Won't boot from USB or cd

Just bought Satellite C855d-S5100. Not really happy with windows 8 so trying to install windows 7 but having some problems.
When trying to boot in BIOS with either USB or CD first (both inserted with bootable), the boot goes directly into HDD and starts windows 8.
Tried F12 and select either USB or CD, doesn't work either.
Both CD and USB works fine in windows 8.
Tried CSM boot in boot order of
USB
ODD
HDD
LAN
and I get the error message of PXE-e61 wire disconnected.
Any help will be apprecated.

Before you even start, consider that there may be no Windows 7 driver support for some of the hardware in your laptop. You won't know which hardware devices and functions are unsupported until you find out the hard way. In some cases, a driver conflict could cripple your computer.
Like most OEMS, Toshiba pre-installs Windows 8 to boot with EFI on a GPT hard drive. Your Windows 7 install disc, on the other hand, most likely boots with a BIOS from an MBR. Therefore, your Windows 7 disc will not boot your computer.
You would need to start by performing a low-level format of your hard drive. This completely erases the disc and its metadata. Then you could boot from your Windows installation disc and try to install Windows 7. How successful you will be depends on driver support.
All things considered, you should stay with Windows 8. Next time, more research before you buy.

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I Baught A iMac 2010 From Someone it came with lion but for the programs i use i need snow leopard but when trying to install it won't boot from usb or cd what can be the problem i've been at this for over 24 hours if anyone ca help it'd be greatly apprec

I Baught A iMac 2010 From Someone it came with lion but for the programs i use i need snow leopard but when trying to install it won't boot from usb or cd what can be the problem i've been at this for over 24 hours if anyone ca help it'd be greatly appreciate it! Thanks!

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OS X Recover Disk Assistant won't boot from USB

I just replaced my hard drive in my iMac (2008). I'm trying to get the OS installed and I don't have both of my original install disks (I believe they were Leopard disks). When I purchased Lion I did create an install disk, however. I ignorantly tried to install Lion straight up from my disk onto the new hard drive. Now, it says there's a problem with the installation and to try and install again. The problem is the install disk just goes straight to that message and I can't use it to install. I tried to Erase the drive with Disk Utility and start over, but the install disk still goes straight to the "problem" message.
I read about the OS X Recover Disk Assistant tool and loaded that onto a USB memory stick, but it won't boot from it. I can use Disk Utility when I boot from my Lion install disk and the new hard drive shows up, the USB stick shows up, the install CD shows up, and then there's a grey line and under that with a globe icon that says disk3 and under that it says Max OS X Base System.
Under Restore, I tried to use this Base System as a source and my new hard drive as the destination thinking that's what this Recover Disk Assistant thing was but that didn't work.
I don't know what else to do... am I going to have to take it into a shop or can someone help me?

*Mac OS X Base System

P67a-GD80 won't boot from USB HDD

Trying to boot from a bootable thumb drive.
I've got the bios checked to boot from USB HDD first.
Still boots from HDD.
When I disable second & third boot devices (hdd & cd-rom), I get the message "Reboot and Select proper Boot device or Insert Boot Media in selected Boot device and press a key".
Ideas?

Quote from: JLio01 on 28-October-14, 16:39:07
Mine is like "USB Key: *My thumb drive name"
Do you have a GD80?

Problems with Late 2011 MBP (catalog corrupt, won't boot from USB/CD)

