Fixing USB Installs for Operating Systems Tutorial: The importance of the BIOS (PLUS BONUS TIPS & TRICKS!!)

He clicked the FREE UPGRADE FOR WINDOWS 10, which led to it completely freezing out. The repair install wouldn't work either.

I enjoy fixing laptops as a hobby, and I run across screens of death all the time, some blue and some black with red words. Many of my friends throw out or offer to donate me these machines when they turn on their computers only to be met by one of these. For the normal computer user, this could spell out a couple hundred dollars for repair, or they will throw it out. I have a policy that if the laptop turns on and I can see something on the display it is definitely fixable and with good reason. The pictures that follow are of my latest adventure on a Fujitsu Lifebook :D

The picture above is what I would think is the scariest thing to see on your screen. Without any explanation at all, it's obvious that seeing this one means something seriously went wrong.

This tutorial assumes that the reader knows how to install or upgrade operating systems from a USB stick. There are many tutorials online on how to mount a bootable USB, you can even buy one from Microsoft that has Windows 10 on it. This tutorial covers what happens when the install DOES NOT WORK.

Remember how I was saying that the BIOS (Basic Input/ Output System) was important? In order to have any type of error appear on the screen means that the RAM is seated properly, and the motherboard is working, otherwise there would be no display at all! When you turn on your computer if you can press F2 (on most computers) and drop into the BIOS, then the firmware and critical components are okay! So why then is there an error?

The BIOS is the built in firmware that runs on your machine right after you turn it on, and before the operating system even loads. The BIOS does not need a Operating System or even a Hard Drive to work. And if you've come this far, then it is one of these things that are broken. If you are loading a different OS for the first time, you may come across the above screen. When having UFEI boot the computer will use settings in the designed in the Operating System to start the computer instead of what's in the BIOS. How are you going to instruct from inside a non-loaded OS that you want to load the USB first? If the Operating System is corrupted or the HDD is blank, there is nothing to load. BOOT FAILURE.

Changing the option to enable legacy boot lets you install the OS from somewhere other than the main Hard drive, where the OS is assumed to be (CD/DVD/USB). It's also handy to enable USB if that is what you're using c;

Many computers have both 2.0 and 3.0 ports now and making sure they are compatible is important. If you are running an older OS or something custom, you should set 3.0 to auto so that it will read.

Save changes and restart. BUT WHAT IS THIS?

What do you mean the device wasn't found??? We've taken all of the necessary precautions to make sure that the USB will get picked up by the computer so that the install will work! It isn't the stick itself, but the Operating System you are trying to install. BUT ITS NOT WHAT YOU THINK.

So let's go back to UFEI... Computers that are shipped with Win 8.1 or later actually use UFEI, and 7 and before use BIOS. What this means is that the firmware settings shipped with this computer (8.1) are not compatible with the Windows 7 I'm trying to install. So even though everything is working the computer is incompatible with this OS. BUT OF COURSE, there is a setting for compatibility as well.

I'VE ALWAYS WONDERED WHY YOU WOULD NEED A PASSWORD INSIDE THE BIOS... I don't have my porn collection hidden in THERE.

In order to change what kind of OS you can load you HAVE TO change loading settings in security. and to be able to access the security panel, the BIOS needs a password. You can make it anything, and you can clear it after the install is done.

After that, turn off secure boot.

Now before you go freaking out about viruses, there can't be any viruses IF THERE'S NO OPERATING SYSTEM.

The purpose of secure boot, is a firmware feature set by manufacturer. If your computer comes with an OS pre installed, then the firmware will check to make sure that this is the OS you are loading and not a virus that affects the computer at startup. If it doesn't match, the computer won't load it. "Device not found".

and lastly change to CSM boot. If you are not using a UFEI compatible OS, then this will emulate the BIOS environment where you can!!

THERE WAS SOMETHING ELSE that was not previously mentioned to me when I was doing this repair. The screen was discolored very badly, and everything was greenish blue. I found out that this happened after he updated to 10.

In the above photo I am running a test install of Windows 7 before loading Win 10. To my surprise however, the afterimages and discoloration completely stopped after I left it on for a bit.

I was certain that his upgrade got corrupted and that everything was solved. It was completely fine by the time I finally loaded 10.

BUT TO MY DISMAY IT WAS NOT FINE.

After I took the laptop back to my friend, I logged him on to his desktop and although everything was running, a few minutes in, without touching it- EVERYTHING STARTED TO SEIZE OUT. I would have a picture if I didn't panic myself.

The first thing I did was update the video driver. Except when I opened device manager and hit update, it was already installed. THIS WAS EXTREMELY SUSPICIOUS. Throughout the entire time rebooting this computer, the color quality only improved. Then I realized what the mistake was.

My friend informed me that the color/ afterimage problem started a short while after updating. The entire time I had the Lifebook, I had Win 10 desktop open for under a minute. I explained that the only time the screen started to be weird was when Win 10 was left on for an extended amount of time.

THE GRAPHICS DRIVER IS NOT COMPATIBLE. This computer was built to come shipped with 8.1 and there was no support on 10. I blew my own mind.

My friend wanted to test this issue with an external monitor, and I stopped him. I restarted the laptop and hit F2 for BIOS because if this was an Operating System issue, then the BIOS that loads before the OS would be unaffected. As I tabbed through the menus and let it sit for a couple minutes, ALL the afterimages went away and the color self corrected.

So other than this tutorial, I learned something new today. You can test if the issue is the screen being broken or the OS, if you leave it in the BIOS.

If you want to see more posts from me, or see what I'm up to please follow! C:

Mahalo!