors. If you see goop on one its probably failed.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10 Education 64 Bit
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Asus
    CPU
    AMD Phenom II X4 980 Black Edition Deneb 3.7GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS M4N68T-M V2 µATX Motherboard
    Memory
    8GB 4GBx2 Kingston PC10600 DDR3 1333 Memory
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA Geforce GT640 2 Gig DDR3 PCIe
    Sound Card
    VIA VT1708s High Definition Audio 8-channel Onboard
    Monitor(s) Displays
    22" LG E2242 1080p and 2 19" I-INC AG191D
    Screen Resolution
    1280x1024 - 1920x1080 - 1280x1024
    Hard Drives
    Crucial MX100 256 GB SSD and 500 GB WD Blue SATA
    PSU
    Thermaltake TR 620
    Case
    Power Up Black ATX Mid-Tower Case
    Cooling
    Stock heatsink fan
    Keyboard
    Logitech Wireless K350 Wave
    Mouse
    Logitech M570 Trackball and T650 TouchPad
    Internet Speed
    80 Mbps Down 30 Mbps Up
    Browser
    Internet Explorer 11
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
    Other Info
    HP DVD1040e Lightscribe - External USB2
I've had one or two PC's that were tricky to boot from a USB thumb drive. On one I have to select USB Hard Drive as the first boot option. I also had to go into the section where the hard drives were listed and move the listing for the thumb drive to the top. This had to be done with the thumb drive plugged in. Then on the first reboot during the Windows install I had to go back in a swith it back to the default hard drive. Also, I haven't had to disable secure boot on my laptop to boot from a Windows 8.x install thumb drive. I would think you would have to disable it for Windows 7 or Linux but 8.x should be fine.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10 Education 64 Bit
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Asus
    CPU
    AMD Phenom II X4 980 Black Edition Deneb 3.7GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS M4N68T-M V2 µATX Motherboard
    Memory
    8GB 4GBx2 Kingston PC10600 DDR3 1333 Memory
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA Geforce GT640 2 Gig DDR3 PCIe
    Sound Card
    VIA VT1708s High Definition Audio 8-channel Onboard
    Monitor(s) Displays
    22" LG E2242 1080p and 2 19" I-INC AG191D
    Screen Resolution
    1280x1024 - 1920x1080 - 1280x1024
    Hard Drives
    Crucial MX100 256 GB SSD and 500 GB WD Blue SATA
    PSU
    Thermaltake TR 620
    Case
    Power Up Black ATX Mid-Tower Case
    Cooling
    Stock heatsink fan
    Keyboard
    Logitech Wireless K350 Wave
    Mouse
    Logitech M570 Trackball and T650 TouchPad
    Internet Speed
    80 Mbps Down 30 Mbps Up
    Browser
    Internet Explorer 11
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
    Other Info
    HP DVD1040e Lightscribe - External USB2
Thank you alphanumeric for your insights. I tried your suggestion and nothing still works.

I just opened up the power supply to look for fossils, err, something that might be off (it's pretty dusty)

but I guess it's fine.

the motherboard does not show any signs of bulging/leaking capacitors.

later I'm gonna try swapping the power supply and see if it works.

but I remember this same thing happening on the PC we had before,

days later the video card began shooting off fireworks.

on the boot up process by USB, you mean I have to go to boot options and see if the usb device is detected?

last time the options for boot only included my HD and the network drive

btw the model of the motherboard is H55MXV
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8
Be careful with opening that PSU. It can still electrocute you even if unplugged.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    64-bit Windows 10
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Custom self built
    CPU
    Intel i7-8700K OC'd to 5 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
    Memory
    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING
    Sound Card
    Integrated Digital Audio (S/PDIF)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 x Samsung Odyssey G7 27"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    4TB Samsung 990 PRO PRO M.2,
    8TB WD MyCloudEX2Ultra NAS
    PSU
    OCZ Series Gold OCZZ1000M 1000W
    Case
    Thermaltake Core P3
    Cooling
    Corsair Hydro H115i
    Keyboard
    Logitech wireless K800
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3
    Internet Speed
    1 Gb/s Download and 35 Mb/s Upload
    Browser
    Internet Explorer 11
    Antivirus
    Malwarebyte Anti-Malware Premium
    Other Info
    Logitech Z625 speaker system,
    Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam,
    HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
    APC SMART-UPS RT 1000 XL - SURT1000XLI,
    Galaxy S23 Plus phone
Be careful with opening that PSU. It can still electrocute you even if unplugged.

ya it gave me a little shock when i was picking the build up dust.

still won't show display. there are no beeps too. Now I wonder if it's just the CMOS battery that's causing the issue.