Hello,
I have had some problems with my Late 2011 MBP running OSX 10.8.x (latest update)
I was using Safari when suddenly my screen froze. It has happened a couple of times before but it usually is either: 1.) a black screen for 5 seconds while nothing works responds and then it continues work like nothing happened, or 2.) just a freeze for a moment which goes away within a few seconds. I have visited the official service and they found nothing wrong with my laptop and said that it may have been just random occurrence. This time it froze and as I waited the fans went crazy and had no other option but to shut down from the power button. Later, when I wanted to boot up, it gets to the Apple logo, the circle spins and the small bar below appears and after a second or two, it disappears and then the computer shuts down. I went to recovery mode and used disk utility to verify and repair the problem (which only works to find out the problem, not to fix it, thanks anyway apple) Heres what it showed:
Verifying volume “nihil”
Checking file systemChecking Journaled HFS Plus volume.
Checking extents overflow file.
Checking catalog file.
Keys out of order
Invalid extent entry
Incorrect size for file .mdworker_2013-07-21-081г41_эartin-RichaѲds-эacBѯok-ѐro.crash.plist
(It should be 0 instead of 4398046511104)
Illegal name
Invalid extent entry
Invalid extent entry
Incorrect size for file .mdworker_2013-07-22-б20303_MartiѮ-RiѣharѤs-MѡcBoѯk-Pro.crash.plist
(It should be 0 instead of 67108864)
File has incorrect number of links (id = 60851670)
(It should be 1 instead of 67108865)
Invalid extent entry
Invalid extent entry
Incorrect block count for file .mdworker_2013-08-04-145002_Martin-Richards-MacBook-Pro.crash.plist
(It should be 0 instead of 1024)
Invalid extent entry
Invalid extent entry
Incorrect size for file .opendirectoryd_201г-08-04-б516а5_MѡrtiѮ-Riѣhards-MacBook-Pro.crash.plist
(It should be 0 instead of 67108864)
File has incorrect number of links (id = 66286495)
(It should be 1 instead of 67108865)
Invalid catalog record type
The volume nihil could not be verified completely.
Error: This disk needs to be repaired. Click Repair Disk.
Verify and Repair volume “nihil”
Checking file systemChecking Journaled HFS Plus volume.
Checking extents overflow file.
Checking catalog file.
Keys out of order
Invalid extent entry
Incorrect size for file .mdworker_2013-07-21-081г41_эartin-RichaѲds-эacBѯok-ѐro.crash.plist
(It should be 0 instead of 4398046511104)
Illegal name
Invalid extent entry
Invalid extent entry
Incorrect size for file .mdworker_2013-07-22-б20303_MartiѮ-RiѣharѤs-MѡcBoѯk-Pro.crash.plist
(It should be 0 instead of 67108864)
File has incorrect number of links (id = 60851670)
(It should be 1 instead of 67108865)
Invalid extent entry
Invalid extent entry
Incorrect block count for file .mdworker_2013-08-04-145002_Martin-Richards-MacBook-Pro.crash.plist
(It should be 0 instead of 1024)
Invalid extent entry
Invalid extent entry
Incorrect size for file .opendirectoryd_201г-08-04-б516а5_MѡrtiѮ-Riѣhards-MacBook-Pro.crash.plist
(It should be 0 instead of 67108864)
File has incorrect number of links (id = 66286495)
(It should be 1 instead of 67108865)
Invalid catalog record type
The volume nihil could not be verified completely.
Volume repair complete.Updating boot support partitions for the volume as required.Error: Disk Utility can’t repair this disk. Back up as many of your files as possible, reformat the disk, and restore your backed-up files.
I tried to boot DiskWarrior from a USB and a CD, after pushing enter in the bootable device's screen, I get a continuous loop of 3 beeps and I can't boot from either of the mediums.
I also tried the Single-user mode (Command-s when booting) and the /sbin/fsck -fy said that my HD is not completely verifiable. Also, 3/4 of the files mentioned in disk utility are also mentioned in this process, with errors as forrows: keys out of order, invalid index key, invalid extent entries (7 times), incorrect block counts, number of links and incorrect sizes for the foretold files and invalid catalog record type.
The reason why I'm not doing a clean install is that the last few days I've been in the process of deleting unnecessary items on my laptop so I could make a back-up (as for some reason, Time Machine is awfully slow and a new 600 gb backup would take and enormous amount of time, but that's a problem for another day) and as I had not yet reached the backing up part, my data is locked on this (possibly) corrupt HD. How should I advance and what steps should I take?
My first and most important mission would be to get back into my OS to make a back-up. Then I'd deal with the "not being able to boot form USB nor CD" and the TM problem.
Thank you all in advance,
Martin

