Forcing boot from USB

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Quattro Pete

Quattro Pete

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I've got a lenovo T520 that I want to boot from USB drive. When I hit F12 during startup to choose a temporary boot device, it does not give me a USB option. When I go into BIOS, I can set the priority of boot devices, so I changed it to have USB FDD in first place, and USB HDD in second place, yet the machine still ignores the USB drive during boot.

Is there some command I can issue in win 7 (my primary hdd) to force it to restart using USB?

This is a work computer, so possibly it has some security feature that prevents it from booting from usb...
 
Originally Posted By: madRiver
Have you successfully booted this on another computer? It takes a specific method to get these to work on USB.


+1

Also, is the USB inserted when you try to change the boot preference?
 
Have you tried all your usb slots.certain ones are active during start up. Depends on the mother board. On my desktop I built only the ones directly on the mother board work for this. The other are under a different controller that active after boot
 
Originally Posted By: gathermewool
Also, is the USB inserted when you try to change the boot preference?

It is.
 
Originally Posted By: madRiver
Have you successfully booted this on another computer? It takes a specific method to get these to work on USB.


I agree, I'm guessing the USB stick isn't bootable. If it WILL boot from another computer, at least you know it isn't a problem with the USB stick.

Ed
 
I've been doing some more reading on this. Apparently some lenovos will not recognize certain USB sticks at boot time. Apparently this SanDisk stick I'm using is one of those unlucky ones. I can use it to boot other machines, but not this Lenovo.

I tried another USB stick in this Lenovo, and it does show up as one of the boot options.
 
There is a utility named Plop which you can use to make a cd or usb to direct your BIOS to boot from your usb. The instructions on Plop's website are quite cryptic, you might Google for a tutorial for exactly what you want to do.
 
Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
I've been doing some more reading on this. Apparently some lenovos will not recognize certain USB sticks at boot time. Apparently this SanDisk stick I'm using is one of those unlucky ones. I can use it to boot other machines, but not this Lenovo.

I tried another USB stick in this Lenovo, and it does show up as one of the boot options.


I recently posted about an issue that was resolved by booting a Linux live stick, using a 2GB PNY thumb drive. My first attempt with the PNY drive booted, but failed due to files missing or something. The second attempt worked, after reformatting (again) and loading the software.

I might be misremembering, but I do think my actual first attempt was with a 32GB Sandisk drive that failed to be seen as a boot option. Once I get all of the info off of it and onto the PC I'll try again and see what happens when I try to boot Linux from it. It would be interesting if neither of us can boot from Sandisk drives on multiple machines.
 
Originally Posted By: Ed_Flecko
What do you have on the USB stick that you're trying to boot?

Ed



A lot of laptops aren't coming with optical drives on them anymore to save space and cost, so when it comes time to install a new hard drive or reformat due to viruses etc, you will need an operating system installed from usb if you don't have an external optical drive
 
Originally Posted By: gathermewool
It would be interesting if neither of us can boot from Sandisk drives on multiple machines.

In my case, I've got at least one machine that can boot from it (Lenovo X230), and one that can't (Lenovo T420).

I made a mistake in the original post - it's T420, not T520.
 
On the Lenovo bios there are two settings to check. First you need to have it in the boot order and force it to boot to usb. Second there is a checkbox buried called something like allow boot from usb. Both settings need to right or it won't boot.
 
Originally Posted By: JustinH
On the Lenovo bios there are two settings to check. First you need to have it in the boot order and force it to boot to usb. Second there is a checkbox buried called something like allow boot from usb. Both settings need to right or it won't boot.

Yes, I already have these enabled, but this particular USB stick is not recognized at boot time on one of the machines.
 
Another thing to check is make sure that you do not try to boot from a USB 3.0 port.

I have seen that the USB 3.0 (SS) ports are not bootable on some computers.

The 2.0 ports are bootable.

You can identify the 3.0 port they are usually blue on most OEM computers, and say SS on them. (super speed).

I have built thousands of Dell computers, and we did some testing with Lenovo computers for about a year. They are quirky.
 
There is a key that you type at startup to bring up a force boot menu, not a boot order.

On a dell it is f12 I believe.

Not sure on lenovo.

This way you choose what it boots to directly, and don't rely on boot order.
 
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