The thread seem to branch from my main concern, can I change the thread title so maybe if someone with the same problem some guy with a solution won't go past?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8
Just remove the CMOS battery. The PC can boot and post without it. All that happens is your settings get lost and they go back to defaults when you power down. You'll lose your date and time too. A really dead (shorted out) CMOS battery can sometimes stop the PC from posting.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10 Education 64 Bit
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Asus
    CPU
    AMD Phenom II X4 980 Black Edition Deneb 3.7GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS M4N68T-M V2 µATX Motherboard
    Memory
    8GB 4GBx2 Kingston PC10600 DDR3 1333 Memory
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA Geforce GT640 2 Gig DDR3 PCIe
    Sound Card
    VIA VT1708s High Definition Audio 8-channel Onboard
    Monitor(s) Displays
    22" LG E2242 1080p and 2 19" I-INC AG191D
    Screen Resolution
    1280x1024 - 1920x1080 - 1280x1024
    Hard Drives
    Crucial MX100 256 GB SSD and 500 GB WD Blue SATA
    PSU
    Thermaltake TR 620
    Case
    Power Up Black ATX Mid-Tower Case
    Cooling
    Stock heatsink fan
    Keyboard
    Logitech Wireless K350 Wave
    Mouse
    Logitech M570 Trackball and T650 TouchPad
    Internet Speed
    80 Mbps Down 30 Mbps Up
    Browser
    Internet Explorer 11
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
    Other Info
    HP DVD1040e Lightscribe - External USB2
Thank you alphanumeric for your insights. I tried your suggestion and nothing still works.

I just opened up the power supply to look for fossils, err, something that might be off (it's pretty dusty)

but I guess it's fine.

the motherboard does not show any signs of bulging/leaking capacitors.

later I'm gonna try swapping the power supply and see if it works.

but I remember this same thing happening on the PC we had before,

days later the video card began shooting off fireworks.

on the boot up process by USB, you mean I have to go to boot options and see if the usb device is detected?

last time the options for boot only included my HD and the network drive

btw the model of the motherboard is H55MXV

On the PC I was working on the thumb drive didn't show up at all until I played around with the BIOS settings. I like to think I know what I'm doing, I have been doing it for a while, but it baffled me at the time why I had to change the settings I did.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10 Education 64 Bit
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Asus
    CPU
    AMD Phenom II X4 980 Black Edition Deneb 3.7GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS M4N68T-M V2 µATX Motherboard
    Memory
    8GB 4GBx2 Kingston PC10600 DDR3 1333 Memory
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA Geforce GT640 2 Gig DDR3 PCIe
    Sound Card
    VIA VT1708s High Definition Audio 8-channel Onboard
    Monitor(s) Displays
    22" LG E2242 1080p and 2 19" I-INC AG191D
    Screen Resolution
    1280x1024 - 1920x1080 - 1280x1024
    Hard Drives
    Crucial MX100 256 GB SSD and 500 GB WD Blue SATA
    PSU
    Thermaltake TR 620
    Case
    Power Up Black ATX Mid-Tower Case
    Cooling
    Stock heatsink fan
    Keyboard
    Logitech Wireless K350 Wave
    Mouse
    Logitech M570 Trackball and T650 TouchPad
    Internet Speed
    80 Mbps Down 30 Mbps Up
    Browser
    Internet Explorer 11
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
    Other Info
    HP DVD1040e Lightscribe - External USB2
well, things magically began to work now.

I tried booting up without/with the CMOS battery and it shows the POST, tried again with all the hardware installed and it works.