Before you even start, consider that there may be no Windows 7 driver support for some of the hardware in your laptop. You won't know which hardware devices and functions are unsupported until you find out the hard way. In some cases, a driver conflict could cripple your computer.
Like most OEMS, Toshiba pre-installs Windows 8 to boot with EFI on a GPT hard drive. Your Windows 7 install disc, on the other hand, most likely boots with a BIOS from an MBR. Therefore, your Windows 7 disc will not boot your computer.
You would need to start by performing a low-level format of your hard drive. This completely erases the disc and its metadata. Then you could boot from your Windows installation disc and try to install Windows 7. How successful you will be depends on driver support.
All things considered, you should stay with Windows 8. Next time, more research before you buy.

Bootcamp mac won't boot from usb

Hi
I just created a bootable usb with bootcamp. I am trying to run windows 7an am currently running Mavericks . I created the usb stick on boot camp no problem. But when I try to boot from it it freezes. I think the usb drives loose power because the caps lock button won't turn green if i push it. The usb stick light doesn't even try to flash it is just dead. I don't even have an idea what might be wrong.
Thank you any help is appreciated.

Do not use a USB3 flash drive. Only USB2 flash drives are supported by Windows installers. Depending on whether your Mac came with a built-in Optical drive or not, you may also need a physical DVD.
Please see How to install Windows using Boot Camp - Apple Support and Boot Camp 5.1: Frequently asked questions - Apple Support.

Grey Screen, won't boot from usb. Only have a PC to create a boot USB. How can I reinstall OSX with a .dmg file?

I recently recieved a macbook that I was told was broken. She didn't know what was wrong with it, but she told me I could keep it if I wanted to get it working again. Its http://support.apple.com/kb/sp579 this model. I got the laptop to power on, but the apple logo and the spinning wheel under it kept spinning forever. So with me and my "Amazing" knowledge of Macs, I thought it would be best to reformat the drive on my PC via sata cable to FAT32 (which I was told is a format that mac devices can read/write on) and install OSX from usb. So I have a .dmg file and used TransMac to format the usb and make the usb drive bootable with the .dmg.
I formatted the drive to FAT32 and plugged it into my macbook and I get a folder and a question mark blinking on the screen. After looking at some forums online, I found that the error occurs when you don't have the correct filesystem to boot or something along those lines. So I try rebooting the computer while holding C, to boot from an external device (such as USB). Nothing. Again the folder and question mark blink on the screen. I look at some other boot option keys and try all of them. Shift for recovery mode, D for apple hardware test, Control, option, P, and R for resetting NVRAM and PRAM. Everything! The only things that differ slightly are when I press Option for startup manager, N for NetBoot and Option+N for internet default boot image. When I press N and Option+N, I get a blinking globe for about 5-10 seconds and then the folder and ? blink again. When I hold Option for the startup manager, I get a white screen and my curser, which I can move around the screen, but there is nothing to click on, its just white.
Currently I have a USB flash drive plugged into the macbook with a .dmg OSX installer on it via TransMac and for some reason, my macbook doesn't want to try to load it. Either I have the wrong file format for the installer, or my macbook is having problems. I read that the hard drive may be the problem, except I can use it on my PC so I know that it works fine.
If anyone has any information about how to fix this, or any ideas. Please let me know! I would very much like to get this macbook going again.

The correct format for Mac OS X is not FAT-32.
As the computer shipped with an install-restore disc DVD set that could be used to start the computer as an emergency disc and use the Utilities on the Installer, without running the Installer itself, to format, attempt repair, and perform a few different system installs or reinstalls, this is where the correct format would come from.
Was there documentation to confirm the build year and model information, such as to refer you to the product page link you posted above?
If accurate, that MacBook shipped with this custom grey
install-restore DVD version of Snow Leopard:
Original OS
Mac OS X 10.6.1 (10A2047)
Maximum OS
Latest release of OS X
AirDrop
Supported
Hardware Test
AHT 3A181
And to be able to restore the basic OS X to that level, official replacement discs for that computer should be ordered from AppleCare; to facilitiate obtaining correct ones, you should find the product serial number. There likely would be a fee involved. The replacement disc set may have a different number than the one in the information box above, but would match the hardware series by Apple standards. And a replacement disc may not have the original extra applications that shipped with the computer when new. Those original discs are part of the retail computer, an essential part number, like the power adapter, and should be included with the computer even after an OS X upgrade, since they allow basic access without using the internet.
The remainder of the Snow Leopard 10.6(.8) would be a download Software Update Combo v 10.6.8, either direct from Apple servers or through the computer's running Software Update. Once the computer is up to date in Snow Leopard, 10.6.8, then one could visit the Mac App Store, App Store, and iTunes Store; from the Mac App Store, and you could check/get the latest upgrade to Mac OS X, 10.9.2. An Apple ID is required to access.
The computer may not support Mavericks 10.9.2, or may be able to, but could use an upgrade of RAM capacity.
If your model and build year series info is correct:
Maximum Memory
8.0 GB (Actual) 4.0 GB (Apple)
Memory Slots
2 - 204-pin PC3-8500 (1066MHz) DDR3 SO-DIMM
For more information see the database download http://mactracker.ca
and also compare specs with macbook models at everymac.com.
The newer OS X systems that can use a Recovery HD partition on the hard disk drive, can start from there to repair their hard disk drive, and reformat the section where the Mac OS X runs, and reinstall that. Since there is no likelihood of that still being on the drive once it was FAT-32 reformatted, it will not be present to assist in attempts to reformat the drive; if the computer had been upgraded past Snow Leopard 10.6, to a later system that would have used the recovery partition, or the later internet recovery system. That goes to Apple Servers to use OS X Utilities and reinstall the system, helpful for computers without optical drives or system media. Your MacBook with 10.6.8 installed, then had to access the Mac App Store, to get 10.7.5, 10.8.5, or 10.9.x
Identify your Mac lookup by model number or serial number:
https://www.powerbookmedic.com/identify-mac-serial.php
Anyway, the hardware in the computer may need some inspection, troubleshooting, and maybe repair; but the original DVD install-restore disc has an Apple Hardware Test on it, for that series build model macbook. That could help in troubleshooting some aspects of the computer. Could be the hard disk drive failed; or if someone tried to upgrade the RAM, the system may not have worked correctly. Hard to say how it was messed up, at this stage. There are several possible causes.
Hopefully you can get the correct disc set from AppleCare.
You can call Support number, or use Contact Support page.
Good luck & happy computing!

Bootcamp: Macbook Pro 13' late 2011 won't boot from USB, no superdrive.

Some months ago I replaced the superdrive in my Mac with a SSD. This resulted in my Boot Camp not working, therefore I deleted it. The thing is that I have been wanting to install Windows again but it just seems impossible. I find myself pretty confident at a computer, so it frustrates me really.
The thing is that no matter what I do, everytime I boot up from windows installation USB, Windows 7 and 8, or something like it, it gives me "No bootable device - insert boot disk and press any key". I searched everywhere to solve this problem and nothing helped. I tried different images, even 32bit of both Windows 7 and 8. Even tried with my original Windows 7 64bit dvd. There is no more solutions out there on the internet I can find, so therefore I'm shouting out for you guys!
Here is what I already tried.
- Altered Bootcamp so it would create a bootable USB from a windows image. Worked like a charm, except that it would boot up to "No bootable device...". And the USB didn't show up in the boot menu pressing alt when booting. Tried four different usbs and the same story with all of them.
- Tried with a SATA-USB connector to a 250gb harddrive, "No bootable device...".
- Tried to make my own bootable USB on a Windows-computer with bootsect.exe/nt60 and everything, also Microsoft own program for the purpose, "No bootable device...".
- Tried with making a partition on both my HDD and SDD in the Macbook to boot from, "No bootable device...".
- Tried transfering all the files of the image to the created boot camp-partition, "No bootable device...".
- Reset PRAM with cmd+alt+p+r, "No bootable device...".
- Installed rEFlt, because the standard boot menu would not recognize anything else than my Macintosh SD. It did work so I could see my windows devices but still didn't boot, "no bootable device......".
- Tried to boot with rEFlt with all the before mentioned methods.
- I even desperially installed Windows from a pc on the HDD and tried to boot it on mac.... same **** story, "No bootable device...".
I really hope that someone can figure this out, because I'm ripping my hair out. I simply can't get this **************** to boot anything Windows .