I am not sure why although I might suspect the faint crackling sound of the voltage regulator might be the culprit. So I tried directly plugging the pc to a socket without the regulator. The pc turns on with display. :O

Turns out the voltage regulator may be defective and its short-circuiting the pc. But I'm not entirely sure. It's an old PC so it may be the motherboard or something.

as for the USB boot, still have not found a solution, the USB settings does not show in the BIOS options or in the boot options.

google does not provide answers either.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8
Can you tell us which make and model of MB you have ?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Home made
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen7 2700x
    Motherboard
    Asus Prime x470 Pro
    Memory
    16GB Kingston 3600
    Graphics Card(s)
    Asus strix 570 OC 4gb
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 960 evo 250GB
    Silicon Power V70 240GB SSD
    WD 1 TB Blue
    WD 2 TB Blue
    Bunch of backup HDDs.
    PSU
    Sharkoon, Silent Storm 660W
    Case
    Raidmax
    Cooling
    CCM Nepton 140xl
    Internet Speed
    40/2 Mbps
    Browser
    Firefox
    Antivirus
    WD
It's new enough to have options for BOOT from USB, check your manual. Foxconn Support - Download
It's most probably in Advanced Bios Options.
If there is a fast Boot choice menu (usually F something button) you should have bootable USB stick ready and connected to a USB port.
For Widows installation you can use : Microsoft Store to make it easily, all you need is a Windows in an ISO file.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Home made
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen7 2700x
    Motherboard
    Asus Prime x470 Pro
    Memory
    16GB Kingston 3600
    Graphics Card(s)
    Asus strix 570 OC 4gb
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 960 evo 250GB
    Silicon Power V70 240GB SSD
    WD 1 TB Blue
    WD 2 TB Blue
    Bunch of backup HDDs.
    PSU
    Sharkoon, Silent Storm 660W
    Case
    Raidmax
    Cooling
    CCM Nepton 140xl
    Internet Speed
    40/2 Mbps
    Browser
    Firefox
    Antivirus
    WD
Be careful with opening that PSU. It can still electrocute you even if unplugged.

ya it gave me a little shock when i was picking the build up dust.

still won't show display. there are no beeps too. Now I wonder if it's just the CMOS battery that's causing the issue.

The thread seem to branch from my main concern, can I change the thread title so maybe if someone with the same problem some guy with a solution won't go past?

Over the years I learned to SHUT DOWN my computer.
Unplug everything.
Disconnect all cables.
Then press the power button to discharge any capacitors & use a ground wire.
That way I have avoided getting electrocuted.:shock:
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1.1 Pro with Media Center
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Gateway
    CPU
    AMD K140 Cores 2 Threads 2 Name AMD K140 Package Socket FT1 BGA Technology 40nm
    Motherboard
    Manufacturer Gateway Model SX2110G (P0)
    Memory
    Type DDR3 Size 8192 MBytes DRAM Frequency 532.3 MHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI AMD Radeon HD 7310 Graphics
    Sound Card
    AMD High Definition Audio Device Realtek High Definition Audio USB Audio Device
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Name 1950W on AMD Radeon HD 7310 Graphics Current Resolution 1366x768 pixels Work Resolution 1366x76
    Screen Resolution
    Current Resolution 1366x768 pixels Work Resolution 1366x768 pixels
    Hard Drives
    AMD K140
    Cores 2
    Threads 2
    Name AMD K140
    Package Socket FT1 BGA
    Technology 40nm
    Specification AMD E1-1200 APU with Radeon HD Graphics
    Family F
    Extended Family 14
    Model 2
    Extended Model 2
    Stepping 0
    Revision ON-C0
    Instruction
    Browser
    Opera 24.0
    Antivirus
    Avast Internet Security
Be careful with opening that PSU. It can still electrocute you even if unplugged.

ya it gave me a little shock when i was picking the build up dust.

still won't show display. there are no beeps too. Now I wonder if it's just the CMOS battery that's causing the issue.

The thread seem to branch from my main concern, can I change the thread title so maybe if someone with the same problem some guy with a solution won't go past?

Over the years I learned to SHUT DOWN my computer.
Unplug everything.
Disconnect all cables.
Then press the power button to discharge any capacitors & use a ground wire.
That way I have avoided getting electrocuted.:shock:

I see, that's a very helpful tip you got there. Thank you very much!

The USB boot issue is still not resolved, but I got a workaround by plugging the hard drive to my cousin's mobo with a dvd drive.

Do I have to upgrade the BIOS in order to gain access to USB boot option? No matter how hard I dive into the current options or the user manual from the purchase i cant seem to find anything related to it?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8
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