Can I rebuild the USB flash drive using the discs that came with the new Macbook and if so, would they be the resulting USB flash drive be backwards compatible with my older Macbook Pro?
Yes. The version of Mac OS X that shipped with the new MacBooks and MacBook Pros is newer (even though it's still numbered 10.5.5) than the version of 10.5.5 that's available from software update. You will have to startup the MacBook from the original install disk that came with it and choose to install Mac OS X onto the USB drive. NOTE: If you want to keep any software or files that were already saved on the drive, choose only "Archive and Install" or "Update" options. (Not the "Erase and Install" option.) In my experience, though, the only option was to "Archive and Install".
-Doug

Macbook Air Won't Boot from USB Stick

I'm having an issue all of the sudden with trying to restore Lion on my Air. I've been messing around with partitions and setting up triple boot (linx,windows,mac). I had it working but wanted to remove it all and try again. Ultimately if I can just fix the partitions that's all I'd need to do, but I couldn't figure out how to do that so I figured if I just re-installed Lion completey it would fix it.
The current status of my partitions looks like this:
/dev/disk0
   #:                       TYPE NAME                    SIZE       IDENTIFIER
   0:      GUID_partition_scheme                        *121.3 GB   disk0
   1:                  Apple_HFS Macintosh HD            90.4 GB    disk0s1
   2:                        EFI                         209.7 MB   disk0s2
   3:                  Apple_HFS TMP                     30.3 GB    disk0s3
I can't seem to merge disk0s1 and disk0s3 because the EFI partition is in the middle and can't be changed.
When I boot my air, and try to boot from a USB stick that has the Lion installer on it, I get a picture of a circle with a line through it. Kinda like a no smoking sign except no cigarette.
So I have a couple questions:
-Is there a way to fix the partitions?
-Did something I do to the partitions effect me being able to boot from another device?
-Is there anyway to do target disk mode with a macbook air? (if so can I do that erase the drive and install Lion on it?)
Thanks!

Restart your Mac while holding Command+Option+R until you see a spinning globe appear along with a message about the recovery mode. If you have a Mac with a wireless keyboard you should wait a few seconds before pressing and holding the keys after you first see the light grey boot screen.
This will force your Mac to launch Internet Recovery. You’ll know that you are in Internet Recovery when you see a spinning globe and a meter running underneath it.
Lion Internet Recovery only works on WPA and WPA2 networks.

Won't boot from USB hard drive?

Hi, all. My daughter has a brand-new Aluminum Macbook a week old, with all Apple software updates applied and everything running smoothly. She has a Seagate FreeAgent Go external USB 2.0 hard drive divided into two HFS+ Journaled partitions using the GUID partition scheme: a large partition on which to back up her internal drive, and a small partition for use as an emergency boot "disk." We've used the latest version of SuperDuper to make a bootable clone of her internal drive on the large backup partition, and I've just begun installing Leopard from her MacBook installer DVD onto the emergency boot partition as I write this (using my own computer). After 25 minutes, the installer DVD is still being "checked for consistency"; I hope things will finally begin to move along faster when the installation actually starts.
We'll see what happens when that installation is done, but before I began it, I checked to make sure the SuperDuper clone on the backup partition would boot the MacBook. To my dismay, it did not, although I held down the Option key during startup, selected the backup partition in Startup Manager, and clicked the arrow to proceed with booting from that partition. The MacBook booted from its internal drive anyway.
You'll note that I'm not a Leopard or Intel Mac user myself, so I'm not familiar with any issues that may be more familiar to regular users of that OS or of Intel Macs. Can anyone tell me whether SuperDuper has problems creating bootable USB clones that work in Leopard or on those machines? Is there something else I should be doing to boot from the clone we made, instead of using the Startup Manager? Any other thoughts on why this hasn't worked?

I have noticed that the start-up disk appears just about anywhere except in the upper right-hand corner. I too, was convinced once that I was booted from the wrong drive. However, I have implicit faith in SD and since it has never let me down, I searched and found the boot drive hiding amongst some files littering my desktop.

IMac 24 Aluminum won't boot from USB Hard drive

I just got an iMac 24 from the Apple Refurb store. It comes with Snow Leopard, but I need to install a Leopard partition for my wife to ensure 100% compatibility with Photoshop CS3, among other things. I created a partition just for Leopard, so that's good to go.
I can choose the boot partition on my Leopard install drive when starting by holding the "alt" key, that's no problem. However, after I choose that USB drive, it reboots... over and over and over and over. To be sure it isn't the drive, I tested it with my Macbook Pro, and it booted up just fine. I tried another USB drive, same exact problem.
I don't have a Firewire external that I can repartition for the purpose of installing Leopard. I only have it on hard drive. Then I tried making a DMG with disk utility and burning it to a DVD+R DL, but it tells me the disc isn't large enough, even though it's 8.5GB and the image is 7.6GB.
Pulling my hair out here guys! Is this refurb a lemon?

The Leopard install DVD I used to make the image is not available, it got stolen along with laptop bag it was in last Spring.
Is it this "image" (clone) of the installation disc that you are trying to boot from a USB drive, or a full installation of Leopard? If it's a clone of the installation disc on a USB drive, there are a few considerations.
First, what type was the original Leopard disc (the one you lost)? Was it a retail disc (the type sold separately in a box) or one that came with another Mac model, such as a MacBook Pro. If it's the disc from a MacBook Pro, it will not work because your iMac is a different model. Those included disc usually only work with the model it came with.
If it's a retail disc, the other consideration is the version on the disc. If you look at that everymac.com profile page, it says that the (earlier) pre-installed version of Mac OS X is 10.5.6 (9G2030). If that retail Leopard disc was earlier than 10.5.6 (such as the original 10.5.0 disc), then it will not boot that iMac because, as I said in the first reply - +Macs can generally boot the version of Mac OS it came with, or LATER (up to hardware limits), but NOT earlier.+
If that USB drive you are trying to boot the iMac from has a full installation of Leopard, please post back.

My Macbook Won't boot from USB drives

Alright. Seems that ever since I've upgraded to Mountain Lion, I keep having one problem after the next. It's probably my fault, but I've been doing nothing I would think to be wrong...
Anyway. Here's a breif history. I have a Macbook pro. Before I installed Mountain Lion, I had Snow Leopard installed with Windows 7 on BootCamp. I installed Mountain Lion and made a startup USB for it as well. I used that USB as a startup drive so I could shrink my OS X installation partition on my HD so I could make a third partition since I am running out of room on my Windows Partition for games. It suceeded, I partitioned the remaining space on the drive as an ExFAT, and restarted. I tried to load up Windows, nothing would boot. I then loaded up my OS X partition just fine. No issues there. Figured something with the partition messedup the Windows install. So I decided to reinstall Windows. Nope, the Windows install USB won't boot. Okay... Maybe if I delete that extra partition I made, things will work. Nope, won't boot the Mountain Lion start up USB now. And for some stupid reason I cannot resize the partitions using the Mountain Lion startup partition on the HD.
So, what did I break that made it so only OS X will start up and no other bootable drives?

Week 2, this problem still occuring. Would be nice if this support forum actually offered support...

Won't boot from USB Drive

I am trying to replace my internal drive. I got a WD Scorpio from OWC and formatted and installed OS 10.6. But when I boot from the drive I get the panic screen.
The drive otherwise behaves normally. I can see the files, etc.
Also, strangely, the drive is only recognizable as bootable from the right USB port. That doesn't really make any sense to me.
Please help! The OWC folks have sent me multiple drives and have really tried to get this working, but I have the same result each time. Anyone out there have a solution?
Thanks.

Try prepping the drive this way:
Drive Preparation
1. Boot from your OS X Installer Disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the Utilities menu.
2. After DU loads select your hard drive (this is the entry with the mfgr.'s ID and size) from the left side list. Note the SMART status of the drive in DU's status area. If it does not say "Verified" then the drive is failing or has failed and will need replacing. SMART info will not be reported on external drives. Otherwise, click on the Partition tab in the DU main window.
3. Under the Volume Scheme heading set the number of partitions from the drop down menu to one. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Options button, set the partition scheme to GUID (for Intel Macs) or APM (for PPC Macs) then click on the OK button. Click on the Partition button and wait until the process has completed.
4. Select the volume you just created (this is the sub-entry under the drive entry) from the left side list. Click on the Erase tab in the DU main window.
5. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Options button, check the button for Zero Data and click on OK to return to the Erase window.
6. Click on the Erase button. The format process can take up to several hours depending upon the drive size.

Flex 15D Help reinstalling - Boot from USB

I'm hoping someone can help.
I have a Flex 15D (no optical drive) shipped with Windows 8.1
At present it is completely unresponsive, taking anything up to 5 minutes to recognise that I have clicked anything, open the task manager, etc. The task manager doesn't show anything heavy running, AV has scanned the PC and there are no infections. so I decided to go back to scratch and restart.
OneKey simply tell me that the recovery partition has become corrupted and can't be used.
I then bought a copy of Windows 8.1 from Microsoft, followed their instructions to create a bootable USB key and get windows 8.1 set up from the DVD onto it, but the Lenovo won't boot from USB. I have been in the BIOS, boot from USB is set, but the boot options give me the OS booter only.
Third attempt i went out and bought a USB DVD drive, connected that and tried to install a brand new Windows 8.1, but again the Lenovo won't acknowledge that there is a DVD drive attached (although it sees and uses it perfectly when it does finally boot into windows).
Can anyone give me any help as to how I could reinstall the laptop?
Thanks
Moderator Note; subject edited

Looks like you'll have to remove the hard drive, put it in a usb caddy and use another computer to get your data.

W541: Cannot boot from USB created with Windows 8 create recovery drive

Hello, I have just bought a W541, and want to install the supplied Windows 8 on an m.2 SSD.I created the recovery drive on a USB following the instructions in the User Manual, but the recover image procedure under Advanced Options cannot find the USB.During the re-image step, it fails to find a drive with a valid image.I've confirmed using the command window available under the Advanced Options that the USB is mounted Searching these forums, I found the following, which describes a similar problem for a T540:https://forums.lenovo.com/t5/ThinkPad-W-Series-Laptops/Lenovo-W540-won-t-boot-from-USB-flash-drive-ThinkPad/m-p/1500902#M39097 This implies that the USB should first be formatted with FAT32 before use, which cannot work, since FAT32 only has a maximum 4 GB partition, whereas when copied to the USB, the Windows 8 recovery drive occupies nearly 10 GB. Is it possible to specify the boot order from insde the BIOS? I could only find an entry under Security about UEFI boot enabling, nothing about the boot order. Can anyone help?Paul

Hello Z, thanks for the reply. I tried another USB drive, and created a recovery drive, as before.This time it was able to detect the presence of the drive when I tapped on the Enter key when starting up, followed by the F12 key. However, there are still problems when I clicked through the options:Choose the languageChoose your keyboard layoutTroubleshootAdvanced optionsSystem Image Recovery At this point I am offered the option Windows 8.1.When I select this, it indicates it is scanning for system disks, and then displays the the pop-up window "Re-image your computer": "Windows cannot find a system image on this computer" Why does this happen if it detected that there was a Windows 8.1 installation on the USB? I've spent a whole day now on this. Luckily, if I can't solve it, the machine is new and I can send it back to Lenovo, and ask to have it re-imaged with the downgrade option to Windows 7.

Won't boot from USB or cd

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